Middle Way Philosophy


Book Description

"A departure at right angles to thinking in the modern Western world. An important, original work, that should get the widest possible hearing" (Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and his Emissary) Middle Way Philosophy is not about compromise, but about the avoidance of dogma and the integration of conflicting assumptions. To rely on experience as our guide, we need to avoid the interpretation of experience through unnecessary dogmas. Drawing on a range of influences in Buddhist practice, Western philosophy and psychology, Middle Way Philosophy questions alike the assumptions of scientific naturalism, religious revelation and political absolutism, trying to separate what addresses experience in these doctrines from what is merely assumed. This Omnibus edition of Middle Way Philosophy includes all four of the volumes previously published separately: 1. The Path of Objectivity, 2. The Integration of Desire, 3. The Integration of Meaning, and 4. The Integration of Belief.




Middle Way Philosophy 3: The Integration of Meaning


Book Description

This third volume of the Middle Way Philosophy series applies the revolutionary view, taken from cognitive science, that meaning is found in our bodies rather than in a relationship between language and reality. The cognitive meaning found in dictionaries and the emotive 'meaning of life' cannot be separated. This approach reveals the basic error of the metaphysical views that depend on absolute cognitive meaning. It also provides the basis for an account of how we can integrate meaning. Each new time we connect an experience to a symbol we extend meaning in a way that gives us more resources to develop more adequate beliefs. The practice of integrating meaning can be promoted by the arts, meditation and focusing, and can also involve working to resolve archetypes. Middle Way Philosophy was first developed by Robert M Ellis in a Ph.D. thesis, and he has now founded the Middle Way Society for the development and practice of the Middle Way beyond religious tradition.




Middle Way Philosophy 4: The Integration of Belief


Book Description

This fourth volume of the Middle Way Philosophy series uses cognitive psychology and balanced sceptical philosophy to explain both how we get stuck in dogmas, and how provisionality is possible. It is argued that we can make progress both in avoiding delusions and developing wisdom not by finding 'truth' or employing 'rationality', but rather through awareness of our assumptions. We need not ultimately true beliefs (as is often assumed), but judgements that are more adequate to each new set of conditions. The book includes a wide survey of the cognitive biases identified by psychology, with an argument that the practically important aspect of each is an absolutising assumption that we could potentially avoid through awareness. Robert M Ellis's work on Middle Way Philosophy has been described by Iain McGilchrist, author of 'The Master and his Emissary' as ""Important, original work...a departure at right angles to typical thinking in the modern Western world.""




The Buddha's Middle Way


Book Description

The Middle Way is the first teaching offered by the Buddha in his first address, and the basis of his practical method in meditation, ethics, and wisdom. It is often mentioned in connection with Buddhist teachings, yet the full case for its importance has not yet been made. This book aims to make that case.




Middle Way Philosophy 2: The Integration of Desire


Book Description

We are not single selves, but constantly meet conflicts of desire both within and beyond ourselves. We meet conflict at different levels, from everyday distraction, to the suffering of the addict, through even to world war. The integration of desire is the process of bringing opposing desires to work together, whether at the psychological or the political level. Robert M Ellis here brings together approaches that have previously been separated, drawing on ethics, psychology, philosophy, history, politics, and Buddhism to suggest a common pattern in the resolution of conflict at all levels. This is the second volume of a planned 5-volume series on Middle Way Philosophy, and follows the first volume, which set out an overall philosophical approach to applying the Buddha's Middle Way in the modern Western context. The Jungian concept of integration is here combined with the philosophical approach of the Middle Way to offer a practical way forward beyond absolutism and relativism




Migglism: A Beginner's Guide to Middle Way Philosophy


Book Description

'Migglism' is a short term for Middle Way Philosophy, a practical philosophical approach developed by Robert M. Ellis in a Ph.D. thesis and a series of books. Middle Way Philosophy brings together insights from Buddhism, philosophy and psychology to offer a framework of thinking for a range of integrative practices. This book introduces these ideas in an accessible way. 'The Middle Way' is not a compromise, but a process of navigating between dogmatic extremes. By avoiding either positive or negative claims that go beyond experience, we can find a new way of thinking, valuing and practising. Approved by the Middle Way Society. ""The middle is the chaotic and confusing place between the extremes. While the extremes are simpler and more attractive, it is in the mess in the middle where the interesting and creative activities occur - it is where we should be. Robert sets out a foundation for a way of thinking about the middle ground as a place to move towards."" Ed Catmull, President of Pixar.




The Middle Way


Book Description

The human world is wobbly wildly off balance. Everywhere you look -- from the halls of Congress to the deserts of the Middle East -- institutions and societies are riven by discord. To his crisis-laden situation -- one that globalization cannot correct by economic means alone -- philosopher Lou Marinoff brings a much-needed antidote to extremism, offfering hope and guidance to everyone who feels powerless, frustrated, or frightened in a world that flirts daily with disaster. Drawing inspiration from three of humankind's greatest philosophers -- Aristotle, Buddha, and Confucius -- Marinoff maps a route from chaos to order, a path whose signposts can be read in the perennial wisdom of these "ABCs." Marinoff offers us a way to travel into a less violent, more cooperative, and most fulfilling future: "The Middle Way". -- From publisher's description.




The Christian Middle Way


Book Description

The Middle Way is the practical principle of avoiding both positive and negative absolutes, so as to develop provisional beliefs accessible to experience. Although inspired initially by the Buddha’s Middle Way, in Middle Way Philosophy Robert M. Ellis has developed it as a critical universalism: a way of separating the helpful from the unhelpful elements of any tradition. In this book, the Middle Way is applied to the Christian tradition in order to argue for a meaningful and positive interpretation of it, without the absolute beliefs that many assume to be essential to Christianity. Faith as an embodied, provisional confidence is distinguished from dogmatic belief. Recent developments in embodied meaning, brain lateralization from neuroscience, Jungian archetypes and the Jungian model of psychological integration are drawn on to support an account of how Christian faith is not only possible without ‘belief’ in God or Christ, but indeed puts us in a better position to access inspiration, moral purpose, responsibility and the basis of peace.




Wisdom as Moderation


Book Description

One of the great living philosophers sets forth his idea of philosophical wisdom as a mean between extremes in the philosophy of life and religion, with applications to ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and practical affairs. This work brings to a new focus the unity of Hartshorne's thought as a whole, showing the relationship between good philosophical sense and good common sense.




Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity


Book Description

Initially inspired by the Buddha's Middle Way, but working in Western Philosophy and related disciplines, Robert M. Ellis first developed Middle Way Philosophy in a Ph.D. thesis in 2001. This new detailed account is the product of a further ten years of refinement of his approach, and concentrates on the philosophical core. It will be followed by further volumes focusing more on the psychological and practical implications of the philosophy. Middle Way Philosophy aims to clear the ground for practical progress. It challenges many entrenched assumptions, including those of analytic philosophy. It also offers a new account of objectivity, as an incremental quality that helps us to engage with all conditions in our experience. It insists on a consistent approach to both facts and values that avoids both absolute claims and relativism. An important, original work, that should get the widest possible hearing. Iain McGilchrist, author of 'The Master and his Emissary'