Modern Analytic Philosophy Research Articles

Проблема убеждений в философии Ю. Уильямса

Modern analytical philosophy studies religious, moral, political, ideological and practical beliefs as elements of ideological systems. At the same time, she poses methodological questions: what is the fact of an individual’s conviction? Is belief related to decision and will? An illustrative example of the answer to these questions of analysis is the work of Bernard Williams. This article summarizes one of his articles.

NORM, ONTOLOGY, CONCEPTUAL SCHEME: NORMATIVE HEIDEGGERIANISM IN PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL CONSIDERATION

This article reconstructs the normative strategy of interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time in modern analytical philosophy, and also proposes a theoretical framework for understanding this strategy as a historical phenomenon. The article describes the development of the normative direction in the interpretation of Heidegger’s fundamental ontology. Its first branch—the socio-normative, or the neopragmatist one—is associated with such philosophers as John Haugeland and Robert Brandom. The second one—the ethico-normative, or postneopragmatist one—branch is represented by Steven Crowell and Sacha Golob. It is shown that the first group of normativists focused mainly on implicit social norms and structures of conformity, while the second—focuses primarily on Kantian ethics and Christina Korsgaard’s interpretation of Kant, as well as on the inferentialist philosophy of language of Robert Brandom. The conceptual schemes used by each of the representatives of these approaches are reconstructed. The connections of different approaches within the framework of the normative direction with each other are shown. The concept of a relay race is proposed, which can describe normative Heideggerianism as a historical phenomenon. It is shown that the development of normative Heideggerianism can be characterized as theoretical progress in relation to the accuracy of the interpretation of Heidegger’s texts. The grounds for the comparative “progressiveness” of different normative approaches in the updates of the basic normative conceptual scheme that they involve are clarified. It is also shown that the progress of the normative conceptual scheme in the direction of flexibility and adaptation to Heidegger’s text is fraught with a loss of meaningfulness of the very concept of norm. It is argued that the concept of norm, despite the loss of its empirical content, can be used to translate Heidegger’s concepts for pragmatic reasons.

Analytic Philosophy and Scholastic Thought: How Deep Do Their Similarities Go?

It has become common to draw parallels between scholastic philosophy and modern analytic philosophy. As this paper will show, there exist historical reasons within the scholastic tradition itself to support such comparisons. These reasons bolster a Similarity Thesis regarding the style of reasoning in modern analytic and premodern scholastic thought. In the case of early modern scholastics, it is even possible to substantiate an Identification Thesis, indicating that they primarily identified as scholastics with reference to a reasoning style closely resembling that of post-1970 analytic philosophy. While historians of scholastic thought are correct in asserting that there is no single essential characteristic of scholasticism, but rather a plurality of characteristics, the specific role of a particular reasoning style in defining scholastic theology demonstrates that only this style or method was essential for the self-identification of early modern scholastics as scholastics. This discussion primarily centers on definitions of scholastic theology, as explicit definitions of scholastic philosophy appear to be relatively rare in the scholastic tradition. However, it should be noted that the “analytic” reasoning style associated with scholastic theology was evidently a characteristic of scholastic philosophy as well.

Thought: Parmenides' prohibition / Gorgias' self-will

The paper presents the philosophical arguments of the Sophist Gorgias of Leontius. For a long time, he was considered a judicial orator, rhetorician, teacher of eloquence. It's time to talk about Gorgias as a philosopher. His ontology, epistemology, and epistemology are as important as his rhetorical legacy. In this article, Gorgias appears as a broad-minded thinker. His ideas were echoed in German classical philosophy and French existentialism. Its cosmology was in tune with the concepts of physics of the XXI century. Gorgias is at the origin of the idea of an infinite number of Universes and quantum worlds. The author explores the speech personality of Gorgias, his games with language, his experiments with the genres of literature, poetry, and rhetoric. Gorgias had a great influence on the modern analytical philosophy of language. An important place in the article is given to the controversy between Gorgias and Parmenides, which goes far beyond the narrow limits of the “Eleatic question”.

