Philosophy:Worldcentrism

From HandWiki

The American integral philosopher Ken Wilber uses the term worldcentric to describe an advanced stage of ethical development. This involves a broadening of the spiritual horizon through the formulation of a transpersonal ethic in which we do not only desire the best for all people but for all living beings.[1] It is this aspect where worldcentrism is viewed as an expansion of sociocentrism where one focuses beyond self-needs to also extend care about the group, community, and society.[2] The idea is that worldcentrism situates the positive aspects of egocentrism and sociocentrism in a larger context of concern so that consideration does not only include one's self or one's people but all peoples and all beings.[2] Synonyms of worldcentric include global and planetary.

There are also worldcentrists who maintain that living beings engage in autopoiesis (self-making, self-producing, and self-repairing), which renders these beings as ends-in-themselves and of equal ground value, in addition to whatever extrinsic or intrinsic value they possess.[3]

Wilber also sometimes refers to an ethical stage that is beyond the worldcentric, which he calls kosmocentric. In a kosmocentric awareness, one experiences a release of attachments of the gross realm and a radical recognition of evolutionary processes so that an individual is compassionately called to action and becomes capable of letting the gravity of outcomes go.[2] Wilber used to associate these advanced ethical stages with mystical states, but since 2002 he has associated these advanced ethical stages with the development of complexity in the self-related lines of identity, studied by Susanne Cook-Greuter. (See "Integral Spirituality," Ken Wilber; See also "Transcendence and Mature Thought in Adulthood," Susanne Cook-Greuter.)

Related concepts

References

  1. Visser, Frank (2003). Ken Wilber: Thought as Passion. New York: State University of New York Press. pp. 226. ISBN 0791458156. https://archive.org/details/kenwilber00fran/page/226. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Esbjorn-Hargens, Sean; Zimmerman, Michael (2011). Integral Ecology: Uniting Multiple Perspectives on the Natural World. Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala Publications. pp. 403. ISBN 9780834824461. 
  3. Dea, Willow (2010). Igniting Brilliance: Integral Education for the 21st Century. Tucson, AZ: Integral Publishers LLC. pp. 240. ISBN 9781450722247.