ABSTRACT
In this essay, various approaches will be evaluated to explore the interconnection between spirituality and law. On the one hand, one can count on the fact that an uncritical approach to economic growth and anthropomorphic ethics is currently dominating, and community interventions are commonly judged by their success without placing sufficient emphasis on mutual understanding, solidarity, and equality. On the other hand, new approaches emerge which spur on the removal of boundaries between spirituality and law.
The essay presents the state of current problems and approaches. The starting point for analysis is the accustomed patterns of behavior, which are relevant in a market economy, and which are frequently far from being humanized. The description of current legal problems is complemented by referring to the good practices of spiritually oriented legal projects. The essay also concentrates on the developments in legal innovation with a view to tracing the impact of spirituality on legal practices. Two major issues are discussed: the extension of rights to non-human beings, on the one hand, and the various grades of evolving legal regulation and substantiation of rights through care, morality, and legality, on the other.
