Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness (PARP)

PARP 5110: The Art and Discipline of Writing (1 unit)

This brief course, on two Saturdays one month apart, is for students who wish to devote themselves to becoming a writer. It is not so much for those who want to become “a writer” per se, but rather for those who have something important to communicate. Writing in the service of a goal involves the development of certain skills, disciplines, and knowledge—and perhaps other, less tangible but even more important capacities. This course is intended to serve those who wish to commit them­ selves to the labor and life of writing as not only an intellectual and artistic discipline but also, in some sense, a spiritual path, a sustained engagement with the deep mysteries of language and creativity.

PARP 5510 (A and B): Matter Mysteries: Complexity, Consciousness, and the New Science (3 units)

The universe has always been the ultimate source of mystery. In the last few centuries, many humans have taken a relatively new but constrained approach to comprehending this mystery—science. While this approach has been restricted primarily to a reductionist, anthropocentric methodology, it has been highly successful within a very restricted range of phenomena—so successful that, in fact, it has led to its own revision. Instead of the expected simple world composed of dead matter guided predictably by immutable laws, by the early 20th century, scientists had found a multivalent, multithreaded webverse consisting of incredibly creative matter co-creating with a vast network of known and unknown relationships. PARP 5510A views this mystery through the lenses of chaos theory/complexity science, fractals, biological evolution, and the evolution of self-consciousness. PARP 5510B views this mystery through the lenses of special and general relativity, quantum mechanics, string theory, and the quantum mechanics of self-consciousness.

PARP 6064: Varieties of Ethics (1 unit)

The first half of this course is devoted to the history of Western ethics, including Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Kant’s Foundations of Ethics, Mill’s Utilitarianism, Royce’s Philosophy of Loyalty, and Dewey’s Human Nature and Conduct. The second half covers the writings of two or three late-20th-century ethicists selected from John Rawls, Alasdair MacIntyre, Peter Singer, and at least one book by a feminist.

PARP 6110: Cosmological Powers (3 units)

The universe uses a variety of processes, laws, and powers, such as the electromagnetic interaction, the second law of thermodynamics, and gravity. These are the fundamental activities of the universe that have given rise to all the complex beings throughout 14 billion years of evolution. The human being, from this perspective, is a new, holistic blending of these processes and powers. This course examines the way in which humanity can be understood as a “hominized” form of cosmological processes.

PARP 6118: The Way of Cosmology (1 unit)

We are the generation that is living in the moment when humanity discovers its place in the 14-billion-year evolutionary event that is the universe. This revelation began with the scientific data detailing the emergence of stars and galaxies and life forms, but an intellectual understanding is only the first step. What we explore in this course is a way of life that is consonant with the realization that we are the energy from the beginning of time now seeking a new role as the conscious self-awareness of a living planet.

PARP 6160: The Sixth Extinction and the Transformation of Consciousness (3 units)

Humanity and the Earth itself are currently facing an unprecedented challenge: a mass extinction, caused by human activity, unparalleled since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Estimates are that at current rates, one-half of all species of life on Earth will be extinct by the end of this century. This intensive seminar explores the scientific, cultural, psychological, and spiritual significance of this situation, and the possibilities for changing humanity’s direction. Readings include selections by E. O. Wilson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Carl Jung.

PARP 6191: Introduction to Permaculture (1 unit)

This course is an overnight two-day intensive held at an intentional community in west Marin County. The objectives of this course are to introduce and apply permaculture/ecological principles, to practice a hands-on approach to ecological sustainability, to give service to the land in exchange for its inherent wisdom, and to invite the dynamic talents of PC faculty and local permaculture teachers to foster an experiential bridge between academia and a grounded sense place.

PARP 6208: Western Spiritual Masters (3 units)

A companion course to Asian Spiritual Masters, this course focuses on three thinkers who exemplify the synthesis of spiritual and philosophical insights in artistic expression. Readings include a wide variety of writings by Goethe (1749-1831), the dominant figure in European Romanticism; Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the dominant figure in American Romanticism; and Owen Barfield (1899-1998), who significantly extended the teachings and practices developed by Goethe, Coleridge, and Steiner. This course is intended for doctoral students; master’s students need permission of the instructor.

