Slogans: Culture War from a Distance

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The power of slogans helps explain why we should not treat casual abortion supporters as if they are mass murderers. Most of them have given very little thought to the brutality of abortion, because slogans have prevented the need to think. As Milton Mayer shows in They Thought They Were Free, people can do some terrible things under the cover of busyness, and cognitive distance slogans provide.

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In Defense of the Great Conversation

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The point Montás makes well is that there is value for everyone in exploring significant works by great minds. There is value in a core curriculum that exposes students to thinkers who aren’t like them and have different ideas about the world. Classical study does not lionize the authors whose books are included, but it does make students think more deeply about the currents of civilization. This is why Montás believes in the study of great books.

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Creative Productivity through Rest

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There are thousands of books about trying to crack the productivity code. As someone who feels perpetually busy, with more books to read than I could ever actually consume and more dreams that I have life for, the desire to be more efficient and more effective has a real weight. After all, there is a great big world out there that needs to hear the gospel. How are we going to get it done in this life?

The answer is that we will not. In fact, as Kelly Kapic reminds us, God does not expect us to get everything done. However, we are supposed to live wisely, “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:16)

In other words, productivity is not the ultimate goal of life, but it can be a good and godly thing.

Many productivity books, like How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, are designed to pack already full days to the max. They teach us to how to push harder, get more in, and get more done.

For some people, motivation and prioritization may, indeed, be the pressing need, but for many of us the real problem is that we are overworked and under rested. Particularly for those of us whose work requires creative thinking and problem solving, there needs to be space in the days, the weeks, and the months to slow down, rest, and let creativity happen.

A Different Approach to Creative Productivity

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang wrote Rest: When You Get More Done When You Work Less to encourage harried professionals to reconsider their “always on” approach to productivity. It may be that we can get more done by actually working less.

Through this readable and engaging book, Pang shows how our culture gets a great deal backward. The pursuit of efficiency as people have increasingly viewed themselves as machines has tended to push out the natural rhythms of life.

Pang offers suggestions for becoming more creative. He discusses the need to cap work sessions to the length when deliberate focus can be maintained. Practicing an instrument for eight hours in a given day is unlikely to produce the positive effect of a significantly shorter practice period where mental focus and acuity are highest. Pang brings data that demonstrates that many of the most productive people have limited their work hours but been very focused when they do work. Additionally, having set routines, taking walks, breaking up the day with naps, stopping mid-idea, and sleeping well (mostly at night) are vital to creativity. It is little wonder than many of us can barely function, because we are really exhausted. We are trying too hard to be successful; perhaps if we took our foot off the gas and structured our lives around creating the right environment for creativity can happen, then the muse will visit.

Assuming one can begin the creative process Pang gives some tools for sustaining it. This includes having periods of recovery. Even during wartimes significant strategists benefited from getting away to allow emotional and mental rest. While the mind rests, creativity may be improved through bodily activity, by focused recreation (e.g., playing chess). For many creative professionals, time away from the grind for a sabbatical may also benefit the ability to produce well.

The Big Difference

Especially as Artificial Intelligence threatens (promises?) to replace the repetitive sorts of human effort, people will need to find ways to be more creative. Low cognitive white-collar work like number crunching, basic research, and form processing may be automated. What computers can’t do is venture into the unknown, care effectively for people, and move beyond mimicry to innovation. (Some may contest these statements, but we shall see.) Rather than simply finding ways to grind out more form reviews in a given day, humans will need to relearn how to invent, to dazzle, and the puzzle through. We may have to shift away from our mechanized understanding of the world toward a more creaturely self-image.

Part of what Pang offers is a recipe for being human in a somewhat inhumane world. Of course, for anyone to buy the book, especially in an airport where the title itself might be enough to attract the attention of a weary business travel, Pang has to sell productivity as the ultimate goal. I think there is a better story and a better purpose that Pang’s ideas can be applied toward.

Rest is remarkable in the banality of most of its suggestions. The techniques Pang recommends are ancient and well-proven. We have just forgotten what it means not to be in a hurry. Rest is, however, encouraging in its appeal for readers to return to a pace that can be maintained. This may not be the book anyone asked for, but it may be just the book many of us needed. Time will tell.

