Customer Reviews

The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion

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Ken Wilber presents a brilliant synthesis of the major branches of knowledge and clearly shows their relationship to "Religion in General". It is clear from some of the reviews, which rated this book poorly, that they do not understand where Wilber is coming from. Some reviews are just too stupid to even comment upon. (Eg. granpubah) The Kirkus review states that Wilber doesn't explain how the integration of the Great Chain of Being with the major differientiations of modernity is supposed to occur. I can't follow this line of reasoning as Wilber has clearly shown how this can be achieved. I do agree, however, that Wilber does not tackle the old epistemological question of the relation of consciousness/mind to matter, although he does touch on this question in pages 145-147. The philosopher Rudolf Steiner did an excellent job in solving this problem from an introspective point of view in his books "Truth & Knowledge" and the "Philosophy of Freedom". (No I am not an Anthroposophist!) Basically, Wilber tackles the problem of the unification of knowledge from an external perspective and clearly defines what he means by empiricism (observation/experiment) and knowledge (understanding of experience). These terms are not loosely equated as implied in the Kirkus review, far from it. Wilber also defines what he means by religion in a very precise manner, ie. religion is at its core, "direct mystical, transendental, meditative, contemplative, or yogic experiences". What else could it be? Virgin births or 'crossing the Red Sea' are unsubstantiated beliefs which have grown around religion. These myths may have symbolic meaning but they were not real events. The criticism that Wilber makes vague generalisations about the scientific method are unfounded and way of the mark. (Kirkus) He very precisely defines the scientific method as having three basic strands. To paraphrase him they are: experimental practice, collection of data and the confirmation or rejection of results. Again what else could it be? I don't recall Wilber stating that the deeply religous and deeply scientific feel a strong need to integrate science and religion (Charles Stout review) Wilber's view could not be termed manipulative by any stretch of the imagination as claimed. He asks only that science broaden its focus and religion identify its core essence. If this is done then the scientific method can be applied to an analysis of "inner experience". Phenomenological tests could then establish the consistency, or otherwise, of inner structures reported by subjects experienced in the art of meditation. The word science is derived from an old Latin word scire, meaning 'to know', and as Wilber states all knowledge is based on experience, whether inner or outer. There is no science apart from consciousness observers and sometimes this fact is easily forgotten. Consciousness, and what we call matter, are inextricably linked together and one cannot be reduced to the other. This, I believe, is the essence of Wilber's argument.

Have you ever found a book that looked fairly interesting but completley blew you away instead? Where you finished the last page only to sit there in stunned silence thinking, "Holy...this is exactly what I've been looking for!" This was that book for me. After reading it the first time, I felt as if I should have discovered this slim volume in a dusty, darkened attic trunk like some long lost hidden treasure, rather than at a book store at O'Hare airport. It's the first book by Wilber I read, and since then I've devoured everything else of his I could get my hands on. Yes, it's that good.

'Sense & Soul' is a great place to take a quick dip in the deep blue ocean that is Wilber's Integral Philosophy. His grand idea is simple yet profound, and a Herculean undertaking: everybody's right (to a degree), so we'll gather the best of all knowledge, east and west, from both the past and today while discarding what doesn't work, and create something new and remarkable, an integral philosophy. The breadth and depth of his work to integrate the world's knowledge into a functional and coherent system is nothing short of staggering and delightful.

Wilber's vision expands and deepens while becoming more refined with each new book, and it is clear that what he is creating is a viable blueprint for a globally and spiritually aware future for this planet and it's inhabitants. 'Sense & Soul' is a beautifully clear glimpse of this vision. I can't recommend it highly enough.

From here I would move on to 'A Brief History Of Everything' and then perhaps tackle 'Sex, Ecology, Spirituality'. After that, you're on your own to cherry pick as you please.

The ideas contained within Ken Wilber's works are utterly transformative, but don't believe me, come see the future for yourself.

Ken Wilber is quite possibly the most significant philosopher writing today. Yet his work is dense, academic, and difficult for those outside of academia or professional psychology to grasp.