PARP 6215: The Spiritual Mission of America (3 units)

This course focuses on the writings of American authors important either in their own right or as spokespersons for a current of thought important in American culture: the founding fathers (selections from The Federalist Papers); the literary renaissance of the mid-19th century (with emphasis on Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman); a pragmatic approach to philosophy and religion (James’s Varieties of Religious Experience); the Civil Rights movement and philosophy (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.); and readings in contemporary feminism.

PARP 6225: Synchronicity and Its Implications (3 units)

The phenomenon of synchronicity constitutes a dramatic challenge to the dominant scientific paradigm of our time: if synchronicity is real, the universe must be very different from what is assumed by the conventional scientific understanding. This course investigates the implications of accepting the reality of synchronicity and the role it has come to play in the psychological and spiritual life of our time. The course begins with a discussion of C. G. Jung’s original formulation of the issue, including how that differed from the approach he actually adopted in his own life and practice, and then examines the various theoretical explanations that have been proposed by scientists, philosophers, and depth psychologists.

PARP 6270: Asian Spiritual Masters (3 units)

A companion course to Western Spiritual Masters, this course studies 20th-century spiritual teachers and activists rooted in Asian spiritual traditions. The first half of the course introduces Indian/neo-Hindu ideals and focuses on M. K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, and Haridas Chaudhuri. The second half introduces Buddhist ideals and focuses primarily on His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and secondarily on Joanna Macy and other Buddhist activists who exemplify the path of wisdom and compassion. (Cross-listed as EWP 6270.)

PARP 6285: Modern Western Esotericism: Theosophy and Anthroposophy (3 units)

This course focuses on the biographies, teachings, and influence of three great spiritual-esoteric teachers of the late 19th and 20th centuries: Madame Blavatsky (H.P.B.) and theosophy, Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy, and C. G. Jung and archetypal psychology. This course also explores archetypal-astrological perspectives so as to uncover a deeper understanding of these three figures and the times in which they lived.

PARP 6310: Jung and Myth (3 units)

This course investigates the use and interpretation of mythology by C. G. Jung. The course begins with an introduction to Jung’s life and thought. There follows an examination of Jung’s studies of a series of mythological motifs, including, among others, the Hero, the Great Mother, the Child, the Wise Old Man, and the Trickster. The course also explores Jungian approaches to an interrelated family of Mesopotamian myths that lie behind much of later Western mythology: namely, the myths of Inanna and Gilgamesh. The course ends with an examination of Jung’s interpretation of the “Christ Myth,” the central myth of Christianity. (Cross-listed as EWP 6310.)

PARP 6315: The Epic of the Universe (3 units)

This course covers the central ideas and discoveries of the evolution of the universe. This empirically based narrative is a cosmological epic, an account of how things came to be and of how the human fits into the cosmos. The importance of a new, transcultural epic is difficult to overestimate, for this is a story with relevance for peoples throughout the planet and can serve as the basis for a single, multivalent human community. The focus here is on the early parts of the universe, the birth of the cosmos, the development of galaxies, and the origin and development of stars.

PARP 6355: Spiritual Dimensions of Modern Art (1 unit)

(Cross-listed. For course description see PARW 6355.)

PARP 6390: The Fullness of Time (3 units)

We live in what the ancients called a kairos, a time of radical transformation, where the fate not only of the human project but of the biosphere as we have always known it lies in question. Blending lecture, experiential exercises, and dialogue, this course seeks to cultivate a deeper insight into our current moment through an exploration of the concept and experience of time. Some of the themes or elements of the course include: changing views of time throughout the evolution of consciousness; different approaches to time; our increasingly accelerated time-sense; and the healing power of extending our experience into “deep time.”

PARP 6391: The Alchemy of Permaculture (3 units)

Our relationship to the vital Earth we inhabit is inherently alchemical. But at this moment, evidenced by the looming planetary ecological crisis, the vessel of that relationship is on the verge of shattering. A crisis of this magnitude demands that we respond to the situation from a perspective that honors both exterior and interior landscapes. Our task is to examine how we have reached this critical point and to explore the possibilities of creating a more sustainable crucible for life. This ten-day off-site residential field course investigates the psychocultural origins of the planetary crisis and pursues direct practical solutions to it. Utilizing the ethic and practice of deep ecology and permaculture, we aim to envision, create, and live a sustainable way of being. Activities include lectures, discussions, wilderness field trips, hands-on experience with bioremediation, permaculture design principles, water catchment, wild food and medicine foraging, organic dairy production, practice in sustainable community, and—most importantly—exploring our playful and joyous kinship with the wild and natural world. Readings include selections by E. O. Wilson on the ecological crisis, C. G. Jung and others on alchemy, and a variety of readings on permaculture and deep ecology.

