Spiritual Relativism and the Crisis of Meaning among Filipino Youth

Abstract

This study examines how Filipino youth navigate the collapse of absolute truth in a plural and digital world. Drawing on phenomenology and hermeneutic philosophy, it interprets spiritual relativism not as disbelief but as a reflective form of meaning-making amid competing truth-claims. Through interviews with twenty-five youth of diverse faiths, the study found that truth is reinterpreted as contextual, digital pluralism expands epistemic horizons, and religious commitment persists as existential belonging. Interpreting these insights through Nietzsche, Foucault, Gadamer, and MacIntyre, the paper argues that Filipino youth embody a hermeneutic spirituality where faith becomes participation in meaning rather than possession of truth. The study contributes to the philosophy of religion by proposing ‘context-sensitive rationality’ as a postmetaphysical yet coherent form of belief.