With "The Marriage of Sense and Soul", Wilber writes a popular introduction to Integral thought, in which he outlines the basics of his philosophy- the "nest of being", interiors vs. exteriors, prerational/rational/transrational thinking, mystical states of consciousness, and the rest of the essentials of his philosophy. While there's still a lot of terminology to digest, and Wilber drops more than a few names that non-academics probably won't recognize, Wilber does manage to strip his philosophy down to a brief introduction that is far more elegant and feels like less of an abridgement than "A Brief History of Everything".

At the same time, I don't know if Wilber succeeds in pulling off the mission of the book- "Integrating Science and Religion." While Wilber does a fine job of defining science and the limits of science, his definition of religion throws out the very components of religion that are most relevant to the typical religious believer! He strips religion down to meditative contemplation, while rendering the other components of religion irrelevant to his model. Ultimately, his "integration" is only possible by redefining religion into his model. While Wilber's philosophy is powerful and coherent, (and hence I'm not ashamed to admit to being a "Wilberian") his explaining-away of religion makes the own purpose of his book impossible. You might as well ask Richard Dawkins (the famously atheistic evolutionary biologist) to write a book on the integration of science and religion- it would be just as unsatisfactory.

Despite this, however, the book does do an excellent job of presenting integral theory to a broader audience. As a companion volume, I'd recommend Robert Wright's "Nonzero" as another fine book on the integral vision.

I've read five Wilber books so far (Brief History of Everything, Theory of Everything, One Taste, Eye of the Spirit, and Marriage of Sense and Soul) and this one contains the most comprehensive, clear and complete exposition of his ideas. I don't know why Kirkus calls it "labarynthine", because I found it also among the most readable and humorous. I love hearing him slam away at the excesses of post-modern theorists. I also think this book has the most lucid descriptions of the quadrant theory, the pre/trans falacy and other big Wilber constructs. The "theory of everything" books both felt like he was always talking about the theory without ever really taking you through it. This is the one to get to really get going with Wilber.

I throughouly enjoyed this work. After reading this book, I was moved to read all that I can by Ken Wilber, starting (per his advice) with _Brief History of Everything_ and _The Eye of Spirit_ and almost everything after all. Its his style that I like best--that is, he writes for the layman, first time reader, and academic alike.

This books addresses the thread that can connect sprituality with science. That is all it is--not by reducing each, but by showing how they connect. It's really quite elementary in approach and it makes more and more sense with time.

The thread is that if something, some form of knowledge (beit scientific or spiritual) can be known, anyone can know it. It can be known each time someone (scientist or a spiritual seeker) sets out to find it. Do something, get results, compare with results of others doing the same thing. How much more scientific could an apporach be? Or even, how much more egalitarian could one hope for?

The assumption for this, and all of Wilber's books, is that spiritual experience is indeed "something." It might not be able to be seen in the laboratory, or in a test tube, but it is "something" and as such, can be studied, verified, debated, agreed upon--but more than that, can be *experienced*. If the reader does not share the same assumption, then she might not find much in this book worth much.

That thread is the crux of the book, and the rest is an interesting account of how historical movements (romantic on through post-modernism) have viewed knowledge. And in doing so, he provides the layman with a clear and general account of the movements, enough to give readers a working understanding and the ability to jabber and babble about "intellectual things" at parties.

This book does not address in great detail much of his work in transpersonal psychology, which perhaps is his strongest suit, and for that I'd recommend his newly published "Collected Works, Volume Four".

