羅傑‧沃爾許(Roger Walsh)與法蘭西斯‧馮恩(Frances Vaughan)解釋肯恩‧威爾伯的「前超謬誤」。關於前超謬誤，我們上一篇貼的是肯恩‧威爾伯自己的解釋。他的論據根據的是比較內裡的義理脈絡(「前理性狀態和超理性狀態，以其各自的型態，都是非理性的」)，一般無法輕易領會。羅傑‧沃爾許(Roger Walsh)與法蘭西斯‧馮恩(Frances Vaughan) 這裡所做的解釋則是舉實例說明(「譬如自我界線的解除，有的超個人經驗表面上看起來和某些病理狀態很像。於是就產生一種傾向，亦即總是把兩者視為一樣的東西」)讓讀者比較容易領會何謂「前超謬誤」：

西方各心理學派由於大部分都認為個人層次即是人性發展的最高標準，所以他們便一直誤蹈一個陷阱，亦即總是擯斥超個人層次，或是以病理視之。沒錯，譬如自我界線的解除，有的超個人經驗表面上看起來和某些病理狀態的確很像。於是這裡就產生一種傾向，亦即總是把兩者視為一樣的東西，譬如說，把奧秘經驗(譯按：一般譯為神秘經驗)解釋為回頭與乳房結合的退化；把極樂狀態視為自戀性神經官能症；將開悟斥之為回頭退化到子宮內階段；又認為禪坐其實是自行誘導的僵直症。這一種「陷阱」，即是肯恩‧威爾伯所說的「前超謬誤」。

 

Roger Walsh and Frances Vaughan give an explanation of Ken Wilber’s Pre-Trans Fallacy.Theirs is easier to grasp:
    Because the personal level has been viewed as the acme of human development by most Western schools of psychology, a recurrent trap has been to dismiss or pathologize transpersonal levels. Indeed, because some transpersonal experiences such as the dissolution of ego boundaries bear a superficial resemblance to some pathological conditions, there has been a tendency to equate the two. For example, mystical experiences have been interpreted as regression to union with the breast, ecstatic states viewed as narcissistic neurosis, enlightenment dismissed as regression to intrauterine stages, and meditation seen as self-induced catatonia. This is the trap that Ken Wilber calls the pre-trans fallacy.