Secular Spirituality

The Next Step Towards Enlightenment
2015
ISBN: 978-3-319-09344-4
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, Band 4, 216 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 4616 g

Reihe: Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality

This book discusses spirituality as an emerging scientific topic from a historical perspective, with extensive discussion of the mind-body problem and of scientific concepts of consciousness. While the book focuses on the Western tradition of ‘Enlightenment’, it also implicitly addresses the double meaning of the term, with the Eastern tradition describing it as ‘a state of true knowledge, which is an important goal on an individual’s spiritual path’ and the Western tradition seeing it as ‘the collective process of getting rid of narrow-minded dogmas and concepts’. The book is based on a simple yet challenging premise: Science has not gone far enough in the scientific process of going from a collective mind tied up in dogmatic teachings to a truly free mind that, seemingly, freed itself from bondage and restrictions. The book shows that science, and with it our whole Western culture, has to incorporate spirituality if it is to realize this goal of enlightenment. If that is done, and it can only be done by many individuals actually practicing spirituality, this will also lead to the individual type of enlightenment.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Walach, Harald

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionssoziologie und -psychologie, Spiritualität, Mystik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsphilosophie, Philosophische Theologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface.- Chapter 1: Clarifications and Presuppositions.- Chapter 2: The Historical Framework: Enlightenment, Science, and the Difficulties with the Notion of God.- Chapter 3: Spirituality, Taboo, and the Opportunity for Science.- Chapter 4: Secular, Non-Dogmatic Spirituality.- Chapter 5: Distortions, Dangers, Further Considerations.- Chapter 6: Getting on with Enlightenment: The Necessity of a Secular Non-dogmatic Spirituality.

Über Autor(innen)

Prof. Dr. Dr. Harald Walach is a German psychologist, medical researcher, and historian and philosopher of science. He is currently director of the Institute of Transcultural Health Sciences at the European University Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.