Panpsychism and the concept of causal significance in Gregg Rosenberg’s theory of liberal naturalism

The article highlights the main ideas of the original panpsychist concept of consciousness proposed by the contemporary American philosopher Gregg Rosenberg. The philosopher proposes to revise some of the provisions of the newest versions of panpsychism in order to solve the problem of mental causation and the combination problem. To do this, he puts forward the concept of natural individuals based on an original interpretation of causal relations. Within the framework of the theory presented by Rosenberg, it is assumed that a causal action consisting of two interrelated properties — effective and receptive — is a set of restrictions that some event imposes on what the world can be, and not on the effects that it produces in the world; this system of restrictions implies that the real world arises from space of potentialities. The theory proposed by the philosopher presents the world as individuals of different orders “layered” on top of each other, where deterministic macro-individuals can exist “on top” of micro-individuals in indeterminate states, making the latter, in turn, deterministic. Rosenberg’s concept is compatible with many achievements of modern empirical sciences, including assumptions about the role of information integration in the formation of phenomenal experiences, as well as relativistic ideas about the nature of space-time. For this reason, the concept under consideration seems very promising: it is likely that its further development contributes to solving the “hard problem” of consciousness known in modern analytical philosophy and will shed light on some fundamental issues that traditionally arise on the border between physics and metaphysics.

J. Savulescu's "The God Machine" as a Moral Agent and the Problem of Responsibility

This article is devoted to the issue of moral responsibility in connection with artificial intelligence technologies. In recent years, artificial intelligence has been actively developing towards greater autonomy, which makes the philosophical analysis of artificial moral agency extremely relevant. The relevance of the work is also determined by the increasing spread of artificial intelligence in professional areas, including those related to the adoption of responsible managerial, financial, etc. solutions. The main object of research in the article is a thought experiment — the project of the so-called “The God Machine” by the Western philosopher J. Savulescu, which allows us to turn to such an important aspect as the possibility of the influence of artificial intelligence on the development of human moral consciousness, since modern technologies, along with projects of biological moral human enhancement, claim the ability to create artificial moral agents. The authors give a comprehensive analysis of this project, correlating it with other concepts of modern analytical philosophy of consciousness, incl. Н. Frankfurt. The theoretical focus of the study is directed to the concepts of responsibility and freedom as key in formulating the criteria of moral agency. At the same time, the article considers the features of the implementation of the criteria of moral agency in relation to artificial intelligence. The article assesses the viability of J. Savulescu's project, in particular: to what extent artificial intelligence like the The God Machine can be considered as a moral agent, whether a person can acquire the characteristics of a moral, responsible and free person with the help of such an artificial mediator, and to what extent such projects contribute to the moral enhancement of mankind. It also points to the risks of paternalistic interference in the development of morality. Separately, the phenomenon of moral dilemmas is considered in connection with the problems of embedding artificial intelligence in the life of modern society, as well as the logical aspects of decision-making in the context of moral conflicts. The conclusion is formulated about the key importance of the category of responsibility for modeling the relationship between man and artificial intelligence in machine ethics.

Jewish Religious and Philosophic Thought through the Lens of Analytical Philosophy

The reviewed Jewish Philosophy in an Analytic Age is a unique collection of essays that combine analytical philosophy to the Jewish religion. Analytical approach has been widely applied to Christianity since the 1980s and marked the legitimization of analytical philosophy of religion. This turn is primarily associated with the names of Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne and others. At the same time the texts by Jewish religious philosophers are rarely, if ever, considered through the prism of analytical philosophy of religion and analytical theology. This collection of essays is not only valuable because of its exceptional nature: the authors of the essays touch upon important topics of religious philosophy, such as the correlation of the freedom of choice and a divine knowledge of the future, the epistemological distinction of faith and belief, moral justification for lying, the problem of evil, etc. The extensive Discussion part, written by Tzvi Novick from the Theology Department of the University of Notre Dame, presents the author’s attitude towards the approach taken in the book. Readers are encouraged to think of the very essence of Jewish philosophy and possibly review its understanding. The analytical approach found in the essays sometimes transcends the boundaries of the analytical philosophy of religion, contributes to the modernization of Jewish religious and philosophical works, and introduces these texts to the domain of modern analytical philosophy. The latter is achieved through analytical generalization of Jewish texts, making them universal. The abovementioned features make the book worth reading by scholars, researches, and all those interested in the modern philosophy and the study of Jewish religion.

