Integral Philosophy And Evolution with Steve McIntosh

Hosted by: Glen Sebera

Integral philosopher McIntosh says the way to approach truth is threefold: science, philosophy, and spirituality. He says, “[W]e know that the scientific, the philosophical, and the spiritual are three authentic and irreducible approaches to truth because there are three kinds of human experience. There’s the sensory experience, upon which science is based. There’s the experience of relationships and meanings that we come to through philosophy, and then there’s the spiritual experience which can’t be reduced to either of those two. In an attempt to try to harmonize science and spirituality without trying to conflate one into the other, philosophy has a very important role of both bridging and separating these three great approaches to truth.” He goes on to point out that evolution always builds on what came before using it as a platform to transcend to a new level of complexity. We need to understand that every stage of human history has evolved to solve problems and that we need not be repulsed or embarrassed by the values of either traditionalism or modernism. If we completely eliminate or try to vanquish the best of the earlier stages of the very structure that we depend on our own cultural achievements will be undermined. He encourages us to reclaim the best of earlier values and to include them in a higher level. (hosted by Glen Sebera)

Steve McIntosh is a leader in the integral philosophy movement and is a co-founder of the think tank, The Institute for Cultural Evolution. He was the founder of the consumer products company, Now and Zen and has practiced law with one of America’s biggest firms as well as worked as an executive with Celestial Seasonings Tea Company.  He’s the author of Integral Consciousness: The Future of Evolution (Paragon House 2011) and Evolution’s Purpose: An Integral Interpretation of the Scientific Story of Our Origins (Select Books 2012). To learn more about the work of Steve McIntosh go to www.steveMcIntosh.com.

Topics explored in this dialogue include:

• What is the purpose of evolution
• What is the evolutionary impulse in humans
• How does cultural evolution change and progress
• How cultural progress makes the world a better place it also brings problems
• What are the significant worldviews that have emerged in history and what is emerging now
• What is the emerging post-modern worldview
• What are the three legs of the stool in approaching truth: science, philosophy, and spirituality
• What is the Institute for Cultural Evolution and what are its goals
• Why do post-modernists need to be more inclusive of the worldviews of modernists

Program Number: 3452     Hosted by: Glen Sebera     Interview Date: 9/18/12

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