The Direction of Desire - John of the Cross, Jacques Lacan and the Contemporary Understanding of Spiritual Direction

This book examines Lacanian psychoanalysis and Christian mystical theology demonstrating the former's 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 an editor for the political journal and blog Taiwan Insight and a Lecturer at St Mary's University, Scotland, Gillis Centre, where he convenes courses on ethics, philosophy, and mystical theology and spirituality. His research interests include the relationship between psychoanalysis and mystical theology. He has published in the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and the European Journal of Psychoanalysis.