Hermeneutics of Aristotle and Hermeneutics of Sophists in Terms of Dialogue Philosophy. Part II. From Sophists to Modernity

The article considers the logical and philosophical doctrine of sophists, which, according to some modern researchers, was more philosophical than their ancient critics recognized. A comparison of the provisions of Aristotle's hermeneutics with preserved fragments of Protagoras and Gorgias shows that the doctrine of sophists was a kind of holistic philosophy, which anticipated the philosophy of dialogue of the XX century. Despite the fact that the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle tried to overcome the relativism and anti-ontologism of the doctrine of sophists, some elements of its dialogism were preserved in subsequent philosophy in dialectics and rhetoric. The first thing you should pay attention to is the difference between the dialogical form of the presentation of philosophy in Plato and dialogue as the fundamental basis of thinking that we find among sophists. The dialogism preserved in the dialectic of Plato and the rhetoric of Aristotle is more a technical method of convincing the interlocutor than a hermeneutical basis, which it is in the philosophy of dialogue and in the method of Socratic discussion. The linguistic turn that occurred in the philosophy of the 20th century includes not only an increased interest in language and accuracy of expression. No less important is the new formulation of the question of the nature of the language. Is language a tool for the formulation of thought as Aristotle believed and followed by representatives of modern analytical philosophy, or does it have its own fundamental status, as representatives of the philosophy of dialogue believe? In this context, it is very important for the philosophy of dialogue to find in the thinking of the pre-Socratics those predecessors who already charted the paths for modern thought two and a half thousand years ago. The second part of the article discusses the forms of the dialogic thinking that have survived in philosophy after the sophists and the role of the sophists' hermeneutics in the formation of modern philosophy of dialogue.

William James's Philosophy of Mind: Between Neutral Monism and Panpsychism

This paper is an introduction to William James' philosophy of mind and is intended to prepare the reader for his work “How Two Minds Can Know One Thing”. The views of William James on three topics in the philosophy of mind are considered: panpsychism, neutral monism, and combination problem. There is a very deep connection between the modern analytical philosophy of mind and the philosophy of this author. A variety of neutral monism, to which James adhered, is analyzed, including the problem of neutrality of substance. Neutral monism in practice does not provide complete independence of a substance from mental and physical properties, and therefore neutral monism may tend to panpsychism if we are not talking about its idealistic varieties. The author concerns the relationship between panpsychism and neutral monism as two approaches to the combination problem. James's panpsychism is analyzed in terms of modern classification. Paper selectively considers individual episodes in James's philosophy in which he adhered to such panpsychism varieties as panexperientialism and panqualityism. The following is a question of the influence of James's combination problem on his philosophy as well as on modern analytical philosophy of mind. At different periods of time, James took, at first glance, mutually exclusive viewpoints on these issues. It is shown that the analysis of James's concept, taking into account the modern development of panpsychism, allows seeing an additional internal consistency in his systematic consideration of the phenomenon of consciousness.

Поклонение и заповедь веры в рамках концепции теологического волюнтаризма: Маймонид и Крескас

The study aims to prove that faith as a voluntary act cannot be a command due to an issue arising within the divine command theory (DCT). This issue was explicated in the article “I can’t make you worship me” by the prominent religious philosophers Campbell Brown and Yujin Nagasawa, published in the journal “Ratio” in 2005, and it consists in the fact that it is impossible to combine the DCT and moral obligation to worship the God. It is proved that the critical approach proposed by C. Brown and Yu. Nagasawa is applicable not only to worship but also to the command of faith. Scientific novelty of the research lies in utilising a number of texts by the medieval Jewish philosophers in the analysis and considering them through the lens of the methods belonging to modern analytical philosophy of religion so that the author can provide arguments to support her position. As a result of the study, the idea that there are a number of human actions that cannot be commanded under the DCT was substantiated.

Hermeneutics of Aristotle and Hermeneutics of Sophists in Terms of Dialogue Philosophy. Part 1