Rest
By Pang, Alex Soojung-Kim
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From Strength to Strength - A Review

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Getting old is not for wimps, as the saying goes. I was about thirty when changing my sleep patterns to do rotating shiftwork became much more difficult. In the past decade or so I’ve found it more challenging to read and absorb as fast as I used to. (To be fair, that may have more to do with my smartphone habits, as Nicholas Carr seems to show in The Shallows.) My workout routine now includes as much effort to avoid injury as it does trying to push the limits to achieve new goals. It’s a hard thing to go through the aging process, especially in a culture that so significantly values youth.

Arthur Brooks, former president of American Enterprise Institute, offers a difficult diagnosis for those around middle age in his recent book, From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. Thankfully, he chases that bad news with a healthy dose of encouragement and some helpful suggestions for how to best use the second half of life.

Summary

The book begins with Brooks telling the story of someone well known (he does not identify him) melting down on a plane because he felt like all his work had been for nothing. Having been at the top of his game, in his later years he knew he no longer measured up to that standard and judged his past accomplishments by his present ability. This is a warning. Brooks follows this anecdote with a chapter demonstrating that most people hit their decline much sooner than they recognize professionally.

The bad news is that the decline comes sooner than we would expect. The good news is that it is a particular type of decline. In general, younger people tend to be more adaptable and experience a higher degree of fluid intelligence. This is why software “upgrades” becomes “frustrating changes” at some point in life. On the other hand, there are new intelligences that open up. People tend to become wiser––having messed more things, perhaps––and they also tend to become more articulate. Some professions, especially humanities, tend to gain in acumen as time goes on, largely because of the volume of background knowledge that must be obtained. So, the bad news is tempered by some good news, as long as we are prepared to accept it and adjust ourselves to its reality.

Brooks argues that to age gracefully we must adapt our expectations. It simply isn’t feasible for a fifty year old to expect the same results with the same effort as someone in their mid-twenties. In fact, we are likely to work ourselves to death if we try to even those things out. That is why burnout around middle age is so common. Rather than crash and burn, we should attempt to adjust our expectations gradually. We should remember that we are going to die and live with both the anticipation of what that means and the realization of the limitations that brings. As a result, we should focus more on deep relationships and our spiritual journey (which for Brooks is a blend of Eastern religion and Roman Catholicism), be honest about our changing expectations with those around, and ultimately look for new opportunities that can best use our changing abilities.

Analysis

My own experience in corporate America has reminded me that there is something broken about our expectations. People are expected to continue to ascend the ladder through promotions, often into positions that are increasingly demanding and which absorb more and more time. The end is either fizzling into failure through breakdown or a job transition to another company once the backlog builds too high, or retirement after years of back-breaking effort. Rather than a natural parabola, career progressions appear to be upward sloping lines that end in a sudden drop.

What Brooks recommends is, therefore, a drastic improvement. It is also the sort of advice that could benefit many people who are clinging to past successes earned when the mind worked more swiftly or long hours of focus on a screen seemed less daunting. Accepting Brooks’ advice can change someone’s self-perception from one of loathing to one of hope. In general, this is a good thing.

On the other hand, some of the adjustments to Brooks affirms for later in life would be good for younger folks too. We should not wait until we are on the downhill side of life to focus on community and faith. The advice may be good for those who have neglected those aspects of their lives earlier on, but it is a mistake to presume that those good things can wait to be cultivated. It may be that by investing in one’s religious life and deepening relationships may preclude making it to the pinnacle of success, but it also may prevent the crash from coming. Counterfactuals are hard to conceive, but worth considering.

Conclusion

This is a useful book. There is wisdom in much of what Brooks writes, and this is no exception. As someone who has experienced real decline in several areas of his life, Brooks is speaking as one who is on the journey and is seeking to encourage on the road. From Strength to Strength may be just the sort of book that helps someone struggling with decline from despairing when the inevitable changes come. On the other hand, for those still on the rise, this may be the sort of warning that drives people to reconsider the path they take to make the decline less precipitous.

Alvin Plantinga - A Review

Though he is not a household name in most circles, Alvin Plantinga is a major figure in Christian academics. He is the sort of scholar who was able to be at the top of his  non-theological field as a Christian while arguing for an explicit Christian perspective. That is, Plantinga was a philosopher of such excellence that he was able to do philosophy as a Christian on areas that some had marked as hostile to Christianity and the harshest of critics was unable to undermine the excellence of his work.

Plantinga’s work is powerful. He was able, through careful and precise reasoning, to argue that many Christian beliefs are properly basic—that is, that it is acceptable to believe some aspects of the Christian faith without extensive work in finding empirical or logical proofs. The existence of a divinity, for example, is a properly basic belief. This does not mean that everyone shares that belief, but that a Christian need not be ashamed for making that one of his beginning assumptions rather than exhaustively trying to prove theism. Alvin Plantinga was able to level the playing field for Christian belief.

