Psychology Commons^™

Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design For Psychology? A Further Response To Taylor's Soft Perennialism, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In a recent paper Taylor has suggested that perennialist models are or should be resurgent within transpersonal psychology. However, perennialist models such as those of Wilber and Taylor are metaphysical philosophies of spirituality typical of New Age religions; while such systems may be studied by a psychology that considers human spirituality, they are not and should not be proffered as psychology. Claims that Taylor's soft perennialism are partly evidence based are compared with invalid claims that the narrative of Noah's flood or the Christian-based idea of intelligent design are partly evidence based. Critiques of Wilber's integral perennialism and Taylor's soft …

Meaningful Mutations: Reflections On The Synchronicity Of Evolution, Ritske Rensma

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Although Jung made a connection between his concept of the archetype and mankind’s evolutionary history throughout his career, he remained notoriously tight-lipped about his own specific views on evolutionary theory. In the final years of his life, however, he finally went more into detail about this important topic, putting forward a most thought-provoking idea: the notion that synchronicity, or meaningful coincidences, had a role to play in the way evolution took shape. As I will argue in this paper, Jung’s comments on this topic present clear evidence that he did not think primarily along Darwinian lines, as has recently …

Clearing Up Rollo May’S Views Of Transpersonal Psychology And Acknowledging May As An Early Supporter Of Ecopsychology, Mark A. Schroll, John Rowan, Oliver Robinson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper explores Rollo May’s 1992 reassessment of transpersonal psychology, in which he reverses

his 1986 and 1989 arguments against transpersonal psychology. Equally relevant, this paper shows

that May was actually interested in supporting what is now called ecopsychology. Schroll (following

Alan Drengson and Arne Naess) now refers to ecopsychology as transpersonal ecosophy. This paper

offers a thorough examination of several key concerns that May had regarding his reservations

toward accepting transpersonal psychology’s legitimacy, and includes May’s vigorous discussion with

Ken Wilber. Wilber’s discussion with Kirk Schneider’s 1987 and 1989 critique of transpersonal

psychology is also examined. Likewise Albert Ellis’ …

Holarchical Development: Discovering And Applying Missing Drives From Ken Wilber’S Twenty Tenets, Kevin J. Bowman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Ken Wilber’s AQAL model offers a way to synthesize the partial truths of many theories

across various fields of knowledge such as evolutionary biology and sociology, developmental

psychology, and perennial and contemporary philosophy to name only a few. Despite its

reconciling power and influence, the model has been validly criticized for its static nature

and its overemphasis on the ascendant, versus descendant, path of development. This

paper points out areas of Wilber’s writing that suggest a way to overcome these criticisms.

Doing so allows for the refinement of AQAL’s Twenty Tenets for an extension of its formal,

dynamic features. This …