Reception in Mainstream Academia
Integral Theory is widely ignored at mainstream academic institutions. Nevertheless, about 90 M.A. theses or Ph.D. dissertations have been written between 1987 and 2009 that make use of Integral Theory, according to the Integral Research Center. In addition, the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice has been vetted and is indexed by Elsevier (Scopus) and EBSCO (Humanities International Complete database). Integral research has been published in an array of interdisciplinary or intradisciplinary journals; however, it has been said by some to have a ways to go in terms of being brought into dialogue with other disciplines.
The capacity of Integral Theory to synthesize major Western and non-Western psychologies, the perennial philosophy, and religious ideas into a cross-cultural map of consciousness has been applauded, sometimes with arguably hyperbolic enthusiasm. Huston Smith, a professor of Philosophy and Religion at Syracuse University and author of The World's Religions, has said that Wilber's integral theory brings Asian and Western psychology together more systematically and comprehensively than other approaches. Michael E. Zimmerman, writing in The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, says that Wilber's views are sometimes sharply contested, but he is widely admired for his efforts in forming a "constructive postmodernism" able to "reenchant" the world without inviting regression.
Forman and Esbjörn-Hargens, two of the leading proponents of Integral Theory, maintain that the integral paradigm has made limited inroads in academic research because many of Wilber's influential writings have been situated between conventional academic discourse and popular philosophy. However, the independent scholar Frank Visser says that there is a problematic relation between Wilber and academia for several reasons, including a "self-referential discourse" wherein Wilber tends to describe his work as being at the forefront of science. Visser has compiled a bibliography of online criticism of Wilber's Integral Theory and produced an overview of their objections. Another Wilber critic, the independent scholar Andrew P. Smith, observes that most of Wilber's work has not been published by university presses, a fact that discourages some academics from taking his ideas seriously. Wilber's failure to respond to critics of Integral Theory is also said to contribute to the field's chilly reception in some quarters. Forman and Esbjörn-Hargens have countered criticisms regarding the academic standing of integral studies in part by claiming that the divide between Integral Theory and academia is exaggerated by critics who themselves lack academic credentials or standing. They also said that participants at the first Integral Theory Conference in 2008 had largely mainstream academic credentials and pointed to existing programs in alternative universities like John F. Kennedy University or Fielding Graduate University as an indication of the field's emergence.
Jennifer Gidley, Research Fellow at RMIT University Melbourne, states that there is a need in the 21st century to create conceptual bridges between Integral Theory, philosophy and pedagogy and other related philosophical, theoretical, and pedagogical approaches. She undertook a comparative study of key evolution of consciousness thinkers, focusing particularly on the integral theoretic narratives of Rudolf Steiner, Jean Gebser, and Ken Wilber (but also with due reference to the seminal writings of Sri Aurobindo and those of contemporary European integral theorists such as Ervin Laszlo and Edgar Morin). She noted the conceptual breadth of Wilber's integral evolutionary narrative in transcending both scientism and epistemological isolationism. She also drew attention to some limitations of Wilber’s integral project, notably his undervaluing of Gebser's actual text, and the substantial omission of the pioneering contribution of Steiner, who, as early as 1904 wrote extensively about the evolution of consciousness, including the imminent emergence of a new stage. As a contribution to the knowledge base of integral education, Gidley has also undertaken a hermeneutic comparative analysis of Rudolf Steiner's educational approach and Wilber's Integral Operating System.
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