Sociology and spirituality: Can they talk to one another?

Abstract

The ideas of spirituality and sociology rarely occur together. Certainly, the sub-discipline of the sociology of religion is long established, but this is the sociological study of religion, not of the potential penetration of spirituality into sociology. Such a move suggests the possibility of transforming the discipline of sociology in general into something very different from its ‘traditional’ or more conventional forms. This essay, building on a conversation initiated in this journal, explores the possibility of a fresh dialogue between sociology and spirituality, drawing mainly on Buddhism as its inspiration. It is suggested that Buddhism fundamentally challenges many of the assumptions on which ‘mainstream’ (largely Western and now hegemonic) sociology is based, including notions of causality, the self, suffering, ethics and ontology. It suggests ways in which such an alternative cosmology and image of social processes might greatly transform the nature, objectives and methodology of academic sociology.