Beyond Anti-intellectual Spirituality: Philosophy as a Spiritual Path

 

Beyond Anti-intellectual Spirituality: Philosophy as a Spiritual Path

with Larry Goldberg, PhD


Many spiritual traditions have encouraged the cultivation of certain
states of mind, such as the love, devotion, or surrender emphasized in
the Abrahamic traditions and pure consciousness or awareness devoid of
distracting thoughts, desires, or attachments emphasized in the East.
Although the heights of human emotion and awareness achieved have
deepened our compassion and relieved much suffering in the world, the
critical role that our intellectual life plays in guiding our
understanding of our place in the universe, biosphere, and society and
in identifying the specific needs of the people and life around us has
too often been neglected.

Many New Age teachings have often carried the neglect of intellectual
concerns to a new level in presupposing that there is no reality outside
our minds and therefore no constraint on what we can create. The
importance of continually extending and justifying our understanding and
values is not only neglected, it is opposed. Although there are formal
philosophical schools of thought, such as idealism, phenomenology, and
existentialism, which might be sympathetic to such views, a broader
consideration of epistemology and ethics would favor a more critical
approach to the development of our worldviews. In this talk, we will
review the spiritual significance of philosophical thought in guiding
our transformation of self and world.

$15

The Caritas Spiritist Center

5723 Arapahoe Ave., Ste. 1A

Boulder, CO 80303

303.449.3066

www.CaritasSpiritistCenter.org <http://www.caritasspiritistcenter.org/>