Hi Glenn, Platt and others,
Thanks for the link to the critiques of Wilber, Glenn.
With Platt, I have to agree that some of the attacks on Wilber are coming
from an outdated worldview, and can be ignored unless they can do better.
However, some are not so easily shrugged off. To me the most telling was the
rather devastating critique by David Lane of Wilber's handling of
evolutionary theory, in his A Brief History of Everything. This was rather
humbling to me also, as I had not really picked up on Wilber's naivete.
Being familiar with Stephen J Gould's writings I should have done so.
Wilber's hugely over enthusiastic endorsement of da Free John also concerns
me, in that it clearly shows both a lack of judgement, and seemingly little
capacity to own up to it afterwards. However, I gather it does date from
early in his career, and for all I know he may have recanted elsewhere. (In
his defence, I would stress that Wilber is very frank about the failings of
many spiritual 'leaders' and in his more recent writings is far from
endorsing 'gurus'. Quite the opposite, in fact.)
What does emerge from the criticisms I have read to date is Wilber's clearly
quite strong tendency to get carried away with praise for those whom he has
read, possibly in ignorance of the more detailed picture. For someone who
specialises in setting the big picture from an admittedly vast domain of
human scholarship, this may be unavoidable at some levels, yet the examples
critiqued are sufficiently disturbing to cause me to read Wilber rather more
critically in future. David lane was quite devestating here, with his
critique of Wilber on Shabd Yoga.
Other criticisms, such as the bald assumption that all mystic experience is
the result of epilepsy or other brain dysfunction, must be considered a
possibility, but would require much more substantiation than the critics
provide, before I would give them much credence.
One of the most significant aspects of much of the criticism is the tone of
overt hostility it displays. I am always suspicious of those who feel so
threatened by another's ideas that they feel it necessary to vilify or
patronise the person. In contrast, while Wilber argues with many of his
critics, he usually maintains an integrity in his disagreements which I
greatly admire.
The criticisms you have indicated, Glenn, are a mixed bunch, I think, but
some are in my view quite potent, and will certainly temper my enthusiasm
for Wilber, without causing me to consign him to the dust bin. He is still
the best big picture cartographer of the human situation I know.
John B
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