The Principle Of The Integral Good

This text explores the nature of the Principle of the Integral good and its application to art, music, movies, ecclesiology and evolution.

Drawing from psychology, sociology, social theory, integral theory, and years of work in communities-of-struggle, this book proposes a unique approach to personal change and social transformation. With implications for helping professionals, educators, community organizers, activists and others committed to social change, Consciousness-in-Action offers an integral view of well-being and development in the context of institutional and internalized oppression. Consciousness-in-action as a personal and group process is presented as a practice to liberate people from emotional and behavioral reactivity of learned superiority and inferiority based on race, gender, culture, class and other social identities, a process central to social transformation and the evolution of human consciousness.

This book makes the point for a paradigm shift in politics based on an integral consciousness. Why? Politics as we know it is outdated. It lacks the tools, the operating system and the vision to address the challenges humanity is facing at the necessary speed and with the right priorities today. It seems that its very "operating system", consisting of core assumptions about the world, motivational drivers, typical behaviors and instruments for decision-making and problem-solving as they have evolved from the early days of European parliamentarism, is no longer fit for purpose. While global mega-challenges call for cross-cutting cooperation and collective intelligence, our party systems continue to reward silo thinking, zero-sum competition and short-time, linear planning. So if politics as usual is outdated, what's the alternative? In view of reinventing politics by upgrading its operating system towards "integral", this book presents the most important inspirational thinkers that have started to identify and describe the essence and implications of integral consciousness over the last hundred years. It harvests insights and learnings proposed by ten thought leaders and approaches, from Sri Aurobindo to Ken Wilber until Quantum Social Science. On this basis, it spells out the foundations, resources and core principles of an integral paradigm of understanding – and doing politics. Mapping out its added value as compared to the politics we know is a powerful invitation to rediscover our own agency and to actively engage in putting integral politics into practice.

Laudato Si 'is Pope Francis' second encyclical which focuses on the theme of the environment. In fact, the Holy Father in his encyclical urges all men and women of good will, the rulers and all the powerful on earth to reflect deeply on the theme of the environment and the care of our planet. This is our common home, we must take care of it and love it - the Holy Father tells us - because its end is also ours.

In a world as complex as ours, an integral approach is needed to help sort through a dynamic landscape and respond effectively to individual and collective challenges. Integral Theory in Action provides the first multi-authored overview of such an approach. Integral Theory is the result of 30 years of research and is being applied in over 35 distinct disciplines. This volume brings together two dozen leading scholar-practitioners who are actively applying integral principles and who address a range of issues from an integral perspective including: climate change, embodiment, feminist aesthetics, community discourse, treatment of depression, developmental theory, and global ethics. The strengths, limitations, and potential of Integral Theory and Ken Wilber's AQAL model are weighed by each contributor. This collection pushes the field of Integral Theory in new ways and new directions, and provides a comprehensive overview that makes it an invaluable resource for any integral effort.

A concise, comprehensive overview of the “M Theory” and its application in today’s world, by a renowned American philosopher Ken Wilber has long been hailed as one of the most important thinkers of our time, but his work has seemed inaccessible to readers who lack a background in consciousness studies or evolutionary theory—until now. In A Theory of Everything, Wilber uses clear, non-technical language to present complex, cutting-edge theories that integrate the realms of body, mind, soul, and spirit. He then demonstrates how these theories and models can be applied to real world problems and incorporated into readers’ everyday lives. Wilber begins his study by presenting models like “spiral dynamics”—a leading model of human evolution—and his groundbreaking “all-level, all-quadrant” model for integrating science and religion, showing how they are being applied to politics, medicine, business, education, and the environment. He also covers broader models, explaining how they can integrate the various worldviews that have been developed around the world throughout the ages. Finally, Wilber proposes that readers take up an "integral transformative practice"—such as meditation—to help them apply and develop this integral vision in their personal, daily lives. A fascinating and easy-to-follow exploration of the “M Theory,” this book is another tour-de-force from one of America’s most inventive minds.