Integral Re-views Postmodernism:The Way Out Is Through

• Main Author: Gary P. Hampson
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: ARINA, Inc. 2007-06-01
• Series: Integral Review
• Subjects: autopoiesis; construct-awareness; Derrida; dialectics; Gebser; Green vMeme; integral theory; postformal; postmodernism; recursion; vision-logic; Wilber
• Online Access: http://integral-review.org/back_issues/documents/Hampson,%20Integral%20Re-views%20Postmodernism%204,%202007.pdf

In this article I re-evaluate the potential contribution of postmodernism to integral theory via integrally-derived perspectives. I identify a premature foreclosure: the underappreciation of postformal modes of thinking (cognitive development beyond Piaget’s formal operations). I then enact certain forms of postformal reasoning in relation to integral theory. This includes an engagement with such perspectives as complexity theory, conceptual ecology, vision-logic, dialectics, genealogy, critical theory, and construct-awareness. A major theme concerns the dialectical relationship between reconstruction and deconstruction—partly explored through a developmental assessment of contra-indicative discourse by both Wilber and Derrida. Although the territory is complex, the relationship between current Wilberian theory and postmodernism is clearly problematised. I posit that a deeper engagement with postmodernism can lead to an autopoietic deepening of integral theory.