In a paper presented at ECER 2006 and published in the 'International Journal of Children's Spirituality' in that year, Roger Marples argues that the term 'spiritual education' is at most superfluous and at worst entirely meaningless [Marples, 2006]. He suggests that the use of the term is unhelpful and will continue to be so unless and until we can identify some body of spiritual knowledge and understanding, linked to experience, which is distinct from, and in some sense 'beyond', those of moral, aesthetic and other forms of experience. This paper will critique Marples's thesis and argue that the use of the term is significant for any notion of the education of the whole person. To suggest that concepts like 'spirit' and 'education', which have near-universal currency throughout the myriad cultures of the world, are somehow meaningless when conjoined, is counter-intuitive. Moreover, if spiritual development is a precondition for understanding religion, an acceptance of spiritual education may be essential if an individual's right to follow a faith with understanding is to be respected. Drawing on a number of papers in a recent volume [Moore and Purton 2006], and earlier works by Adrian Thatcher, Terence McLaughlin and others, I shall argue that a rational defence for the use of the term spiritual education, un-tethered from religion, is possible from both Wittgensteinian and phenomenological perspectives. The argument will examine Marples's ploy of admitting only certain forms of knowledge and understanding, and of privileging certain languages, when determining the rules of engagement with such a concept. Finally, I shall argue that to require some empirical evidence in the form of personal experience before one will entertain the possibility of the spiritual, or admit that the words 'spiritual education' can be meaningful, is fundamentally flawed. Philosophical analysis of recent publications in the field (see references).As a philosphical discussion, the outcome will be clarification of the term 'spiritual education' and a contribution to the debate about the nature and need for a spiritual dimension in the school curriculum. . Best, R (Ed) [1996]: 'Education, Spirituality and the Whole Child'. London: Cassell. McLaughlin, T [2003]: 'Education, spirituality and the common school', in D Carr and J Haldane (Eds): Spirituality, Philosophy and Education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Marples, R [2006]: 'Against (the use of the term) "spiritual education"'. International Journal of Children's Spirituality, 11(2), pp. 293-306. Moore, J and Purton, C (Eds) [2006]: Spirituality and Counselling. Experiential and Theoretical Perspectives. Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books. Thatcher, A (Ed) [1999]: Spirituality and the Curriculum. London: Cassell. of Children's Spirituality