The article considers the logical and philosophical doctrine of sophists, which, according to some modern researchers, was more philosophical than their ancient critics recognized. A comparison of the provisions of Aristotle's hermeneutics with preserved fragments of Protagoras and Gorgias shows that the doctrine of sophists was a kind of holistic philosophy, which anticipated the philosophy of dialogue of the XX century. Despite the fact that the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle tried to overcome the relativism and anti-ontologism of the doctrine of sophists, some elements of its dialogueism were preserved in subsequent philosophy in dialectics and rhetoric. The first thing you should pay attention to is the difference between the dialogical form of the presentation of philosophy in Plato and dialogue as the fundamental basis of thinking that we find among sophists. The dialogueism preserved in the dialectic of Plato and the rhetoric of Aristotle is more a technical method of convincing the interlocutor than a hermeneutical basis, which it is in the philosophy of dialogue and in the method of Socratic discussion. The linguistic turn that occurred in the philosophy of the 20th century includes not only an increased interest in language and accuracy of expression. No less important is the new formulation of the question of the nature of the language. Is language a tool for the formulation of thought as Aristotle believed and followed by representatives of modern analytical philosophy, or does it have its own fundamental status, as representatives of the philosophy of dialogue believe? In this context, it is very important for the philosophy of dialogue to find in the thinking of the pre-Socratics those predecessors who already two and a half thousand years ago charted the paths for modern thought. The first part of the article analyzes the relationship between Aristotles hermeneutics and hermeneutics of sophists.

Formal Semantics and the Structure of Meaning

The article discusses the reasons why modern formal semantics of natural language is an integral part of a larger philosophical research program for the study of the nature of intentionality. The purpose of this article is to show how research in the field of formal semantics of natural language became the implementation of a large philosophical research program that is focused on the nature of intentional objects, which since the time of F. Brentano have been considered an integral part of mental phenomena. Mental phenomena are opposed to physical phenomena due to their inherent intentionality (being focused on an object). In modern philosophy, it is commonly considered that the comprehension of the nature of intentionality is the key to understanding the nature of consciousness, and, consequently, the nature of man. The article shows that formal semantics represents the structure of the meaning of linguistic expressions, with the help of which human thought is formed, which is one of the main objects of intentional consciousness. In formal semantics, this representation is carried out in a rigorous, systematic, and empirically verifiable way on the basis of natural languages, that is, on those symbolic systems that real people use in real practice to shape their thoughts. The research is based on the works of G. Frege, who laid the foundation for the formal-semantic methodology. Thus, the answer is given to the question of why modern formal linguistics, which originates in the analytical philosophy of the 20th century, is a philosophically significant discipline. This response is a reaction to the objections of skeptics who believe that modern analytic philosophy cannot be considered a direction that has any serious philosophical significance.

Cognition, recognition, and the “game of interchange of arguments”

This article examines the key provisions of philosophical concept of the American pragmatist, representative of Pittsburgh School Robert Brandom, described in the commentaries to Hegel’s “Phenomenology of Spirit” (published in separate volume in 2019). It is demonstrated that rational reconstruction of Hegel's philosophy's conducted by Brandom was intended to revive the legacy of the classic, taking into account peculiarities and trends of development of the modern analytical philosophy. The specificity of Hegelian approach towards the analysis of experience of human consciousness, Brandom traces in “hypostasization of the conceptual” and gradual separation from all kinds of idealistic antirealist doctrines that contrapose being-for-consciousness-in-itself to being of things and “disengage” the subject of cognition from objects of the world. Brandom claims that reality itself, things in themselves, is conceptually articulated, and thus cognizable. The author reveals the theoretical-methodological difference between Hegel's interpretation of normativity (“recognitive model”) and Kant's subjectivist approach: according to Kant, institutionalization of the normative status is exhausted by the gesture of accepting such as an autonomous subject; in Hegel’s opinion, the essential condition for founding the status is, as interpreted by Brandom, socio-communicative mediation (“assignment” of status to the subject by his interlocutors, as well as recognition of his assertions by interagents and audience). The article reviews Brandom's arguments against the reduction of Hegelian master – slave dialectic to the inner conflict of individual self-consciousness (position of J. McDowell). The conclusion is made that “re-description” of Hegel conducted by the American philosopher is of radically anachronistic nature, and sheds light on the views of author of the commentaries (primarily his semantic pragmatism and holism), but not on the content of work he provides commentaries to.

