Self and Dignity: The Spirituality of Survival

Christopher Turner

doi:10.3390/rel12040233

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of spirit and spirituality as organic response to threat in the context of a global pandemic. Drawing from the fields of neuroscience, philosophy and theology, the author defines spirit as the biological capacity of a living organism to maintain homeostasis in response to changes in its environment. The capacity of individual human organisms to respond to changes that are perceived as threats to homeostasis with passive and active power is posited as a spirituality that is crucial for the survival of the human species. The paper represents a form of secular spirituality that is synonymous with the natural power of organic life.

Highlights

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The fact that organisms are multiple preconscious and unconscious physiological processes that engage in constant change in response to both internal and external environmental changes makes it immediately apparent that, if we are to call these processes part of ourselves, selfhood cannot be reduced to consciousness of self or self-perception (Dennett 1996; Graham 1992). This stance leaves us the necessity of considering that the awareness of self, though experiential and present as internal consciousness, must emerge in the consciousness on the basis of external environmental stimulation (Freeman 2017). It is precisely this conclusion that leads me to speak of the sense of self, a designation that allows for Tillich was developing Schleiermacher’s concept of faith as “the feeling of absolute dependence” that necessarily included the feeling of freedom as a limited expression of power as the affirmation of life in threatening circumstances
When we look at this disruption through the lens of spiritual health, we can see that it has been felt by many as a significant threat to both autonomy and relatedness within relational systems (Thomas 2020)

Summary

Introduction

The truth about one’s life is outside oneself, in events, in other people, in things; to. This stance leaves us the necessity of considering that the awareness of self, though experiential and present as internal consciousness, must emerge in the consciousness on the basis of external environmental stimulation (Freeman 2017) It is precisely this conclusion that leads me to speak of the sense of self, a designation that allows for Tillich was developing Schleiermacher’s concept of faith as “the feeling of absolute dependence” (relatedness or participation) that necessarily included the feeling of freedom (autonomy or individualization) as a limited expression of power as the affirmation of life in threatening circumstances.

Threat and Spirit

Power and Spirit

Dignity

A Myth of Power and Dignity

The Spirituality of Survival