Gebser’s central thesis was that a potent “leap” in thinking was happening in the 20th century. This new mode of thought would be a holistic-centered, or integral one; an answer to the type of thinking responsible for economic and industrial crisis, two World Wars, and what many today consider a dire, global ecological crisis.
Jean Gebser (1905–1973) was lecturer at the Institute of Applied Psychology in Zürich and honorary Professor of Comparative Studies of Civilization at the University of Salzburg. For his many publications, he received several prizes, including a share of the German Schiller prize, the literary award of the Esslingen Artist’s Guild, the Koggen prize of the City of Minden, and the literary award of the City of Berne. Noel Barstad is associate professor of modern languages at Ohio University. Algis Mickunas is associate professor of philosophy at Ohio University.
“Gebser’s noetic analysis, of Teilhardian scope, is only partially
equaled by such works as Erich Neumann’s The Origins and History of
Consciousness or Gaston Bachelard’s The Philosophy of No. A
profound and sagaciously polemic work, remarkably relevant to
discussions of holism and postmodern consciousness.”
*Library Journal*
“Jean Gebser’s magnum opus is at long last available in a fine
English rendering … I expect no less an interest in the English
translation, and hope that Gebser’s work will now begin to receive
the worldwide recognition it deserves.”
*Emergent Paradigm Bulletin*
“(The book) impressed me as a very important, indeed in some
respects pioneering, piece of work. It treads new paths, opens new
vistas, and in so doing it is vastly, solidly, and subtly
documented by a wealth of anthropological, mythological,
linguistic, artistic, philosophical, and scientific material which
is fruitfully brought into play and shown in its multifold and
striking interrelationships. The book is brilliantly written and
introduces many valuable new terms and distinctions. (It shows)
that scholarly precision and faithfulness to given data are fully
compatible with a broad, imaginative, and spiritual outlook; and
(it exposes) the utter sterility of the prevailing positivistic,
mechanistic, and wrongfully scientistic methods.”
*Erich Kahler, author of Man the Measure, The Tower and the Abyss,
The Orbit of Thomas Mann*
“The gigantic attempt of one of the most creative and stimulating
thinkers of modern Europe to integrate the most advanced knowledge
of our time with the spiritual sources of the past.”
*Lama Anagarika Govinda, author of The Way of the White Clouds and
Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism*
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