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Integral [+] Facticity

Last entry 2 November 2026

Podcast1 h 30 min

Matt Segall on the Varieties of Integral, Michael Brooks, & the Next Left

Integral [+] Facticity, episode 9 of 21, with Matt Segall

First published on Acast, 12 July 2022, with show notes on Medium. All 21 episodes

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Episode details
Date
Length
1 h 30 min
Type
PodcastIntegral [+] Facticity, episode 9 of 21
People
Contents
  1. Overview
  2. Description
  3. Original episode
  4. References & Further Reading
Listen to episode 9, 1 h 30 min. The recording is served by Acast.

Overview

An examination of integral philosophy’s institutional and intellectual development, including the history of the California Institute of Integral Studies and the influence of Ken Wilber, Alfred North Whitehead and Schelling. Matt Segall also addresses Michael Brooks, enactive cognitive science, ecological and political decentralization, and the relation of religious thought to the left.

Description

The histories of integral philosophy and the political left intersect in unexpected ways, not least in the thinking of Michael Brooks. I begin this conversation by dedicating the episode to my teachers Albert Low, Charles Davis and Gregory Baum. My guest, Matt Segall of the California Institute of Integral Studies, traces the institution's history through the American Academy of Asian Studies, Alan Watts and Esalen, before recalling his own journey from cognitive science in Florida to San Francisco in 2008. We consider how he encountered Ken Wilber and later moved toward Whitehead and Schelling.

The discussion reaches into the integral diaspora, Wilber's quadrants, Evan Thompson and enactive cognitive science. Matt reflects on the Sanders campaigns, his disenchantment with familiar left–right categories, and the case for devolving power. We return to German idealism, its reception in North America, the revival of Schelling and the left's uneasy relationship with religion.

Original episode

Title as published
Matt Segall on the Varieties of Integral, Michael Brooks, & the Next Left
Published
Length
1 h 30 min
Guest
Matt Segall
Series
Integral [+] Facticity, episode 9 of 21

References & Further Reading