Participatory theory is a vision or conceptual framework that attempts to bridge the subject–

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ...

distinction. According to

Jorge Ferrer Jorge N. Ferrer (born October 30, 1968) is a US-based Spanish psychologist who wrote about the applications of participatory theory to transpersonal psychology, religious studies, integral education, and sexuality and intimate relationships. F ...

, "the kernel of this participatory vision is a turn from intra-subjective experiences to participatory events in our understanding of

transpersonal The transpersonal is a term used by different schools of philosophy and psychology in order to describe experiences and worldviews that extend beyond the personal level of the psyche, and beyond mundane worldly events. Definition and context The ...

and spiritual phenomena."

Participatory epistemology

A participatory epistemology is a

theory of knowledge Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Ep ...

that holds that meaning is enacted through the participation of the human mind with the world. Originally proposed by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, it has been discussed extensively by

cultural historian Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

Richard Tarnas. In a participatory epistemology, meaning is neither solely

objective Objective may refer to: * Objective (optics), an element in a camera or microscope * ''The Objective'', a 2008 science fiction horror film * Objective pronoun, a personal pronoun that is used as a grammatical object * Objective Productions, a Brit ...

nor solely subjective. That is to say that meaning is not, per

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

or positivist views, found solely outside of the human mind, in the objective world, waiting to be discovered. Nor, per postmodern or constructivist views, is meaning simply constructed or projected onto an inherently meaningless world by the subjective human mind. Rather, Tarnas argues that meaning is ''enacted'' through the

dialectical Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...

participation of the human mind with the larger meaning of the cosmos. Thus meaning exists ''in potentia'' in the

cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

, but must be articulated by human

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

before it exists in actuality.

In this view, the essential reality of nature is not separate, self-contained, and complete in itself, so that the human mind can examine it "objectively" and register it from without. Rather, nature's unfolding truth emerges only with the active participation of the human mind. Nature's reality is not merely
phenomenal A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...
, nor is it independent and objective; rather, it is something that comes into being through the very act of human cognition. Nature becomes intelligible to itself through the human mind.

According to Tarnas, participatory epistemology is rooted in the thought of

, Schiller,

Schelling Schelling is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Caroline Schelling (1763–1809), German intellectual * Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), German philosopher * Felix Emanuel Schelling (1858–1945), American educato ...

, Hegel,

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

, Emerson, and

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...

The "participatory turn" in transpersonal theory

In the field of

transpersonal psychology Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is a sub-field or school of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. The '' transpersonal'' is defined ...

, the "participatory turn" endorsed by Jorge Ferrer suggests that transpersonal phenomena are participatory and co-creative events. Ferrer defines these events as "emergences of transpersonal being that can occur not only in the locus of an individual, but also in a relationship, a community, a collective identity or a place." This participatory knowing is multidimensional, and includes all the powers of the human being (body/heart/soul), as understood from a transpersonal framework. Ferrer's vision includes a spiritual reality that is plural and multiple, and a spiritual power that may produce a wide range of revelations and insights, which in turn may be overlapping, or even incompatible. Criticism

Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II (born January 31, 1949) is an American philosopher and writer on transpersonal psychology and his own integral theory, a philosophy which suggests the synthesis of all human knowledge and experience. Life and career Wilbe ...

argues that participatory epistemology is limited in its appropriate scope to observing the interior of a subjective plural domain. Ferrer argues that Wilber's criticisms of participatory theory have

conflated Conflation is the merging of two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, opinions, etc., into one, often in error. Conflation is often misunderstood. It originally meant to fuse or blend, but has since come to mean the same as equate, treati ...

pluralism with vulgar

relativism Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...

Application in psychoanalysis

Psychoanalyst Robin S. Brown has promoted a participatory perspective in the context of relational psychoanalysis as a means to fostering clinical pluralism.Brown, R.S. (2020).
Groundwork for a Transpersonal Psychoanalysis: Spirituality, Relationship, and Participation
'. London & New York: Routledge. Brown adopts a participatory reading of Jungian archetypes as a basis from which to theorize

alterity Alterity is a philosophical and anthropological term meaning "otherness", that is, the "other of two" (Latin ''alter''). It is also increasingly being used in media to express something other than "sameness", or something outside of tradition or co ...

in the clinical situation.

References

Bibliography

*Bache, Christopher ''Dark Night, Early Dawn'', 2000; SUNY *Brown, Robin S. ''Psychoanalysis Beyond the End of Metaphysics: Thinking Towards the Post-Relational'', 2017; Routledge *Ferrer, Jorge ''Revisioning Transpersonal Theory'', 2002; SUNY *Ferrer, Jorge & Sherman, Jacob ''The Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, Religious Studies'', 2009; SUNY *Sherman, Jacob ''Partakers of the Divine: Contemplation and the Practice of Philosophy'', 2014; Fortress Press *Tarnas, Richard ''Cosmos and Psyche'', 2006; Viking *Tarnas, Richard ''The Passion of the Western Mind'', 1991; Ballantine {{DEFAULTSORT:Participatory Epistemology Transpersonal psychology Epistemological theories

Participatory epistemology

The "participatory turn" in transpersonal theory

Application in psychoanalysis

See also

References

Bibliography