Philosophy and the Spiritual Life

ISBN-13: 9780367512002 / Angielski

Victoria S. Harrison; Tyler Dalton McNabb

Opis

This book breaks new ground for the philosophy of religion by showcasing work that engages with the lived reality of the spiritual life. It demonstrates that philosophy’s relationship with spirituality is more than a historical curiosity and that, in the twenty-first century, it is still meaningful to think about philosophy in connection with spirituality. The chapters are organised around the following themes: spiritual practice and philosophical understanding; philosophical reflections on living a spiritual life; philosophical problems concerning the spiritual life. The first part discusses whether or not the topic of spirituality should be given a more fundamental role within the philosophy of religion, and, if so, how that might be accomplished. The second part addresses fundamental issues concerning human beings, their lives, and their self-understanding in relation to the spiritual life. The final part considers philosophical problems that emerge when discussing the spiritual life. By bringing together discussions of these topics this volume constitutes a valuable resource for scholars in disciplines in which the spiritual life is a focus of interest, particularly philosophy, theology, and religious studies.

Spis treści

Acknowledgments

List of Contributors

Preface

1 The spiritual life and philosophy: a historical and contemporary orientation

Rhett Gayle, Victoria S. Harrison, and Tyler Dalton McNabb

PART I Spiritual practice and philosophical understanding

2 Beginning with the spiritual life

Mark R. Wynn

3 Engagement, immersion, and enactment: the role of spiritual practice in religious belief

John Cottingham

4 Philosophy as a spiritual exercise: some ethical and aesthetic reflections

Douglas Hedley

PART II Philosophical reflections on living a spiritual life

5 The unexamined life is not worth living: examination of conscience and philosophy as a way of life

Daniel D. de Haan

6 Blinding darkness: or, whose being is this, anyway?

Gwen Griffith-Dickson

7 A pluralist account of spiritual exemplarity

Ian James Kidd

8 Self-transformation and spiritual exemplars

Victoria S. Harrison and Rhett Gayle

PART III Philosophical problems concerning the spiritual life

9 The problem of the self-ascription of sainthood

Gorazd Andrejč

10 Boredom and divine infinity

Jonathan Hill

11 Desire and the spiritual life

Fiona Ellis

O autorze

Victoria S. Harrison is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Macau, China. Until 2016, she was Reader in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, where she directed the Forum for Philosophy and Religion.

Tyler Dalton McNabb is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Francis University, Pennsylvania.