Spiritual Intelligence and the Nous: Implications for Understanding the Relationship Between the Faith Traditions of the World
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The modern concept of spiritual intelligence exhibits parallels with the ancient Greek philosophical understanding of the nous. This ancient understanding was used extensively in late antique and early medieval theological thinking and is still influential in some faith traditions. However, the implications of this understanding for exploring questions about religious pluralism have not been widely acknowledged. These implications arise from the way in which the noetic perception that arises from the full functioning of the nous is seen as essentially intuitive in nature, so that the relationship between this perception and religious doctrinal statements may be understood in terms of a radically apophatic understanding of religious language usage. Vladimir Lossky has proposed this stance as characteristic of Eastern patristic perspectives. In relation to this understanding, parallels with the perennialist tradition are evident and—even though this tradition in its classic form exhibits major flaws that need to be corrected—its pluralism becomes highly suggestive. This suggestiveness is reinforced by a number of other considerations, not least the recent “theological turn” in discussion of divine action within the science-theology dialogue, which permits an essentially “naturalistic” understanding of revelatory experiences. There may, nevertheless, be reasons for adopting “reciprocal inclusivism” rather than a full-blown pluralism of this kind.
DOI: 10.58913/imgf8911
Author: Christopher Knight
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4401966783