Ken Wilber is undeniably one of the leading voices in the land today. His remarkable ability to compress disparate theories, all vying for their place in the sun, into a comprehensive and scholarly thesis is applaudable, especially if we are to narrow the ever expanding range of theoretical diversion that is fragmenting our literary landscape. Everyone, it seems, wants to stake their claim, and Wilber is no different. The Marriage of Sense and Soul is a very good summary of Wilber's thinking up to the present point. If you take your time with this book you will come away with a full understanding of his range of thought. And if nothing else, it is a scholarly synthesis of historical perspectives within his comprehensive four-quadrant scheme. But ultimately I was left with one nagging question: why should we privilege Wilber's voice more than any other? Just as the extreme postmodernists claim the world is nothing more than our idiosyncratic interpretation of it, Wilber too is proving his point within the consistency of his own theoretical base. To the thoughtful reader, Wilber systematically lays the foundation that beckons our agreement, but what I was ultimately left with was how Ken Wilber thinks more than how science and religion are part of a grand unified scheme. However, there are some good reasons to privilege Wilber's voice. There is enough substance in going through the rigors of his proof to make The Marriage of Sense and Soul invigorating and worthwhile to read. Wilber's broad knowledge base and his general understanding of religion, science, history, psychology, and spirituality, leads the reader to consider the connections among disciplines that would otherwise go unrecognized. It helped me to unify and deepen my thinking even though it did not convince me that the schism between science and religion has been reduced as a result of his efforts. Polarities, it would seem to me, are necessary for the essential tension they produce, which is then used to further define each pole. To understand this process is as essential as the poles themselves, and Wilber admirably does this, but that does not constitute a reconciliation of the opposite poles of science and religion, even if it is a brilliant thesis.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book moved me to read all of his other books, per his advice at the end of this one.

I found his tour through the various knowledge movements beginning with Romantic times and on through postmodernism to be entertaining and enlightening. His style is very clear and understandable, and he writes for layman and academics alike.

He seems to have intended this book for a wider audience than his other books, and as such, leaves plenty of areas rather vague by just touching on them lightly. Having read his other works, people who are interested in the ideas put forth in Marriage of Sense and Soul should definetly use this book as a springboard to his other books.

And that I think is this book's strength: a very good introduction to the complex world of integral studies. Whether "correct" all the time or not, he represents the cutting edge of the movements, perhaps from the sheer number of philosophers, mysticists, psychologists, theorists and academics that he has read and attempted to integrate; it is clear from reading only a few pages that Wilber is well read!

The assumption that Wilber seems to be operating under is that spiritual experience is indeed "something". Something that can be verified, explained, replicable, and studied. It may not be able to be observed in the laboratory, or in a test tube, but using a broad definition of the "scientific method" that he offers, spirituality is given a new, modern light that can be understood by anyone, and most of al, *experienced* by anyone. If this assumption is not shared by the reader, then this book might not be very interesting or worth the effort.

All in all, Marriage of Sense and soul is a very good read on a complex topic with a set of ideas that are ultimately very egalitarian.

The few negative reviews seem to be from some who have not read Wiber's other works, of which Science and Religion is a summation that often refers to the others for more details. Clearly, a quick read of S & R will seem "vague" or lacking in detail. However, for those with open minds, it presents a brilliant overview of what ails society (that's us) and what can be done about it. Having read Teilhard de Chardin in the sixties (who Wilber refers to), I believe Wilber has pointed to the moon, and the way to go.

"Marriage," as I'll call this book is an excellent, clear summary of a lot of Wilber's work on transpersonal psychology, esp. their levels and dimensions. On the topics of psychology, philosophy, religion, and their integration in Lovejoy's "Great Chain of Being," I don't think you'll find any writer more knowledgeable than Ken Wilber. Yet I feel the book does not really achieve its purpose, which is unifying science and religion.

In discussing religion Wilber does a superb job of delineating what religion really needs to be: religion, really the spiritual *experience*, is not the literal myths that true believers hang their hats on, nor the differing versions of God that separate the followers of the almost countless religions and religious concepts in the world. Rather, it is the internal process(es) of self-awareness, the "eye of contemplation," that can lead one to higher levels, to God, Oneness, or whatever you want to call the Intelligence that pervades everything. I found the discussion of the many subjects that unite in Wilber's elucidation of the spiritual journey to be more clear and concise in "Marriage" than any of his books I have (tried to) read since his groundbreaking first book, "Transformations of Consciousness." Sometimes I find Wilber's highly-praised books to be far too intellectual.

