The four quadrants of AQAL represent the four basic world views, or ontologies. The ontologies are Subjective (inside+singular), Objective (outside+singular), Intersubjective (inside+plural), and Interobjective (outside+plural). These world views are the ontologies that define the perspective taker’s truth and reality. Thus, from the Subjective perspective or ontology, the truth is in the eye of the beholder, while from the Objective perspective or ontology, the truth is what is observable and measurable by scientific methods, regardless of whether the subjective observer sees it or not. From the Intersubjective perspective or ontology, the truth is what we (you and I, the group, etc.) agree on, and this agreement modifies the group members’ individual subjective truths. From the Interobjective perspective, the truth is what greater systems do, generally independently of what individuals and groups believe, perceive or do. Ontological pluralism means not only that there are four perspectives/ontologies, rather than the currently accepted two, but that all four perspectives co-arise in the contexts of individuals and groups.
Published in Chapter:
Legitimizing Integral Theory in Academia: Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Integral Theory Through Its Application in Research
Veronika Bohac Clarke (University of Calgary, Canada)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 19
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5873-6.ch003
Abstract
This chapter is based on the analysis of experiences of graduate students and professors using Integral Theory (IT) as transdisciplinary research framework, at a Western Canadian mainstream university. The traditional disciplinary orthodoxies, which had presented a formidable challenge to the acceptance of IT in mainstream academia, are briefly described. For example, not having a single disciplinary home, Integral academics do not fit into the traditional roles and their associated benefits. This applies both to professors and to graduate students. Integral students must continue to defend their research and professors must defend Integral teaching. Nevertheless, research is strengthened by an Integral worldview and a more complex understanding of the world. The chapter concludes with a specific discussion of how IT is employed to investigate multiple contexts of complex problems.