THE CONCEPT "SINN DES LEBENS" IN PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY

Purpose. The paper considered the explication of the concept of "Sinn des Lebens" within the framework of Western philosophy and psychology of the ХІХ-ХХІ centuries. On the basis of this, the role of this concept in contemporary theoretical discussions and psychological and psychotherapeutic practices is understood. Theoretical basis. The authors believe that understanding the concept of "Sinn des Lebens" is possible only based on the synthesis of modern analytical philosophy methods with the methodological guidelines of modern psychology, in particular logotherapy. Originality. The authors have proved that the problem of "meaning of life" is not an "eternal problem" of philosophy, but arises only in the early nineteenth century as a reflection on European secularization and widespread individualistic values and becomes extremely relevant gaining different interpretations at the beginning of the twentieth century based on the crisis of the sensory values of modern man. Conclusions. The concept of "Sinn des Lebens" originated in the philosophy of the German Romantics and gained philosophical significance only in the works by Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Russian philosophy and literature (especially L. Tolstoy) give priority to the meaning of life in ethical and anthropological studies, focusing on its religious intentions. Analytical philosophy and existentialism appear to be diametrically opposed to the life-purpose anthropological problems, but they attempt to solve this problem by understanding the absurdity of human existence and language from different angles of view. The most reasonable concept of meaning in psychology can be considered Frankl’s logotherapy, which, despite certain drawbacks, remains the most significant in modern Western psychology. Modern philosophical studies on the problems of the meaning of life, despite their prudent analyticity and systematic nature, have not found credible criteria and means of human life self-reflection yet and have further incentives to develop their methodological and philosophical considerations. However, the diversity of interpretations of the concept of "meaning of life" that exists in modern scientific literature needs further reflection.

H. L. A. Hart: vida y contexto filosófico

En este trabajo se ofrece un bosquejo biográfico de H. L. A. Hart así como una reconstrucción del contexto cultural y filosófico en el que forjó su pensamiento. En la primera parte se proporcionan los datos más relevantes de su biografía, entre los que destaca su participación en los servicios de inteligencia durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Posteriormente, el trabajo incursiona en el panorama filosófico británico de principios del siglo XX, durante la llamada revuelta anti-idealista, que es donde se ubican los orígenes de la moderna filosofía analítica. Es allí donde encontramos los antecedentes del método filosófico de Hart; concretamente, en la corriente de la filosofía del lenguaje ordinario encabezada por J. L. Austin. El autor concluye con una serie de testimonios del propio Hart donde se evidencia lo anterior y plantea algunos temas para futuras investigaciones.

Herbert Hart’s Theory of Definition in the Context of Analytical Legal Philosophy

The article presents Herbert Hart’s theory of definition in the context of modern analytical legal philosophy. Dissatisfaction with the applicability of the traditional method of definition by the genus and differentia to the elucidation of legal concepts led Hart to the development a new method of definition. It is shown that Hart not only modifies the paraphrase of Jeremy Bentham, but also tries to adapt to the analysis of legal concepts the definition in use borrowed from analytical philosophers and logicians. It has been established that the key point of Hart’s method is that instead of defining a separate term, it is necessary to consider a statement, where the utterance plays a characteristic role, and is explained by specifying the conditions under which the entire statement is true. Some difficulties that arise when one uses this definition in the framework of the truth-conditional semantics are considered. In particular, it is shown that Hart uses open sentences of the form “X has a right” in its definition, which differ from closed sentences, primarily because they contain free variables with indefinite range of values. This uncertainty does not allow us to attribute to them the truth-value. The concepts of truth and falsity apply only to statements that are expressed by closed sentences. Thus, Hart’s claim of a special semantic nature of legal concepts and a special epistemological task of definitions in jurisprudence is reflected in his theory of the truth-conditional definition - a kind of contextual definition.

Концепция этоса технонауки Б. Г. Юдина и проблема технонаучной нормативности

<p>В настоящей статье технонаука рассматривается в предложенной Б. Г. Юдиным оптике в качестве консолидированного положительными обратными связями контура, включающего лабораторию, бизнес, общество и медиа. Под технонаучной нормативностью понимается совокупность способов взаимного приписывания обязательств и ответственности между участниками контура технонауки. Данные коммуникативные процессы служат одним из основных предметов рассмотрения в современной аналитической философии. При этом моделирование процессов приписывания обязательств в контуре технонауки требует расширения и дополнения предложенных аналитическими философами концепций рациональности и «дискурсивной игры» (Р. Брэндом). Также показано, что для концептуализации общественной поддержки технонаучных инициатив недостаточно представлений о потребительском выборе в рамках свободного рынка. Последние должны быть дополнены концептом ценностно-ориентированного потребительского поведения, понимаемого как финансовое и нефинансовое общественное инвестирование.</p><p>Одним из феноменов, наиболее важных для реконструкции технонаучной нормативности, является готовность социальных групп, составляющих элементы контура технонауки, к тому, что обещания представителей лаборатории и бизнеса, сформулированные на старте определенного проекта, не будут выполнены. При этом речь не только о готовности разделить бремя рисков венчурных инициатив, но о способности каждого агента технонаучного контура к локализации целей и обязательств на каждом конкретном этапе его развития. </p><p>Социальное поведение — готовность сообществ инвестировать в развитие контура технонауки — выступает и причиной, и результатом приписывания высказыванию о будущем роли обещания. Для того чтобы отличить обещание (как приписывание обязательств) от простой формулировки ожидаемого образа будущего, необходимо двояким образом оценить контекст высказывания. Во-первых, определить закончен ли стартовый, венчурный этап реализации проекта, в рамках которого артикулируются обещания. Во-вторых, определить, насколько они конкретны и обращены к конкретной социальной группе.</p>

