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Cited by 37Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyStudy and Philosophy of ReligionWorkplace Spirituality and Leadership

Genealogies of spirituality: an historical analysis of a travelling term

Peng-Keller, Simon·2019·Journal for the Study of Spirituality
DOI 10.1080/20440243.2019.1658261
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Abstract

In the current discussion of spirituality in healthcare, the historical and cultural backgrounds of spiritual terminology and practices are often neglected. Avoiding the standard narratives, which tend to be based on a single concept of spirituality, the present paper provides an overview of the genealogies of the term ‘spirituality’, paying particular attention to the concept’s heterogeneity and history of bifurcation. The historical reconstruction outlines the complex travels of spirituality in delineating the etymological legacies of early and mediaeval Christianity, late-mediaeval and early modern mysticism, romanticism and, finally, of the amalgamations of all these things in the twentieth century. Tracing the development of the terminology in this way will elucidate the historical roots of the current ambiguities of spirituality. Over time, spirituality has crossed different cultural spaces and has been invested with new meanings. The final sections concern the presence of the various pasts of spirituality and the ongoing travelling of this term in the world of healthcare. It will be argued that ‘spirituality’ shares its ambiguous character with the concept of ‘health’. As health-related spirituality is inevitably imbued with value and connected with healthcare politics and law, the task of clarifying this ‘travelling concept’ will remain as important as it is interminable. Research in the field of health-related spirituality must free itself from the illusion of universally valid concepts with stable meanings. An improved understanding of the many pasts of spirituality can make a valuable contribution to the perception and understanding of the fluid, emergent and sometimes contradictory phenomena associated with the concept.

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  • There is a remarkable debate regarding the most accurate meaning and the possibility of having a single universal consensual definition for spirituality.

    “there is a remarkable debate regarding the most accurate meaning, and regarding the possibility of having a single universal consensual definition for this concept (Peng-Keller, 2019).”

    From Defining spirituality in healthcare: a systematic review and conceptual framework. (2021) · cites this paper as Peng-Keller, 2019

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Authors
Peng-Keller, S.
Affiliations
Faculty of Theology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Venue
Journal for the Study of Spirituality
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2019-07-03
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
86-98
ISSN
  • 2044-0243 (ISSN-L)
  • 2044-0251
DOI
10.1080/20440243.2019.1658261
OpenAlex
W2970581205
Cited by
37
References
34
Citations by year
2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
FWCI
5.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal for the Study of Spirituality (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Study and Philosophy of Religion
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
Keywords
spirituality, genealogy of concepts, history of spirituality, Christian mysticism, Romanticism, etymology, concept of health, health politics

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