Taylor’s Soft Perennialism: A Primer for Perennial Flaws in Transpersonal Scholarship

Hartelius, Glenn

doi:10.24972/ijts.2016.35.2.42

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(17 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An equally ingenious version of perennialism has been advanced by Taylor (2016). This has been considered in some detail elsewhere (Hartelius, 2016(Hartelius, , 2017, but a brief review is warranted here. For Taylor (2016), the origin of all spiritual experience in every human society and tradition is encounter with an allpervasive spiritual force that is the foundation rather than the goal of spiritual development.…”

Section: Taylor's Soft Perennialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A strength of Taylor's (2016) approach is that he has set out to ground his concepts in phenomenology. Among various weaknesses, some already noted elsewhere (Hartelius, 2016(Hartelius, , 2017, are flaws in Taylor's approach to phenomenology, and indeed to scientific processes of evidence more generally. Phenomenology, in the Husserlian tradition, is an approach that attempts to ground science in the fully accessible appearances that occur in direct experience-what Kant had termed phenomenarather than things-in-themselves, the more elusive noumena.…”

Section: Taylor's Soft Perennialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Circular Reasoning Is Not the Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism as a Psychological Theory

Hartelius¹

2017

IJTS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Efforts to present valid evidence for perennialist models do not withstand critical scrutiny. One strategy common to most versions of perennialism points to perceived patterns in reports of spiritual experiences, whether from traditional, clinical, or phenomenological accounts as evidence for such an approach; the shortcoming is that these same patterns are the basis for perennialist premises. Offering one's premises as evidence for their conclusions is circular reasoning, and does not constitute valid support for an idea. Pointing to similarities between reports of spiritual or other transformative experiences is what inspires perennialist models, but is not evidence for their validity. Careful consideration is given to Wilber's use of this and other efforts to support his integral perennialisms, with subsequent consideration of Studstill's mystical pluralism and Taylor's soft perennialism. Perennialist models are considered metaphysical because there does not appear to be any way to obtain independent evidence with which these appealing notions could be validated, and the authors considered here have not achieved effective solutions. However, a review of these three separate approaches reveals some similarities in what may be a genre of perennialist New Age religion.

show abstract

Section: Taylor's Soft Perennialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Taylor's Soft Perennialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Reasoning Is Not the Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism as a Psychological Theory

Hartelius¹

2017

IJTS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ferrer, 2011b), Taylor (2016) has offered a revised, soft perennialism that proposes a varied landscape of spiritual paths and destinations rather than a single transcendent ultimate. In response to recent critique (Hartelius, 2016), Taylor (2017a, this issue) has offered an extended clarifying response. With some caveats, Taylor's revised explanation of his landscape metaphor of spiritual paths seems potentially compatible both with scientific inquiry into certain types of spiritual experience as state-specific phenomena (Hartelius, 2007(Hartelius, , 2015bTart, 1972;Varela, 1996), as well as with participatory approaches (cf.…”

Section: Taylor's Soft Perennialism: Another New Age Religion With Psmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design for Psychology? A Further Response to Taylor's Soft Perennialism

Hartelius¹

2017

IJTS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a recent paper Taylor has suggested that perennialist models are or should be resurgent within transpersonal psychology. However, perennialist models such as those of Wilber and Taylor are metaphysical philosophies of spirituality typical of New Age religions; while such systems may be studied by a psychology that considers human spirituality, they are not and should not be proffered as psychology. Claims that Taylor's soft perennialism are partly evidence based are compared with invalid claims that the narrative of Noah's flood or the Christian-based idea of intelligent design are partly evidence based. Critiques of Wilber's integral perennialism and Taylor's soft perennialism are offered, Taylor's defenses of his work are answered, his contributions are noted, and his concerns of inappropriate critique are rebutted. Taylor's model may be inspiring, but it is not scientific, and not psychological.

show abstract

“…Transpersonal psychology began with an emphasis on exceptional human experiences, but this was always accompanied by an interest in how this scientifically peripheral data might change accepted notions of the human person. Hartelius (2016) has pointed out how the transpersonal vision has typically embraced a transformative approach to the whole person, not just as an individual, but in intimate relationship with a diverse, interconnected, and evolving world. Transpersonal experiences are those that expose possible limitations of conventional ideas about the mind and individual, and point toward the need for a larger concept of who we are.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transpersonal Transformative Experiences: Spiritual and Secular

Krippner

2018

Neuroquantology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Transpersonal experiences transcend one's usual self-identity, and may transform a person's life. In this study, 25 on-line interviews were conducted with Filipinos who responded positively when asked if they had ever had a "lifechanging experience." The Casto Spirituality Scoring System was used to determine which of these could be considered "spiritual" in nature and which could be considered "secular." The results provide a means of determining which reported transpersonal transformative experiences would fall into each category. From this perspective, "transpersonal" and "spiritual" are not synonyms, as someone can report a transpersonal experience that has little or no spiritual content.

show abstract

Taylor’s Soft Perennialism: A Primer for Perennial Flaws in Transpersonal Scholarship

Cited by 16 publications

References 15 publications

Circular Reasoning Is Not the Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism as a Psychological Theory

Circular Reasoning Is Not the Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism as a Psychological Theory

Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design for Psychology? A Further Response to Taylor's Soft Perennialism

Transpersonal Transformative Experiences: Spiritual and Secular

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About