PARP 6500: A History of Western Worldviews I: From the Greeks to the Enlightenment (3 units)

Drawing on defining classic texts, this course engages some of the foundational perspectives characteristic of Western thought and culture. Beginning with the ancient Greek worldview and proceeding through the Judeo-Christian to the modern, lectures emphasize the deeper significance and continuing relevance of the ideas under review. This course provides essential background for many of the specialized PCC courses and is highly recommended for students lacking a strong familiarity with the history of Western thought.

PARP 6520: The Ecosocial Vision (3 units)

This course presents an overview of the emergent ecosocial, postmechanistic theory and practice in the following areas: politics and economics (political economy); science; physiology and medicine; art; architecture and planning; spirituality and religion; contemporary literature, contemporary philosophy; ecopsychology; education (including participatory research); critique of technology; and culture and media. Current events and the assumptions of modernity are analyzed from the critical perspective of an ecologically grounded postmodern perspective, one that includes visionary yet pragmatic solutions and possibilities for ecosocial transformation. (Cross-listed as PARW 6520-60.)

PARP 6538: Krishna, the Buddha, and Christ (3 units)

This course provides an opportunity for students to deepen their relationship to Krishna, to the Buddha, and to Christ. To this end, the course includes a study of the Bhagavad Gita according to Sri Aurobindo; His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Tibetan Buddhism and in dialogue with Catholic contemplatives; a study of Christ from the perspective of non-Christians; two Jungian interpretations of Christ as a symbol of the Self; Bede Griffiths on Asian and Western spirituality; and Rudolf Steiner’s lectures on esoteric relationships among Krishna, Buddha, and Christ.

PARP 6540: A History of Western Worldviews II: From the Romantics to the Postmodern (3 units)

This course continues the examination of the modern and postmodern Western perspectives begun in A History of Western Worldviews I. Beginning with Romanticism and the pivotal contributions of Hegel, the course goes on to consider such movements as transcendentalism, depth psychology, feminism, pragmatism, ecology, as well as the implications of the new science. Some of the figures treated include Emerson, Nietzsche, James, Jung, Buber, Whitehead, Evelyn Fox Keller, and Catherine Keller.

PARP 6555: Cosmology and Consciousness in the Ancient World: The Mysteries (3 units)

This course investigates the evolution of cosmology and consciousness in antiquity through exploring the “Mystery Religions.” Topics include the earliest cosmologies, archaic experience of self, initiation rituals, concepts of soul and immortality, the geocentric cosmos, relationships between cosmos and psyche, the origins of astrology, alchemy, mysticism, and magic, myths of transformation, the birth of self-reflective consciousness, and the origins of new religions and worldviews. Particular attention is paid to relationships between course material and developments in our own time.

PARP 6570: Evolution of Consciousness (3 units)

This course focuses on four major theoretical contributions to our understanding of the evolution of consciousness: Teilhard de Chardin’s inspiring cosmological vision of the emergence of the noosphere and its relation to the Omega Point; Hindu sage Sri Aurobindo and his notions of involution/evolution, the Supermind, and integral yoga; Eric Neumann, who provides a Jungian archetypal and mythopoeic analysis of the origins and history of consciousness; and the integral-aperspectival theory of Jean Gebser and his quasi-mystical understanding of the relation of consciousness to its ever-present origin. (Cross-listed as EWP 6570.)

PARP 6571: Mary and Modernity (1 unit)

(Cross-listed. For course description see PARW 6571.)

PARP 6586: Cosmology of Oceans (2 units)

During the time of the great classical civilizations, divine scriptures guided human activity. They were replaced during the modern period by human reason. Now, humanity is realizing that it is Earth itself that must guide human action. The atmosphere, the climate, the biosphere, the hydrosphere, will determine the course of human energies throughout this century. Cosmology of Oceans has been designed as an entrance into a new form of education, one in which the primary teacher is the Earth, and where the professors teach course participants how to draw in the wisdom of the enveloping Earth systems.

PARP 6605-60: Literature of Embeddedness (2 units, online)

(Cross-listed. For course description see PARW 6605-60.)

