Hedlund, Nicholas Hancock;
(2023)
Visionary Realism And The Emergence Of A Eudaimonistic Society: Metatheory In A Time Of Metacrisis.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis aims to support the conditions for the emergence of a eudaimonistic, freeflourishing planetary society by helping ignite the potentials of metatheory as a transformational cultural force vis-à-vis our complex twenty-first century challenges. I argue that metatheory in its appropriate form provides indispensable intellectual scaffolding for the crucial psycho-spiritual, cultural, and social transformations demanded by these interconnected global challenges, or what I call the metacrisis. I advance these aims, first, by reflection on the nature, role, and function of metatheory in geo-historical context, articulating a vision for the revindication of metatheory as integrative metatheory 2.0; and, second, the development of the contours of a particular metatheory through an exploratory-dialogical encounter between what are arguably amongst the most comprehensive and sophisticated integrative metatheories arising in the wake of postmodernism: namely, critical realism, founded by Roy Bhaskar (1944–2014), and integral theory, founded by Ken Wilber (1949–). Thus, in this thesis, I deploy the methodology of hermeneutical dialectics and the method of immanent critique to forge a non-preservative synthesis of aspects of these two metatheories into a new metatheory—a visionary realism—that might help us to better understand and wisely respond to the metacrisis. I then apply this visionary realist framework to sketch the contours of the metacrisis at large, analyzing and synthesizing the philosophical, cultural, and psychological aspects of the metacrisis to identify key principles and holistic solution patterns that may inform deliberate social transformation.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Visionary Realism And The Emergence Of A Eudaimonistic Society: Metatheory In A Time Of Metacrisis |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10169200 |
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