RENEWAL

Offering a deep look into the moral uncertainty in the contemporary social sciences and American society this book explores an indepth solution This solution as articulated by Pitirim A Sorokin in the 20th century is the theory of Integralism a perspective dating back to Plato Aristotle and Aquinas Sorokin initially applied Integralism by locating and analyzing three dominant super sociocultural systems over 2500 years of GraecoRoman and Western history Each super system was unified by a central philosophical principle based either on materialism the senses or the rational or the supersensorysuperrational A super system declines when it reaches the limits of its potential to achieve its true reality and value to be replaced by another super system Sorokin described a trendless rotation of the three super sociocultural systems The current dominant super sociocultural system in the West is a materialist version emphasizing science and technology with little thought given to supersensorysuperrational reality Sorokin asserted contemporary materialist culture was in a state of collapse due to the breakup of its moral values As a consequence he saw a struggle for power occurring between egoistic individuals and groups often resulting in revolutions wars and interhuman strife In response to the one sided materialist view of reality the goal of Integralism is to unify all three forms of reality into an integral culture that harmoniously balances materialist and supersensorysuperrational orientations A solution to the contemporary moral confusion Sorokin argued can be found in the application of supraconscious intuition that would enable a human to know what is eternal in the ordinary and reach the transcendent an experience not accessible to the senses or the rational intellect alone The supraconscious is the source for reaching the supreme moral value creative unselfish altruism which can be shared by all cultures to produce peace and harmony in the world