Another outstanding part of this book are Wilber's excellent definitions of what he calls the "dignity" and "disaster" of modernity, dignity being the differentiation of the spheres of art, morals, and science, followed by the "disaster" of disassociation, where science has come to claim hegemony over not only truth but how to discover truth "empirically." Wilber's discussions of the idealist, romantic, and post-modern movements, which have tried to heal the split, are also first-rate. On the other hand his discussion of science is weak, and to me it simply doesn't work, not because his intentions aren't right, but because science simply tends to be "God-less," and his arguments to convince scientists are not convincing, and I don't agree with the implication that science somehow has to validate religious traditions. To me that is conceding far too much to science. As well Wilber seems to have little or no feel for what scientists do, and perhaps the real purpose of the book is not any kind of marriage between the two spheres, but rather how to use a "scientific method" of distilling the wisdom gained from the world's mystics (from many different religious traditions), and testing one's owns spirituality and good deeds against the experiences of these mystics. Science as it is practiced today simply does not encompass these value spheres, and perhaps it should not, other than the obvious ethical cases where scientific knowledge is used for deleterious purposes. Strangely enough, the author does not write a word about such an "injunction" for science and scientists, though a major part of his arguments about science validating religion evolves from injunctions that are a vital part of the scientific process.

The point is, the scientists who try to marry their disciplines with spirituality, like Deepak Chopra and Larry Dossey, are already doing a fine job, in my opinion, and these pathbreakers really dig into the details of such a convergence. So why do we need an intellectual treatise by a non-scientist which itself gives practically no details from any scientific discipline to make the case for this "marriage?"

To give one example, Wilber never really defines what he means by evolution. Is he talking about strict Darwinian evolution or is he talking about spiritual evolution? The so-called rejection of Darwinian evolution by religion is overblown in this book. Most religions accept Darwin's main thesis, that life has evolved over very long spans of time. What any religious organization would naturally reject are the implications of Darwinian evolution, that life has no meaning because all life evolved through chance. Yet I know of not one organized religion that actually promulgates what Wilber discusses in his books: the evolution of the soul, which is far more important for humans than the tedious details of physical evolution. Evolution is a complicated subject that warrants more words than I have here.

Perhaps an even better example of a true marriage between science and religion would be the evidence provided by scientific research that love and compassion are actually good for the physical heart! It would be very entertaining to read reviews of this book by some of the spokemen of mainstream science, such as Steven Weinberg and the authors of books like "Higher Superstition." I would wager that they would find this book quite amusing. They aren't

interested in merging science with anything, as they are convinced that science has nothing to do with Spirit or the unity of anything. And I say fine, because as far as I'm concerned science has no business validating any internal experience. I'd recommend "Seduced By Science" for a good discussion against the need in an age dominated by science for scientific "validatation" of anything spiritual.

In the end I would highly recommend this book for its content, regardless whether it achieves its purpose. But I have found books that really get down to the nitty gritty of how science (really modern physics) might parallel religious traditions more useful in defining a "marriage" of the two spheres, though in a sense the scope of this book is far wider. To name 3 of these books, I'd recommend "The Tao of Physics," "The Self-Aware Universe," and "Religion And Science (by Ian Barbour). Also, John Haught's "God After Darwin" really goes into the details of how to reconcile religion with science. I do not agree with Wilber's contention that science is strictly "monological."

This book is part history and part analysis. Historically this book traces Western theology and philosophy from the Enlightenment to Postmodernism and even to what Wilbur calls extreme postmodernism. As he follows this chronology Wilbur explores the strengths and weaknesses of the significant philosophical developments during that time period and explains how especially in a postmodern world we seek to a way to integrate (without lessening the autonomy of) art, science, and morality. His analysis of the short comings of other proposed integrative solutions is so good that without Wilbur's proposed solutions this book has great value. With Wilbur's solution which I think is very close to the only solution this book is priceless. The one major drawback to this book... the tone and topic of this book is essentially the same as every other Wilbur book. If you've read anything else by him then you won't be surprised by this book at all. However, that certainly didn't stop me from reading it and it won't stop me from getting other Wilbur books.