The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

1. The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience David Webb PhD Student Victoria University Symposium on Illuminating the Exegesis (Ballarat University, March 28th 2003) The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

2. “A Role for Spiritual Self-Enquiry in Suicidology?” A PhD thesis in two parts: 1. A creative non-fiction book in two voices • narrative voice: an in-depth, first-person account of the lived experience of, and recovery from, suicidality • commentary voice: a subsequent, reflective ‘making sense’ of this history 2. An exegesis • a scholarly critique of the discipline of suicidology • situates and contextualises the thesis • informs, and is informed by, the story in the book The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

3. Why this Model? • to assert the legitimacy of the original voice of suicidality, so overlooked by suicidology • limitations of established qualitative methods • ethical constraints accessing other data sources • sample size problems with N=1 (i.e. just my story) • validity questions - the need for ‘observable objects’ • inherently multi-disciplinary • some possible innovative methods (but rejected) • auto-ethnography, narrative or intuitive enquiry etc • transpersonal psychology, radical empiricism etc The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

4. The Creative/Exegesis Solution • the discipline of suicidology as ‘data’ • putting the knowledge (collective wisdom) of the discipline under the spotlight - i.e. not my story • to identify gaps or weaknesses in the discipline • the creative work as ‘analytical tool’ • as prism through which we examine the discipline • i.e. what can this story tell us about suicidology? Conclusions: • suicidology, constrained by traditional scientific methods, fails to address core concept of selfhood • and is blind to spiritual dimension of suicidality The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

5. The Role of the Exegesis • directly addresses the discipline of suicidology • the book also addresses a wider audience • demonstrates that the commentary voice in the book is informed and up to date with suicidology • argues, in the voice of the discipline (a third voice in the thesis) for gaps to be recognised • with the book, highlights tension between the subjective, lived experience and the limitations of the traditional scientific method • seeks to bridge this gap The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

6. Brief Note on Theoretical Models • current theoretical model(s) of suicidology are inherently flawed • Ken Wilber’s integral model of consciousness overcomes these weaknesses • ‘full spectrum’ of consciousness - body, mind and spirit • all four domains/quadrants of (human) reality • in an ‘integral embrace’ The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

7. The Great Nest of Being Plotinus Buddhism Yoga Aurobindo Kabbalah Vedanta Theosophy Sufism St. Teresa Grof Steiner Baldwin Habermas Maslow The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

8. A Conceptual Framework - Wilber’s 4 Quadrants The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

9. All Quadrants, All Levels The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience

10. References Braud, W. and Anderson, R (1998). Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Maris, R. W., Berman, A. L., & Silverman, M. M. (Eds.). (2000). Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology. New York: Guilford Press. Shneidman, E. S. (1996). The Suicidal Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Webb, D. (2002a). The Many Languages of Suicide. New Paradigm, 24-28. Webb, D. (2002b). The Search for Self and Spirit in Suicidology. Paper presented at the Courageous Research: exploring new methodologies and innovations in presenting new knowledge, Victoria University, Melbourne. Wilber, K. (2000). Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy. The Exegesis as a Scholarly Voice of Subjective Experience