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Human Spiritual Qualities
Human Spiritual Qualities
Project Overview
Human spiritual qualities, which have long been the subject of
religious and philosophical discussion, are becoming popular topics
within positive psychology, a new field that diverts attention away
from psychopathology to embrace a more 'positive' view of human
nature and its strengths. Positive psychology is a science of
aspects of human life, such as happiness, well-being and
flourishing. Its examination of strengths and virtues, particularly
through Peterson and Seligman's VIA (Values in Action)
classification (2004), makes this area of psychology a fertile
ground for interdisciplinary dialogue with qualities such as
gratitude, courage, hope, forgiveness and wisdom.
Positive Psychology, in promoting human strengths and
virtues, represents an important complementary approach to
psychologies that focus on the remediation of pathology. There is
much for psychology itself to gain by this renewed perspective. In
addition, this current field of psychological enquiry offers an
opportunity for reinvigorating philosophical and theological
discussion of these topics. Positive psychology can help identify
ways of helping people to enact spiritual practices in their lives;
for instance, empirical research has thrown light on how
forgiveness and gratitude can be promoted. On the other hand,
positive psychology's construal of virtue/s can be enriched by
bringing them into dialogue with diverse philosophical and
theological perspectives about these important human spiritual
qualities. Philosophy and theology offer substantial opportunities
for a conceptual enrichment of positive psychology.
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