RE: Spirituality and atheism
February 7, 2014 at 5:22 pm
(This post was last modified: February 7, 2014 at 5:29 pm by bennyboy.)
I'd categorize spirituality as a heightened awareness, either conceptually or emotionally, of the connections and similarities between living individuals, their environment, and each other. So a buddhist who meditates so deeply that he loses the sense of self, is experiencing a removal of the sense of separation between self and other, and feels "in touch" with the universe. Le petit mort has certainly been categorized by some as spiritual, for the same reason, even though it's the result of such a purely physical act. Similarly, artistic appreciation can let us feel "tapped in" to some kind of shared greater truth, and the feeling that the artist has really captured the essence of that truth, even though the artistic medium is always physical.
My point is that Harris isn't (afaik) using the term to talk about actual spirits, or about any metaphysical mystery. He's using the word "spiritual" to talk about a category of experience or mental state; and he's using this word only because the kind of people who have gravitated to these experiences have used it so often in the past.
-edit-
. . . or just let Harris say it:
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/a-ple...irituality
. . . or just check out the title of his new book:
http://www.samharris.org/blog
My point is that Harris isn't (afaik) using the term to talk about actual spirits, or about any metaphysical mystery. He's using the word "spiritual" to talk about a category of experience or mental state; and he's using this word only because the kind of people who have gravitated to these experiences have used it so often in the past.
-edit-
. . . or just let Harris say it:
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/a-ple...irituality
. . . or just check out the title of his new book:
http://www.samharris.org/blog
