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Although they are clearly conscious of holding metaphysically irreducible positions which they have inherited from the past, André Comte-Sponville and Luc Ferry nevertheless share a common desire to do philosophy in a new way: they both seek practical wisdom – or ‘secular spirituality’ – rather than theoretical mastery. This idea or project gives rise to two different schematisations: on the one hand, a pacified return on the part of the spirit to the encompassing reality of the life-world, on the other, a judicious expanding of freedom to embrace transcendental human values. The present article attempts to extend this debate by opening it up to a critical awareness of an absolute Other, to which in particular the Abrahamic tradition points, which could once again kindle the quest of human reason for wisdom.