Introduction

Spirituality can be understood as the quest to understand and adhere to one’s spiritual intuitions.  Examples of such intuitions include that life has a positive purpose, and that one should be fair and compassionate.   This is distinct from religiousness, which designates one’s adherence to the tenets of an institution regarded as having authority concerning how one should live and what is ultimately true.   Philosophy of Spirituality is concerned with understanding the ultimate foundations of spiritual intuitions.  Although the nature of this grounding is unresolved, there are some philosophical and empirical reasons for thinking that spiritual intuitions are ultimately grounded in the nature of fundamental reality, and not wholly reflective of socio-cultural conventions or neuro-biological mechanisms.  Investigation of this open issue is important because of the implications, whichever way the answer turns out, for social and political policy, and personal and social health and welfare. For a more detailed discussion please refer to the “About Philosophy of Spirituality” section. In recognition of the social and personal welfare potential of advances in the philosophy of spirituality, the Centre for Systems Philosophy is sponsoring the maintenance of this website, and working towards the establishment of a Society for Philosophy of Spirituality (SPS).  The objectives of this Society would include promoting the development of Philosophy of Spirituality both as a discipline and as a foundation for sociological and policy studies, and also disseminating information about the findings of research into the ontology of spiritual percepts and spiritual experiences.  Philosophy of Spirituality is a new subdiscipline of Applied Systems Philosophy, and promoted by the Centre for Systems Philosophy as a systematic approach to bringing matters of ultimate concern into the domain of science in a non-devaluative way.    If you would like to be kept informed of developments within the Philosophy of Spirituality, and of progress towards the establishment of the proposed new Society for Philosophy of Spirituality (SPS), please send a blank email with “request” in the title to:  SPSinfo at systemsphilosophy dot org.  We will not share your contact details with anyone else without your consent, and you can opt out at any time.  If you would like to contribute to the formation or the work of the proposed new Society please contact us by emailing to:  SPScontribute at systemsphilosophy dot org.