Eye to Eye: The Quest for the New Paradigm

by Ken Wilber

Book Overview

In this book Wilber presents a model of consciousness that encompasses empirical, psychological, and spiritual modes of understanding. Wilber examines three realms of knowledge: the empirical realm of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157062741X
• ISBN13: 9781570627415
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

One of Wilber's best

This is my favorite Wilber book thus far. I found every chapter containing information I really wanted to read. Ken goes to great lengths in this book to discuss why science is not a tool for explaining transcendence especially the new Holographic Theories given much attention as of late. Ken does a wonderful job explaining his understanding of the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche. Includes the classic "Pre-Trans Fallacy" and "Mandalic Map of Consciousness" essays.

Whatever happened to epistemology?

Epistemology, the study of what can be known, has been all but abandoned in the modern era of philosophy. Beginning with Kant's revelation of the limits of what can be known by rational consciousness, the (rationally based) project of Western philosophy gave up on its prospects for ultimate knowledge. Since it couldn't see beyond the capacities of the rational mind and the realms of the real that higher levels of consciousness could disclose, it resigned itself to the more limited task of evaluating "empirical" data, that is, data disclosed by the senses. Only that which could be disclosed by the senses was deemed "really real," even though the language, mathematics and logic that were used to process the empirical data are not themselves disclosed by the senses.In "Eye to Eye," Ken Wilber applies his spectrum of consciousness model to epistemology. Each of the realms in the spectrum (grossly simplified as body, mind, spirit,) according to Wilber, can be investigated in accordance with its own nature, or with the appropriate "eye." That is, the "eye of flesh," the "eye of mind," and the "eye of contemplation." Investigation of one realm with the eye of another produces, at best, a limited, or representational, understanding (as Kant pointed out with respect to the eye of mind), and at worst, what Wilber calls "category error." Attempting to investigate the realm of spirit, for example, with the "eye of flesh," that is, the eye that perceives only sensory phenomena, will not yield real knowledge of the realm of spirit, which is not disclosed to sensory perception. This results in errors like "empirical" science, which purports to recognize only sensory phenomena, declaring the realm of spirit to be nonexistent or at least non-verifiable, because it can't be "seen." Well, it can't be seen unless you look with the right "eye." Wilber explains why it is critical that the proper "eye," and the corresponding modes of investigation and verification, are used to investigate, and establish validity claims in, the various realms in the spectrum of consciousness. More importantly, he says that all these realms can indeed be known, and that the validity of such knowledge can be tested and verified by the same "scientific" method now applied to the material and rational realms, provided the proper eye, and the proper verification protocols, are used. This consitutes nothing less than a breakthrough in the logjam of modern epistemology.Wilber builds on this core material by exploring some of the promises and failures of the "New Age" movement and presents an outline of his concept of structure, stage and self, the mechanics of the evolutionary development of self. This volume also presents seminal material on what may be Wilber's most original and influential contribution to thought, the "pre/trans fallacy." Wilber says that many thinkers confuse pre-rational stages with trans-rational stages because both are non-rational. This results in either elevating the

Wilber's eye-opening quest.

In his Foreward to the newest edition of this 1983 collection of "nine major essays" (p. xxiii) by Ken Wilber, Frances Vaughan calls Wilber "one of the greatest thinkers of our time" (p. ix), adding "what I value most about his work is the fact that I see it always pointing to liberation and enlightenment" (p. x). At least for me, following Wilber to the "highest rung aspect of Spirit" (p. 266) in this book was a challenging, 282-page climb. But the eye-opening views were worth the effort. We have "at least three modes of attaining knowledge," Wilber writes, "'three eyes'" . . . the eye of flesh, by which we perceive the external world of space, time and objects; the eye of reason, by which we attain a knowledge of philosophy, logic and the mind itself; and the eye of contemplation, by which we rise to a knowledge of transcendent realities" (p. 3). As the title of his book suggests, Wilber attempts to "integrate and synthesize" (p. 264) these three eyes into a paradigm "that at least attempts to include monological sciences, dialogical sciences, mandalic sciences, and contemplative sciences" (p. 112). But in the book's final pages, Wilber concedes that his paradigm remains fragmented here, "not a final view, but hints on how to reach that view . . . not a way to stop, but a way to carry on" (p. 281).Wilber's essays progress seamlessly in their exploration of "a full-spectrum model of human growth and development" (p. xxiii), in which "meditation is evolution; it is transformation" (p. 105). Through meditation, "we grow, we don't dig back" (p. 105). While this book takes its reader on an eye-opening quest, for me it just quite didn't measure up to the standards set by most of Wilber's other books.G. Merritt

Original and thought provoking

Ken Wilber has a highly creative vision on science, truth and spirituality. I have read this book several times and it lead me to read other works of him. It gave me a completely different perspective as to how to look at the scientific enterprise today, and what it can tell about the world. Wilbers stance is not anti-science, he rather purports its claim on "truth" is valid, but limited. Very valuable reading I can recommend to everybody. People not very familiar with philosophy and psychology can start with a brief history of everything, or the marriage of sense and soul.