PARP 6618: Intimations of a New Worldview (3 units)

The limits of our cosmological imagination define the limits of our existence: Do we live in a disenchanted, mechanistic, purposeless universe as a randomly produced oddity of isolated consciousness, or do we participate in a living cosmos of unfolding meaning and purpose? This seminar and lecture course uses as its text Richard Tarnas’s Cosmos and Psyche, which summarizes 30 years of research examining correlations between planetary movements and the archetypal patterns of human experience. Rather than indicate a fatalistic determinism in the cosmic scheme, these correlations appear to open up a new dimension of awareness through which both individuals and the larger human community can participate more consciously and intelligently in their encounter with and embodiment of the great archetypal forces that shape human life.

PARP 6620: Luce Irigaray: An Ethics of Sexuate Difference (1 unit, weekend)

(Cross-listed. For course description see PARW 6620.)

PARP 6735: Embodied, Embedded Philosophy (3 units)

In the wake of quantum physics and complexity studies, Western philosophy is ripe for a rethinking inspired by the biological, ecological, and cosmological awakening. This course analyzes both the problem (the West’s long “dogmatic slumber” in a trance of disembodied, disembedded assumptions) and the emergent corrections and creative possibilities. Students study pioneering philosophers of an embodied, embedded orientation; gather research on the latest holistic discoveries in science; and contribute to the emergence of postmechanistic, embodied, embedded ecosocial philosophy by reframing and reconsidering a key issue or area in Western philosophy. (Cross-listed as PARW 6735-60.)

PARP 6746: The Earth Journey (3 units)

During the modern age, the fundamental context for meaning was the nation-state. This is now understood to be too restrictive to serve the needs of our multicultural, planetary world. The new context is Earth, the matrix for every culture and nation. This course covers the evolutionary journey of Earth from molten matter to our present time. Topics explored include the dynamics of Earth in the shaping of the continents, the birth of life, and the appearance and functioning of the human groups. The course includes speculations on the emerging role of humanity as a partner with the other fundamental components of Earth.

PARP 6748: Nature and Eros (2 units)

Nature and Eros takes the form of an intensive retreat and employs an integral educational process, including the conceptual, the emotional, the experiential, and the intuitive, in order to embrace Nature as the multidimensional matrix, not only of our bodies, minds, and souls, but of our civilization as well. In each course, participants live together for five days in a distinct natural setting: forest, ocean, wetlands, mountain, or desert. Participants turn to Nature herself because she has the power to awaken us to our true authenticity.

PARP 6754: Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy (3 units)

This course is an introduction to the spiritual-scientific research of Rudolf Steiner, the 20th-century esoteric-spiritual clairvoyant and initiate, and to anthroposophy, the esoteric discipline intended, in Steiner’s words, “to lead the spiritual in the individual to the spiritual in the Universe.” Readings in this course include an exposition of Steiner’s life, thought, and practical advice; Steiner’s writings anthologized in The Essential Steiner; a reading and discussion of Steiner’s foundational text for spiritual practice, How to Know Higher Worlds; and books on the implications and applications of Steiner’s insights and method for the attainment of higher knowledge.

PARP 6780: From Gilgamesh to Gnosis: Mythic Structures of Western Religion (3 units)

This course explores mythic patterns at the heart of Western religions. The course examines the earliest Mesopotamian roots of the symbolic systems of the West; the core myths of the ancient Israelites; the merging of ancient Near Eastern ritual and myth, Israelite apocalyptic speculation, and Greek mysticism and cosmology that created the symbolic matrix from which the Christian movement emerged; the process by which multiple layers of archetypal imagery gradually became woven around the historical figure of Jesus; and the fully developed Christ-myth in sources ranging from the visionary mythmaker Paul to various Gnostic traditions.

PARP 6800: Integral T’ai Chi (2 units)

T’ai Chi Ch’uan is a subtle and profound “internal art” that, through embodying the Chinese concepts of yin and yang, Tao, and chi, promotes greater health and vitality, psychological equanimity, and spiritual alignment. This course introduces students to T’ai Chi Ch’uan as an integral, body-based, psychospiritual discipline. The core of the course consists of expert instruction in the first section of Yang Ch’en-fu’s original version of the modern Long Form. Students also learn the fundamentals of Taoist cosmology, chi gong, standing meditation, and T’ai Chi as a method of self-defense. (Cross-listed as EWP 6800.)