“What makes a reasoning sound” is the proof of its truth: A reconstruction of Peirce’s semiotics as epistemic logic, and why he did not complete his realistic revolution

AbstractCharles S. Peirce attempted to develop his semiotic theory of cognitive signs interpretation, which are originated in our basic perceptual operations that quasi-prove the truth of perceptual judgment representing reality. The essential problem was to explain how, by a cognitive interpretation of the sequence of perceptual signs, we can represent external physical reality and reflectively represent our cognitive mind’s operations of signs. With his phaneroscopy introspection, Peirce shows how, without going outside our cognitions, we can represent external reality. Hence Peirce can avoid the Berkeleyian, Humean, and Kantian phenomenologies, as well as the modern analytic philosophy and hermeneutic phenomenology. Peirce showed that with the trio of semiotic interpretation – abductive logic of discovery of hypotheses, deductive logic of necessary inference, and inductive logic of evaluation – we can reach a complete proof of the true representation of reality. This semiotic logic of reasoning is the epistemic logic representing human confrontation in reality, with which we can achieve knowledge and conduct our behavior. However, Peirce did not complete his realistic revolution to eliminate previously accepted nominalistic and idealistic epistemologies of formal logic and pure mathematics. Here, I inquire why Peirce did not complete his historical realist epistemological revolution and following that inquiry I attempt to reconstruct it.

Moving, Moved and Will be Moving: Zeno and Nāgārjuna on Motion from Mahāmudrā, Koan and Mathematical Physics Perspectives

Zeno’s Arrow and Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (Mūlamādhyamakakārikā, MMK) Chapter 2 (MMK/2) contain paradoxical, dialectic arguments thought to indicate that there is no valid explanation of motion, hence there is no physical or generic motion. There are, however, diverse interpretations of the latter text, and I argue they apply to Zeno’s Arrow as well. I also find that many of the interpretations are dependent on a mathematical analysis of material motion through space and time. However, with modern philosophy and physics we find that the link from no explanation to no phenomena is invalid and that there is a valid explanation and understanding of physical motion. Hence, those arguments are both invalid and false, which banishes the MMK/2 and The Arrow under this and derivative interpretations to merely the history of philosophy. However, a view that maintains their relevance is that each is used as a koan or sequence of koans designed to assist students in spiritual meditation practice. This view is partly justified by the realization that both Nāgārjuna and Zeno were likely meditation masters in addition to being logicians. The works are, therefore, not works that should be assessed as having valid arguments and true conclusions by the standards of modern analytic philosophy—contrary to some of the literature—but rather are therapeutic and perhaps more appropriately considered as part of an experientially focused philosophy such as existentialism, phenomenology or religion.

Spirituality, spiritual sensibility and human growth

While notions of spirituality, spiritual experience and spiritual development seem much neglected in the literature of modern analytical philosophy, such terminology continues to be current in both common usage and religious contexts. This author has previously taken issue with some recent attempts to develop (educational and other professional) conceptions of spirituality and spiritual experience as substantially independent of religious attachment. Notwithstanding this, the present paper considers whether such a ‘religiously-untethered’ notion of spirituality, spiritual experience or sensibility might yet be sustainable in terms of two key criteria: (1) as a capacity for non-instrumental perspectives on, or interpretations of, the world of ordinary experience; and (2) as a corresponding capacity to identify goals and values that transcend or are not reducible to the meeting of immediate natural or material—either individual or social—needs.