The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy And Human Value

This page intentionally left blank THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION The Spiritual Dimension offers a new model for the philosophy of religion, bringing together emotional and intellectual aspects of our human experience, and embracing practical as well as theoretical concerns. It shows how a religious worldview is best understood not as an isolated set of doctrines, but as intimately related to spiritual praxis and to the search for self-understanding and moral growth. It argues that the religious quest requires a certain emotional openness, but can be pursued without sacrificing our philosophical integrity. Touching on many important debates in contemporary philosophy and theology, but accessible to general readers, The Spiritual Dimension covers a range of central topics in the philosophy of religion, including scientific cosmology and the problem of evil; ethical theory and the objectivity of goodness; psychoanalytic thought, self-discovery and virtue; the multi-layered nature of religious discourse; and the relation between faith and evidence. j o h n c o t t i n g h a m is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading. His many publications include Western Philosophy: An Anthology (Blackwell, 1996), Philosophy and the Good Life (Cambridge, 1998), and On the Meaning of Life (Routledge, 2003). ‘Il Buon Pastore’ (fifth century), mosaic in lunette of the Galla Placidia Mausoleum, Ravenna. Reproduced by permission of Longo Editore, Ravenna. THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION Religion, Philosophy, and Human Value JOHN COTTINGHAM University of Reading cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521843775 © John Cottingham 2005 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2005 isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-511-13203-2 eBook (EBL) 0-511-13203-4 eBook (EBL) isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-521-84377-5 hardback 0-521-84377-4 hardback isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-521-60497-0 paperback 0-521-60497-4 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents Preface and acknowledgements 1 Religion and spirituality: from praxis to belief 1 2 3 4 2 1 5 8 13 18 18 21 26 29 31 34 Religion and value: the problem of heteronomy 37 Submission to God: an obsolete ideal? Autonomy and dependency The metaphysics of value God as source of morality Objectivity and its basis Religion and self-discovery: the interior journey 37 41 46 49 54 58 A triangle of tension Psychoanalysi