Metamodern Spirituality | Culture, Plurality, Faith, Will (w/ Jonathan Rowson)

Jonathan Rowson of Perspectiva joins Brendan for a conversation about the nature of spirituality in the contemporary public square, the boundaries of the social imaginary, the thirst for spiritual conversation and community in a secular world, religion and epistemic justification, the religious impulse of submission vs. the modern ego, what taking the meta view on a multi-perspectival religious landscape might mean, the divine contribution of the individual/individuating will, and much else.

0:00 Introduction
2:04 Exploring (the Absence of) Spirituality in Public Space Today
9:47 Defining Spirituality
14:22 The Elephant in the Room
20:24 A More Justified Worldview? Modernity vs. Traditional Religion
31:26 Truth and Value in the Public Domain
36:02 Transrational Submission or Individuation?
44:50 Both 'Both/And' and 'Either/Or': Religion, Committment, and Multi-Perspectival Awareness
53:32 Mystery, Reality, Plurality, and Transcendence
57:35 Pluralism and the Creative Will of the Metamodern Self
1:08:43 Metamodernity as Spirituality
1:14:38 Closing Remarks

Check out Jonathan's essay (mentioned at the video's close) on metamodernism:

[mouwersor]

I don't get the apprehension about defining spirituality. We don't want to end up with the same dogmatic, essentialist metaphysical assumptions. Then you're not integrating the post-modernism/death-of-god part into your meta-modernism.
I also don't agree with Jonathan regarding the 'coherence of the religious worldview'. They are not coherent with the systems of concepts we build based on well-predicting models of the world and the desire to have well-predicting models (to fulfil our desires, also epistemologically speaking) in the first place. We know putting aesthetic judgment before epistemological judgment doesn't work in practice, unless you're doing it with claims that have no causal relation to the directly experienced (sensory) world at all. Why not try to view the material world aesthetically? It is, as the ding-an-sich, the unknowable world beyond our senses impacting us in incalculable ways, which fits perfectly in the religious hole.

[smallbeginning]

Just in case you're not aware, the 'ordinary man' so to speak isn't going to get much from this. If your target audience is theologists and philosophers that's fine. If not you might want to define some words and simplify a bit.
Good work. Good ideas.

[kevinrombouts]

If you are looking for a metemodern theologian you could look at David Bentley Hart who although an Eastern Orthodox Christian is very much into interfaith dialogue. Richard Rohr similarly. If you are looking for a pastor- preacher who is also very savvy on philosophy you could look at Brian Zahnd. He's written several excellent books. Kierkegaard fascinates me too. Many would describe his "leap of faith" as irrational. He would see it a transrational. I don't believe he is anti reason as such but acknowledges it's limitations when it comes with humanity's relationship with God eg in proving God's existence in such a way that no reasonable person could possibly refute it. Even Thomas Aquinas, the Supreme rationalist theologian stopped writing his Summa Theologica after having a mystical experience of God. Words failed him as they should when we start pontificating about God. Sometimes we ought to be like Job and just zip our mouths.

[hashimkhan]

As a young British Asian muslim, I found this conversation to be very insightful and beautiful for it was so sincere and devoid of any "ego", looking forward to reading the book!!

[abrahamcollier]

Metamodern spiritual sensibility = metamodern sensibility? Excellent point Rowson! Beautiful conversation

[jeffbarney]

Perhaps Art, Theology and Science can be unified?

[AlexanderSy]

As a student of Platonism and Jung and Anarchism, this conversation of yours was inspirational. The metamodern explorations of Soul/Spirit/Mind as "the" bridge between the Transcendent/Divine (however experienced) and the Lived/Material Universe (however understood) is crucial for discovering meaning, not just for individuals, but for communities, as they find their Way in this capitalistic/politically charged world of America and the West.

[jeffbarney]

This conversation was as good as it gets. I think the false limits to knowledge that are presumed on the spiritual side of the equation can be retooled to include the inner sciences and occult knowledge of the outer world. AND I think there is a sound epistemology in the work of Rudolf Steiner and in Goethe's scientific method. Currently Complexity theory is epistemically groundless in that the epistemics are model based not phenomena rooted .