It seems like there is a tragedy at the heart of the human experience. On the one hand, spiritual fulfillment seems like an integral part of human flourishing—being spiritually unfulfilled frequently correlates with disorders like anxiety and depression. On the other hand, however, we might worry that spiritual fulfillment dampens one’s spiritual curiosity and will correlate with a host of intellectual vices like closed-mindedness, intellectual arrogance, and more. We might worry that human flourishing, then, requires us to walk a line where we yearn for the spiritual in our lives, but are doomed to never be (virtuously) fulfilled.

The aim of this project is to explore the empirical and theoretical contours of the virtues and vices of spiritual yearning by carrying out two internal project sets and administering a funding initiative (8 sub-grants; 4 philosophical, 4 psychological).

Key Research Questions

The initiative is organized around questions like these:

• What does virtuous spiritual yearning look like?
• Does spiritual satisfaction tend to dampen curiosity and correlate with intellectual vices (e.g., closed-mindedness), even while promoting certain moral virtues?
• Does spiritual unfulfillment correlate with anxiety, depression, or other poor mental-health outcomes?
• How does spiritual yearning relate to existential meaning or epistemic angst?
• What is the epistemic value of spiritual yearning—and does it open people up to intellectual vulnerabilities (e.g., gullibility to charismatic leaders or misinformation in the pursuit of truth)?

What We're Funding & How to Apply

We invite applications for eight sub-grants to join two internal project teams. Specifically, the initiative will fund four philosophical/theoretical projects and four psychological/empirical projects, supporting interdisciplinary work on the virtues and vices of spiritual yearning. 

Funding levels are up to $100,000 for philosophical/theoretical projects and up to $250,000 for empirical/psychological projects. 

Please consult the CFP for eligibility, required materials, and submission instructions. Questions are welcome at VVSYProject@gmail.com.

Project Activities and Outputs

The project will convene a Launch Conference (tentatively October 2026) and a Capstone Conference (tentatively October 2028), and it will also organize quarterly virtual workshops throughout the grant period. The project website will host executive summaries of all sub-grantee projects to facilitate transparency and potential collaborations.

A central component of VVSY is fostering collaboration and dialogue among sub-grantees and the broader research community.

The central outputs for the overall initiative include two major funding initiatives (one theoretical and one empirical), two major conferences (launch & capstone), at least 25 scholarly articles fit for publication, at least 24 conference presentations, two popular-level articles, and a proposal for an open access special issue of a scholarly journal.

Key Dates