Emergent Reality and the Social Contract

Let’s continue with this theme of the breakdown and fragmentation of what is called “the Social Contract”. It is, of course, consistent with the decay of the Modern Era that its Social Contract is also in crisis. In more fundamental terms, it is a crisis of human consciousness — specifically of that mode and structure of consciousness that Jean Gebser describes as “perspectival” or “mental-rational” consciousness.

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The Social Contract, II

Earlier in The Chrysalis, I wrote about the current crisis of the Social Contract, and the different responses of various groups to this crisis. It’s something I try to keep a close eye upon, as it is often considered a pre-revolutionary omen, if you will. That is, an existing Social Contract is felt and perceived as no longer responding adequately to new, evolving, or emergent psycho-spiritual needs, so this is what I intend to be understood when I write that institutions are usually the last thing to change during transitional periods, and there is a conflict between those institutions and these emergent or evolving psycho-spiritual needs. This is the process formally referred to as “delegitimisation”. So, let’s review this again.