Transdisciplinarity and Consciousness: Toward an Integrated Model

Quantum theories have yet to influence the humanities, leaving much of academia in an outdated seventeenth- or eighteenth-century worldview. The authors argue that scholars who analyze spirituality in dualistic, reductionistic, and materialistic terms commit category errors. They advocate for transdisciplinary approaches to the study of religion and spirituality, proposing a new model for understanding interiority that prefigures a unified approach engaging both quantum physics and the humanities.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A lthough there have been many advances in physics, the implications of quantum theories have not been incorporated into the humanities. As a result, much of academia has remained in a seventeenth or eighteenth century worldview, with some scholars still seeking to analyze spirituality in dualistic, reductionistic, and materialistic terms that in fact have been superceded. Such perspectives often result in mistaken thinking based in category errors. In this article, we point the way beyond such dualism, and argue in favor of transdisciplinary approaches to the study of religion and in particular, spirituality. We posit a new model for understanding interiority prefiguring a unified, transdisciplinary approach that engages quantum physics and the humanities.