Spiritual Intelligence

First published in 2000.  This is Volume 10, No 1 of the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. One of the most important concepts in the history of psychology is intelligence. Traditionally, intelligence has been thought of as a more or less unitary mental capacity, connoting a general problem-solving ability and skill at abstract reasoning. More recently, a major counter-argument to the idea that intelligence is unitary was published by Howard Gardner (1993) In his view, intelligence is not a unitary construct but instead is multidimensional, comprised of linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal facets. Since then, a dialogue has continued about what does and does not constitute an intelligence. This journal is a collection of essays that discuss this question.

Raymond F. Paloutzian

Volume 10, Number 1, 2000 Contents: R.F. Paloutzain, Editor's Introduction. R.A. Emmons, Is Spirituality an Intelligence? Motivation, Cognition, and the Psychology of the Ultimate Concern. H. Gardner, A Case Against Spiritual Intelligence. S. Kwilecki, "Spiritual Intelligence" as a Theory of Individual Religion: A Case Application. J.D. Mayer, Spiritual Intelligence or Spiritual Consciousness? R.A. Emmons, Spirituality and Intelligence: Problems and Prospects.