The Status and Relevance of Phenomenology for Integral Research: Or Why Phenomenology is More and Different than an “Upper Left ” or “Zone #1 ” Affair
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: : The specific treatment that Ken Wilber gives phenomenology in his model of integral theory requires a critical investigation. According to Wilber's model, different methodologies are situated in distinct quadrants or "domains of knowing, " namely the subjective, objective, intersubjective and interobjective domains, labeled by their position in the model's matrix illustration, upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right. In this model, phenomenology is isolated in the UL quadrant, and even more specifically as the inside perspective of this subjective domain. What this means is that, according to Wilber's classification, phenomenology is an exclusive, rather than inclusive, approach that limits its field of inquiry and therefore its range of knowing also to an inside exploration of the subjective. In contrast to this positioning, a critical reflection on the current status and usage of phenomenology in integral theory is provided. The goal of this undertaking is to show that phenomenology – particularly in its more advanced forms – is more and different than something to put merely into “upper left ” quadrant or to understand only as a “Zone 1 ” affair suggested in the conventional integral model.
Author: Wendelin M. Küpers
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2961864881