Absolutization - The Source of Dogma, Repression, and Conflict - Robert M. Ellis
Conclusion: Criteria for a Middle Way
Absolutization - The Source of Dogma, Repression, and Conflict - Robert M. Ellis
Robert M. Ellis [+]
Middle Way Society
Robert M Ellis has a Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Cambridge BA in Oriental Studies and Theology. Originally from a Christian background, he spent about 20 years practising Buddhism, including as a member of the Triratna Order. However, he now describes himself as a Middle Way practitioner without exclusive loyalty to any one religious tradition. Over the last 20 years he has developed Middle Way Philosophy, initially in his Ph.D. thesis. This is best described as a practical and integrative philosophical approach, incorporating many elements not only from Buddhism but also from psychology, neuroscience, and other aspects of Western thought. In 2013 he founded the Middle Way Society (www.middlewaysociety.org) to develop and apply Middle Way Philosophy beyond the limitations of the Buddhist tradition, both in theory and practice.
Robert has earned a living for more than 20 years as a teacher and tutor of philosophy and related subjects. He has previously published both academic and introductory books about Middle Way Philosophy, and recently a parallel book on Christianity, ‘The Christian Middle Way’.
Description
A connected response of this kind is needed to absolutization to avoid seeding new absolutizations whenever we respond to existing ones. Any such connected response is the Middle Way, because it avoids either acceptance or rejection of idealized beliefs in our response. The four criteria give general philosophical parameters for identifying the Middle Way, but do not give guidance for practising it. The five principles of the Middle Way that are the subject of the next book in this series – scepticism, provisionality, incrementality, agnosticism and integration – provide a basis for practice that addresses the overall conditions created by absolutization.