PARP 6821: Archetypal Process: Whitehead, Jung, and Hillman (3 units)

Two key figures in the 20th century’s engagement with the intersection of philosophy, cosmology, and consciousness were Alfred North Whitehead and C. G. Jung. This course offers an overview of their work,A0grounded in entirely different disciplines but approaching the same mystery. The final part of the course is devoted to exploring and discussing the remarkableA0contributions to theA0anthology Archetypal Process, based on a provocative and fruitful 1983 conference with James Hillman, David Ray Griffin, Catherine Keller, and others, perhaps the fullest academic anticipation of the concerns and themes that later came to inspire the transdisciplinary focus of the PCC program.

PARP 6825: Classics of Christian Spirituality: From the New Testament to Feminist and Liberation Theologies (3 units)

This course is an introduction to the texts, teachings, and practices that constitute the essence and development of Christianity, from the New Testament to feminist and liberation theologies. Its concern is primarily to introduce and explore the spiritual and incarnational wisdom within the Christian tradition. To that end, it includes the study of key Christian scriptures, historical and contemporary forms of Christian spirituality, a number of Christian mystics, and the relationship between Christian spirituality and contemporary concerns with gender, ecology, justice, globalization, and religious diversity.

PARP 7001: Psyche and Cosmos I: Transpersonal Psychology and Archetypal Astrology (3 units)

This course examines the emerging understanding of the relationship between the human psyche and the cosmos, based on observed correlations between various psychological conditions and transformations and specific planetary positions. Topics include the extended cartography of the human psyche suggested by modern consciousness research and experiential therapies, analysis of birth charts and planetary transits, archetypal and perinatal patterns in art and culture, and the relevance of this evidence to both the larger tradition of depth psychology and the cultural emergence of a radically integrated worldview.

PARP 7002: Psyche and Cosmos II: Transits in Depth (Practicum) (3 units)

This seminar is a practicum designed to help students become skillful in the use of archetypal astrological methods of analysis—particularly natal and transit analysis—for understanding the timing and character of a wide range of psychological conditions and biographical events. Classes will be devoted to detailed weekly analyses of one’s own personal transits as well as representative transits for significant cultural figures and their major biographical experiences. Attention will also be paid to the larger historical context of personal transits, as reflected in major past, present, and upcoming outer-planet alignments. The focus throughout the course is on articulating and becoming more conscious of the archetypal dynamics of human life, expressed both psychologically and in external events, and reflected in the coinciding planetary alignments.

PARP 7103: Ecology and Democracy (3 units)

In this course, we explore the ways that democracy and ecology have intersected, augmented, and shaped each other in American history. We put special emphasis on the inner life, including psychologies, philosophies, spiritual insights, and intimate and domestic ways of life. Experiences of nature, both mystical and practical, are part of our study. We also read excerpts from the writings of Jefferson, Rousseau, Emerson, Wordsworth, Whitman, Dickinson, Margaret Fuller, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Alice Walker, Joy Harjo, Gary Snyder, and others, as well as texts from Native American philosophies, to track the coevolution of ideas about nature and democracy. We bring all this to bear on who we are now and what transformations of ourselves and our culture we envision in the future.

PARP 7105: Archetypes, Art, and Culture (3 units)

Informed by the insights of Jungian, archetypal, and transpersonal psychology, this course uses lecture presentations and works of music, film, and literature to explore and understand the meanings of the planetary archetypes in natal charts and transits. In turn, the archetypal astrological perspective is used to illuminate and more deeply understand the deeper dimensions of major works of art and cultural epochs, from Beethoven’s symphonies and the French Revolution to Fellini, the Rolling Stones, and the 1960s. Because the arts affect the heart and body as well as the mind and spirit, permitting a more multidimensional experience of the archetypes than would expository lectures and readings alone, this course will involve listening to various works of music, watching films, and reading fiction and memoirs.

PARP 7134: Integral Cosmology: Sri Aurobindo and Whitehead (3 units)

Both Sri Aurobindo and Alfred North Whitehead made significant contributions to cosmological thought. Between them they developed an integral cosmology in which consciousness, soul, and spirit are seen as intrinsic to the universe rather than as epiphenomenal. Taken together, their work outlines a story of evolution in which we can make sense of the current planetary crisis, including its economic and technological dimensions.

