Also known as the integral-aperspectival stage of consciousness, the term integral has been used in a philosophical sense by several twentieth century philosophers and psychologists that is different from the mathematical sense. They include: Ken Wilber, Aurobindo, Jean Gebser, Don Beck and many others now gathered in the Integral Institute.

According to the Integral Institute's website, integral means "inclusive, balanced, comprehensive." In the book Spiral Dynamics, Don Beck and Chris Cowan use the term for a stage of consciousness. This stage sequentially follows the pluralistic, or "green" stage. The essential characteristic of integral thought is that it continues the inclusive nature of the pluralistic mentality, yet extends this inclusiveness to those outside of the pluralistic mentality. In doing so, it is able to accept the ideas of development and hierarchy, which the pluralistic mentality finds difficult. In Integral Psychology, Wilber identifies the integral stage with "...cognition of unity, holism, dynamic dialecticism, or universal integralism..."

Quotations

• "The word integral means comprehensive, inclusive, nonmarginalizing, embracing. Integral approaches to any field attempt to be exactly that—to include as many perspectives, styles, and methodologies as possible within a coherent view of the topic. In a certain sense, integral approaches are "meta-paradigms," or ways to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching." —Ken Wilber, "Foreword", in Frank Visser, Ken Wilber: Thought As Passion

• This means that the chief activity of integral cognition is not looking at all of the available theories—whether premodern, modern, or postmodern—and then asking, "Which one of those is the most accurate or acceptable?," but rather consists in asking, "How can all of those be right?" The fact is, all of the various theories, practices, and established paradigms—in the sciences, arts, and humanities—are already being practiced: they are already arising in a Kosmos that clearly allows them to arise, and the question is not, which of those is the correct one, but what is the structure of the Kosmos such that it allows all of those to arise in the first place? What is the architecture of a universe that includes so many wonderful rooms? — Ken Wilber, "The Ways We Are in This Together: Intersubjectivity and Interobjectivity in the Holonic Kosmos" Excerpt C of draft of forthcoming book, Kosmic Karma and Creativity

External link

• Integral Institute
• Integral Naked
• Integral World
• Integral Thinking