A Sociable God Toward a New Understanding of Religion

by Wilber, Ken; Walsh, Roger

• ISBN13: 9781590302248
• ISBN10: 1590302249
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-22
• Publisher: Shambhala

Summary

In one of the first attempts to bring an integral dimension to sociology, Ken Wilber introduces a system of reliable methods by which to make testable judgments of the authenticity of any religious movement.A Sociable Godis a concise work based on Wilber's "spectrum of consciousness" theory, which views individual and cultural development as an evolutionary continuum. Here he focuses primarily on worldviews (archaic, magic, mythic, mental, psychic, subtle, causal, nondual) and evaluates various cultural and religious movements on a scale ranging from egocentric to ethnocentric to worldcentric to Kosmic. By using this integral view, Wilber hopes, society would be able to discriminate between dangerous cults and authentic spiritual paths. In addition, he points out why these distinctions are crucial in understanding spiritual experiences and altered states of consciousness. In a lengthy new introduction, the author brings the reader up to date on his latest integral thinking and concludes that, for the succinct and elegant way it argues for a sociology of depth,A Sociable Godremains a clarion call for a greater sociology.

Author Biography

Ken Wilber is the developer of an integral "theory of everything" that embraces the truths of all the world's great psychological, scientific, philosophical, and spiritual traditions. He founded the Integral Institute, a think-tank for studying issues of science and society, in 2000. Wilber is the author of twenty books.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Roger Walsh	vii
Editor's Note	xiii
Introduction to the 2005 Edition	1	(56)
Prologue	57	(4)
1. The Background Problem vis-à-vis Religion	61	(9)
Primitivization Theory	62	(1)
Functionalism	62	(3)
Phenomenological-Hermeneutics	65	(3)
Developmental Structuralism	68	(1)
Our Overall Approach	69	(1)
2. The Nested Hierarchy of Structural Organization	70	(12)
The Orthodox Base	70	(2)
The Transpersonal Levels	72	(10)
3. The Compound Individual as a Link between Psychology and Sociology	82	(8)
Structures Are Structures of Relational Exchange	82	(2)
The Distortion of Relational Exchange	84	(3)
The Backbone of a Comprehensive Critical Theory in Sociology	87	(3)
4. Translation, Transformation, Transcription	90	(8)
General Definitions	90	(2)
The Function of Translation: Mana and Taboo	92	(4)
Transformation: Death and Rebirth on Each Level	96	(2)
5. Some Usages of the Word "Religion"	98	(7)
6. Belief, Faith, Experience, and Adaptation	105	(7)
Belief	105	(1)
Faith	106	(2)
Experience	108	(2)
Structural Adaptation	110	(2)
7. Present-Day Sociology of Religion	112	(28)
Increasing Rationalism	112	(4)
Robert Bellah	116	(2)
Anthony and Robbins	118	(6)
The New Religions	124	(16)
8. Knowledge and Human Interests	140	(7)
9. Methodology, Summary, and Conclusion	147	(12)
Structural Analysis	147	(4)
Functional Analysis	151	(2)
The Hermeneutical Moment	153	(2)
Emancipatory Moments	155	(1)
The Methodology of Direct Gnostic Verification	156	(3)
References	159	(6)
Index	165