PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Recent empirical studies document that a growing number of people contrast "spirituality" and "religion," self-identifying as "spiritual, but not religious" or as "more spiritual than religious." This shift in the everyday semantic preference from "religion" to "spirituality" has also affected the terminology of the scientific study of religion and has produced there some uncertainty and ambivalence regarding the conceptualization of spirituality. This is critically discussed. To inspire reflection, the article refers of some classics in philosophy, psychology and sociology of religion. The aim of this article is twofold: first, to take the self-description "spiritual" very seriously and inspire more thoroughgoing and sophisticated research; second, to call into question the necessity of conceptualizing 'spirituality' and to suggest that the concept of 'religion' is sufficient, because "spirituality" can be understood as privatized, experience-oriented religion.