Foreword to ´Ché´s birthday; an integral approach to CSR´.

The image of Ché Guevara´s birthday at the leper hospital, as depicted in http://www.motorcyclediariesmovie.com/home.html remains clair in my memory.i To me it has an important quality. This quality I would like to use in my effort conveying the point I think is worth making: there is an immanent bifurcation point for intellectuals. A crisis; a threat, a chance. This thesis aims at making a case for the bullet proof intellectuel engagé, inside corporate walls. In searching an effective way of conveying what Ché´s birthday at the leper hospital could mean, I oscillated between span ( quantity ) and depth ( quality ). ´Span´ is defined here as: how many phenomenona are taken into consideration. Here views are endless, as well as evolving, iterative, dizzying. Standing on the shoulders of giants, I should limit, as well as stretch myself, in order to communicate something that would stand the test of peer review. ´Depth´ is defined here as: how many views are enclosed / implied in the preliminary conclusions. I think peers would be in accord, to the extent that the view I expressed showed greater depth. Dissatisfied with my limited capacity of conveying what I want by means of what I see as traditional scientific discourse, I came to ´Integral theory´. This view I favour strongly, since it offers solutions, where I don´t see ( fundamental ) solutions in other theories. And that´s what to me is the bottom line in any endeavour: does it reduce suffering; does it enhance life. On http://www.smc.org.au/wps/wps.asp, under ´working papers´, http://www.dialogonleadership.org/interviewWilber.htm and on http://www.nd.edu/~execprog/programs/eilp/ better, but longer introductions into the line of thought I propose here can be found. In the following paragraph I offer a brief and therefore very coarse overview, in order to give a taste of my line of thought in the space I allow myself in this foreword. Lets take the forementioned as an example: in a reverse engineering modus, I could say that (i)my brain showed chemical-electrical activity ( nuts and bolts ) (ii)I was aware of some of the puffs in my mind ( consciousness ) (iii)I was experiencing socially constructed / induced patterns of awareness ( culture ) (iv)my being an agent / node in a network had its unavoidable effects in the network and vice versa ( sociology > systems / network theory ) Variations in the nomenclature abound, but i – iv stand for basic outlooks, in which all span, with any depth can be pigeon holed. Each outlook with its own validations: ( validation claims for objective, subjective, intersubjective, interobjective ) This framework is part of a larger framework, in which also lines of development ( here ii, the ´interior-individual´, is shown as an example of various lines of development) play a role in the larger framework of, well, a rather grand picture: ( this indicates a developmental view of i – iv, where each phenomenon (´holon´) has correlates in all ( i – iv ) , starts in the center and develops outward ) Much can be said about how i – iv mutually influence one another, leading to a dynamic perspective: ( this indicates how all stages of development remain present (& avialable) in the evolutionary trajectory ) From a human, dualistic viewpoint, this leads to what is named in Integral theory the ´prime directive´: all phenomena are at some stage of development, have their own trajectory of further evolution ( and/or -temporary- involution ). The health of the whole spiral is what should be leading, in any ethical or moral deliberation. This implies a fundamental overhaul of policy making processes. From a perennial, esoteric, mystical point of view ( knowing that I speak about the unspeakable qua content ), the preceding plays itself out in the Void: that what contains all time and space & has no name. Where duality is resolved. Where the rational mind can´t enter. In this line of thought 3 basic domains can be distinguished: (i) the material, (ii) the mental and (iii) the spiritual. The material is transcended & included in the mental and the mental is transcended & included in the spiritual. In the mental, consciousness emerges, which can reflect on where it came from, but also on itself and to its future / potential. For each domain it can recognize proper tools and methods for investigation and validation. Super colliders, scales, the Hubble telescope + appropriate theories for the material domain; stories, emotions, theatre, + appropriate theories for the mental domain. But, what of the 3rd domain? Here too we have to use proper tools & methods. Using the tools of the other domains will give hanky panky + accompanying debunking effects. What is the weight of this idea? How many angels fit on the tip of a needle? Category mistakes. For the spiritual domain there are distinct tools, methods & validations. Put briefly: know thyself. By the way: this doesn´t mean there are no correlates of spiritual phenomena in other domains. What is indicated, is that the domain should receive proper scientific treatment; that we suspend our knee jerk ´I don´t want to rock my mental comfort zone boat´- reactions. Why this endeavour of writing a thesis; why all this effort, other than indulging in a narcistic tendency. And why invite criticism with such a grandiose if not grotesque goal? Ché had a mission, in the movie for the 1st time clearly visible on his birthday party at the leper hospital. This resonates with me. I feel a life force rumbling within me, I feel a subtle invitation to greater inclusion, to greater realms of compassion. As Elwood ( together with Jake, the Blues brothers ) would have it: “we´re on a mission from God