Online research in philosophy

The adolescing self -- Imaging and fettered imaging -- Characteristics of the superego God -- Adolescing religion and formal religion -- Images of the superego God -- The adult self -- Unfettered imaging and religious experiencing -- Characteristics of the living God -- Adult religion and integral spirituality -- Images of the living God -- Transformation and why it gets so little attention -- What hinders transformation -- What facilitates transformation -- Images of transformation.

Often viewed as the deep common core of all religions, spirituality has been addressed in a direct philosophical manner only occasionally. After noting some recent philosophical literature, a questionnaire for evaluating a person’s spirituality is described, and a general theory of spirituality is advanced. Spirituality is, generally, the yearning for, quest for, experience of or belief in a great reality that is largely beyond ordinary experience and that inspires one’s interior, private life and one’s behavior and ultimate values. This idea illuminates the main questions of the philosophy of religion, and also questions of the consistency of thought and action, essentialism, naturalism, religious liberalism, and the reproductive fallacy.

The purpose of this study was to learn how spiritual attitudes and beliefs impact the work of external organization consultants. The growing interest in spirituality in the workplace and in organization development (OD) are the background for this study. The twelve participants were women and men from different racial and religious backgrounds, including African-Americans, Asians, Latino/as, South African white males, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and those with no religious affiliation. This study reviewed two distinct literatures: spirituality/religion and organization development. Participants discussed their definition of spirituality, how they arrived at their beliefs, and how their attitudes affect their consulting work in in-depth phenomenological interviews. The analysis of the interviews revealed the following themes: (1) participants made a clear distinction between spirituality and religion; (2) participants described spirituality in terms of universal principles such as unity, interconnectedness, love, compassion, energy and intuition; (3) participants described spirituality as a personal experience involving action, service and requiring self-awareness; (4) spiritually-oriented participants experienced life's events as inter-connected lessons and applied this understanding in their consulting work; (5) balance and detachment are important but difficult to maintain in stressful consulting work; (6) participants used their attitudes and actions as tools for consulting work, including the use of intuition; (7) participants maintained their spiritual orientation through practices such as yoga, meditation, and understanding of the Chakra system. This study highlights the difference between spirituality and religion, points out the complexities of openly discussing spirituality in OD, and stresses the need to address issues of religious freedom in the workplace.

An experience-centered approach reveals empirical foundations for shamanic healing. This article is based on data derived from surveys of Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian-American, and African-American populations and participant observation of over thirty Asian shamans. Respondents reported anomalous events such as apparitions, extrasensory perceptions, contact with the dead, precognitive dreams, clairvoyance, and out-of-body experiences. Based on folk reasoning, these episodes support belief in spirits, souls, and life after death. Shamanic healers have a far greater propensity to experience anomalous events than general populations and to use their beliefs arising from these episodes to produce ceremonies that change clients' perceptions of their illnesses. Although the foundations supporting shamanism differ from those sustaining Western medicine, both traditions provide experiences that convince clients that specific procedural methods alleviate illness. Keywords: epistemological, healing, shamanism CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this?

Foucault and Religion seeks to unearth a new dimension of Foucault scholarship. Renowned Foucault scholar Jeremy Carrette reveals not simply how Foucault's work can be applied to religion but how a religious question at the heart of Foucault's own work offers a radical challenge to religious ideas. Carrette argues that Foucault offers a twofold critique of Christianity by bringing the body and sexuality into religious practice and exploring a political spirituality of the self. This first major commentary on Foucault and religion opens up the diverse religious questions the philosopher raises in his work, and sheds new light on how Foucault challenges religious thinking and transforms religious understanding.

Beyond the clash of civilizations -- Martin Luther King, Jr. and the spirit of non-violence -- The market economy and the role of religion -- The age of the internet: interplay of danger and promise -- Rapidly changing times: return to the origins of religion -- Courageous heroes of non-violence -- The future of China and India : great spiritual heritages -- The future of university education -- Mahayana Buddhism and twenty-first century civilization -- Religion, values and politics in a religiously pluralistic world.

Business people often consider spirituality a means of increasing integrity, motivation and job satisfaction. Yet certain spiritualities are superficial and unstable. Religion gives depth and duration to a spirituality, but may also sew divisiveness. A spirituality's ability to develop good moral habits provides a positive test of the "appropriateness" of that spirituality for business. Many successful business executives demonstrate a spirituality that does develop good moral habits.

In Minding Spirituality, Randall Sorenson, a clinical psychoanalyst, "invites us to take an interest in our patients' spirituality that is respectful but not diffident, curious but not reductionistic, welcoming but not indoctrinating." Out of this.

Ethics, religion, and spirituality -- Spirituality in care -- Spirituality and ethics -- Love -- The community of care : fit for purpose -- Values, virtues, and the patient -- Challenging faith -- Spirituality and the domain of justice.