Spiritual intelligence Conceptualization and psychological cartography

Abstract

In the last two decades of the XXth century, Gardner presents and disseminates his theory of multiple intelligences, initially establishing eight types of intelligences. Then he points to the possible existence of another kind of intelligence, for which there is not sufficient scientific evidence: “the existential intelligence”. Since the beginning of the XXIth century, positive psychology approaches forward to studying this kind of intelligence: the so-called “spiritual intelligence”. In this communication the concept of spiritual intelligence is reviewed. Then, studies on brain location of this mental faculty are presented, with the discovery of multiple brain areas involved on it. We then reflect on its nature as a genuinely human mental function. Like language, it needs to be developed from the infancy, in a family and social context. Finally, the importance of promoting it through education arises.

Keywords

• inteligencia espiritual
• localización cerebral
• función mental superior
• educación