Abstract

First, I will explain the term “das Geistige” (spirituality), and why I use this German term in the title of my English text. I will illustrate with reference to the German term “Geisteswissenschaften” (Humanities) that I understand ‘the spiritual’ in a much broader sense than ‘consciousness’, ‘mind’, or ‘wit’, because ultimately with the emergence of life ‘das Geistige’ gained foundational relevance as a separate modality of the world alongside matter and energy, without which life would not exist; indeed, a preliminary form of the spiritual in this sense can already be discerned in the first single-celled organisms. I will then briefly discuss a new development in quantum physics, which shows that matter, energy, and “das Geistige” are based on the same foundational ground. Based on these premises, I will show how “das Geistige” has unfolded in the development of life, and how comprehensive this concept actually is.