PARP 7400: Psyche and Spirit: From the Psychology of Religion to Transpersonal Theory (3 units)

This course explores the relation of psyche to “spirit”—that is, to religion, spirituality, and spiritual philosophies and worldviews—through a consideration of the development that leads from classic representatives of the psychology of religion to the principal paradigms of contemporary transpersonal theory. Readings include primary texts, set in their appropriate contexts, by William James, C. G. Jung, Stanislav Grof, and Ken Wilber.

PARP 7567: Subtle Activism (2 units)

This course explores the degree to which consciousness can be considered a form of subtle action with sociopolitical manifestations. Types of subtle activists considered include the intellectual, the psychonaut, the yogi, and the meditator. Readings and practices are drawn from the works of Edgar Morin, William James, Stanislav Grof, Chris Bache, Sri Aurobindo, and Marianne Williamson, among others. This course includes practice of such experiential modalities as meditation, prayer, and guided visualizations.

PARP 7666: Feminist Philosophy and Religious Thought (3 units)

(Cross-listed. For course description see PARW 7666.)

PARP 7777: The Alchemical Tradition (3 units)

This course explores the nature and history of alchemy. Western alchemy is traced from its origins in the Hellenistic period, through its development in Islam, to its flowering in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Chinese and Indian alchemy are also discussed. Particular attention is paid to the connections between alchemy and esoteric religious traditions, and to C. G. Jung’s modern discovery of the psychological and spiritual implications of alchemical symbolism. (Cross-listed as EWP 7777.)

PARP 7820: Advanced Seminar: Hegel and Jung (3 units)

This seminar considers the dialogical relationship between Hegel’s philosophy of the Absolute and Jung’s psychology of individuation. Through a close reading of primary texts, and while attempting to stay true to the intuition of wholeness shared by both figures, the group explores such topics as the nature of wisdom and the limits of knowledge; the dialectical/ dialogical character of reality at all levels; the special significance of religion; and the meaning and end of history.

PARP 7880: Integral Knowing: Transdisciplinarity and Complexity (3 units)

The series of interrelated crises—ecological, demographic, economic, political, social, psychological, and spiritual—with which humanity is currently faced calls for a way of thinking that will offer mindful and creative responses. This course explores and enacts ways of thinking that transcend the narrow boundaries and limiting assumptions of traditional disciplinary mind-sets. Drawing from the work of Edgar Morin, Ken Wilber, and Lauraine Code, among others, this course encourages the development of skills necessary to avoid the pitfalls of fragmentation and reductionism. Classes consist of lectures, discussion, and occasional experiential exercises.

PARP 8150: Advanced Seminar: Nietzsche’s Life and Work (3 units)

This advanced doctoral seminar explores the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche in its dramatic evolution over the course of his life. Most of his major works are covered, as well as a sampling and survey of the others. Our task is to enter into this extraordinary and immensely influential philosopher’s intellectual and spiritual world, engage his ideas in dialogue, and attempt to grasp their deeper contours and larger significance. This course is intended for doctoral students; master’s students need permission of the instructor.

PARP 9566: Advanced Ph.D. Seminar: Comparative Mysticism (3 units)

(Cross-listed. For course description see EWP 9412.)

PARP 9568: The Planetary Era: Toward a New Wisdom Culture (3 units)

This seminar considers the complex network of factors related to the birth and ongoing transformation of the Planetary Era. Drawing on the insights of such “big picture” thinkers as Hegel and Jung, Karl Jaspers, and Teilhard de Chardin, or more recently of Ewert Cousins, Ken Wilber, and Edgar Morin, we seek to discern the deeper pattern of world history and the evolution of consciousness. Emphasizing the continuity among such traditions as Renaissance esotericism, Romanticism, the 1960s counterculture, and the New Paradigm, we participate in the creation of a Wisdom culture worthy of the Planetary Era.

PARP 9569: Advanced Seminar: Emerson and William James (3 units)

The first half of this course studies a selection of the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, including Nature, Self-Reliance, Divinity School Address, Circles, The Poet, and The Natural History of Intellect. The second half covers several of the major works of William James, including Principles of Psychology (Briefer Course), Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism, Radical Empiricism, and Pluralistic Universe.

PARP 8799: Independent Study (1-3 units)