Title The direction of desire : John of the Cross, Jacques Lacan and the contemporary understanding of spiritual direction / Mark Gerard Murphy

Published Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2023

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Description 1 online resource Series The Palgrave Lacan series Palgrave Lacan series. Contents Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Praise for The Direction of Desire -- Contents -- About the Author -- Abbreviations -- Part I: The Loss of Mystical Desire in Christian Spiritual Direction -- 1: Foreword -- Introduction -- References -- 2: The Shift in Spiritual Direction -- The Question -- Psychology, Spiritual Direction and Experientialism -- The Change in Desire through Experientialism. Key Terminology and Concepts -- The Reception of Lacan in Theology -- The Absence of Lacan in Pastoral Theology and Spiritual Direction -- Current literature on Juanist Spiritual Direction Plan and Methodology of the Book -- Visual Representation of the Argument -- Methodological Considerations -- Outline of The Argument The Loss and Recovery of Mystical Desire in Spiritual Direction -- John and Lacan -- The Experiential Paradigm and Spiritual Direction -- Introduction -- William James and Experientialism -- Rudolf Otto and Experientialism -- The Rise of Positive Affective Experientialism -- The Therapeutic Injunction to Enjoy -- Self-Knowledge -- Self-Help and Modern Spiritual Direction -- Spiritual Directors and the Current Misuse of Desire in Spiritual Direction The Spiritual Injunction to Enjoy -- Emotional Warmth in Modern Spiritual Direction -- Summary -- References -- Part II: Recovering Mystical Desire in Spiritual Direction: A Juanist-Lacanian Approach -- 3: Desire in Pre-modern Spiritual Direction -- Spiritual Direction Before Experientialism -- Recap of Argument -- The Desert Fathers and Mothers -- Austere Spiritual Direction -- Denys Turner's The Darkness of God -- Peter Tyler's Return to the Mystical -- The Possibility of Moving Beyond the Experientialist Paradigm in the Modern Context of Spiritual Direction -- Framing the Problem Toward a Radical Spiritual Direction -- John of the Cross, Spiritual Direction and Desire -- John's Early Life -- John's Studies and Vocation -- John's Meeting with Teresa of Avila and Crises -- John's Escape -- Final Years -- The Texts -- Sayings of Light and Love -- The Ascent of Mount Carmel -- The Dark Night -- The Spiritual Canticle -- The Living Flame of Love -- The Special Counsels -- The Reception of John's Texts -- Early Reception -- Modern Reception -- John's Spiritual Direction: Sources and Foundations -- The Biblical and Philosophical Foundations of John's Spiritual Direction John's Understanding of the Intellect Affect and the Self -- The Mystical Theological Foundations of Juanist Spiritual Direction -- Purgation and Illumination -- Unitive Stage -- John's Specific Writings on Spiritual Direction -- John's Spiritual Direction in The Sayings of Light and Love and The Living Flame of Love -- John's Ethics of Spiritual Direction -- The Quality of the Guide -- Detecting the Passive Night -- Reading John's Spiritual Direction Through the Linguistic Turn -- The Mystical Speech of Juanist Spiritual Direction -- Strategies of Unknowing in John of the Cross Summary A deeply engaged inquiry into the possibility of mystical spiritual direction today - the true topic of the book is ourselves, our spiritual fate. Furthermore, Murphy ruthlessly analyses how mystical experience is caught in the global capitalist commodification - if you really want an authentic spiritual experience, you should begin with a critique of capitalism. Professor Slavoj Zizek, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, UK Through a powerfully illuminating reading of Jacques Lacans anti-experientialist psychoanalytic practice, Murphy uncovers the cultural forces which reduce spirituality to superficial notions of wellbeing. Dr Edward Howells, Associate Tutor at Ripon College Cuddesdon and Associate Member of Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, UK This book examines Lacanian psychoanalysis and Christian mystical theology demonstrating the formers potential for reinvigorating spiritual direction. The author outlines how current methods of spiritual direction become saturated with self-help psycho-pop methodologies, and that desire has therefore been foreclosed in these practices. He suggests that the root of this is a focus on positive affective experientialism, which means spiritual direction must focus on emotional wholeness, healing and positivity. Finally, he argues that a new dialogue between John of the Cross (a mystic whose writings on spiritual direction formulate part of the core of the Catholic spiritual tradition) and Jacques Lacan can open the way for a spiritual direction beyond the confines of experientialism. The book concludes that we can only escape the experiential commodification of spiritual direction by critiquing the drive to experience in and of itself. This novel work will appeal in particular to students and scholars of psychoanalysis, religion, philosophy and critical theory. Mark Gerard Murphy is Lecturer at St Marys University, Gillis Centre, Scotland, where he convenes courses on ethics, philosophy, and mystical theology and spirituality Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed October 12, 2023) Subject Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981 John of the Cross, Saint, 1542-1591. SUBJECT John of the Cross, Saint, 1542-1591 fast Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981 fast Subject Psychoanalysis and religion. Spiritual direction -- Christianity. Psychoanalysis and religion Spiritual direction -- Christianity Form Electronic book ISBN 9783031331077 3031331079

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