The author of the latest volume in the “Great Thinkers” series from P&R is Greg Welty. Welty is himself an excellent philosopher who earned his DPhil from Oxford studying under Richard Swinburne. I have fond memories of hearing Welty deliver lecture–quality summaries of John Frame’s philosophical ideas while riding together in the back of a sedan on our way to the Evangelical Theological Society in 2012. Welty had no notes, but between moments of fearing for our lives due to an erratic driver, he was able to explain complex ideas simply with remarkable fluency. In other words, Welty is the sort of person who understands the field and can communicate well. All of that comes through in this book.

The book has eight chapters. It begins with an introduction that justifies a volume on someone who is still alive, while also summarizing Plantinga’s background for those not acquainted with his biography. Chapter Two explores Plantinga’s work on faith and reason, which includes his introduction of “Reformed Epistemology” with Nicholas Waltersdorff. Reformed epistemology which is the idea that some religious beliefs can be appealed to without further appeal to evidence or argument. Thus, warranted Christian belief is possible. This was one of Plantinga’s most significant contributions to philosophy. Chapter Three outlines the work Alvin Plantinga did on the problem of evil, which includes his so-called free will defense of theism. The fourth chapter moves into Plantinga’s work on undermining defeaters to Christian belief (i.e., most of the arguments against Christianity aren’t valid unless you assume that Christianity isn’t true) and natural theology.

Chapter Five deals with Plantinga’s arguments about the coherence of theism, the simplicity of God, and the omniscience of God. The sixth chapter wrestles with the work Plantinga did on religion and science., where he upends the usual “religion vs. science” dichotomy into the “science vs. naturalism” dichotomy. That is where the conflict really lies. Chapter Seven deals with Plantinga’s own approach of announcing his Christian priors and recognizing that there is no neutral position to begin with, therefore it is no worse to begin as a Christian theist than a naturalist. The final chapter shows where Plantinga has departed from his Reformed roots over his career and where he has sustained his connection to them; it also wrestles with the ways that Plantinga came short of espousing a fully Christian perspective sometimes and settled for demonstrating the possibility of a bare theism.

This is a critical work, but a friendly one. I remember Welty describing Plantinga’s technique as “Building up the strongest possible case of someone’s position, then knocking it down like a house of cards.” I have read Plantinga doing that in several of his works. It is impressive. At the same time, Welty is careful to show where Plantinga’s conclusions departed from the theological tradition he initially identified with and some ways that his views depart from classical theism. The book is friendly but not hagiographic.

This book offers a good introduction into Plantinga’s work. For scholars working their way into philosophy on their own, Welty’s volume offers handholds to find a way into the work of a premier Christian philosopher. This was an encouraging volume as again and again it became clear that Christianity is intellectually credible and that we have good reasons to believe, whatever the world may say.

On a side note, one of my favorite pieces of Alvin Plantinga lore is his time on television discussing air conditioning:

However, you can also get a flavor of his approach and his method from these clips, one of which includes an interview about the work he did that earned him the 2017 Templeton Prize:

NOTE: I received a gratis copy of this volume from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.

The Philosophy of Tolkien - A Review

There are many who have fallen into the well of wonder in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth and not considered why the story is so compelling. Many of those who have fallen in love with Tolkien’s world have never asked why the story is so compelling, why the world seems so unfathomably deep, and why the caricatures of Tolkien’s world as moralistically simple or black and white seem so incredibly wrong.

Peter Kreeft explores Tolkien’s worldview in his book, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings. What emerges is a portrait of a rigorously Augustinian Roman Catholicism which undergirds the stories of elves, orcs, and dwarves. For the most part, explicit worship is absent from The Lord of the Rings, but there is certainly a reverence toward the supernatural.

In fact, Kreeft argues, the primary religious sentiments of Middle Earth are a form of pre-Christian paganism, which, like the polytheism practiced by Abram prior to being called by YHWH, provides a pathway toward Christian theism. Much of the basis for Kreeft’s argument is found in The Silmarillion and some of Tolkien’s letters. What is clear, however, is the openness to the sublime and the supernatural in the world. Tolkien’s worldview stands in stark contrast to the materialism of the modern world.

There are thirteen chapters of varying length in this middling sized book. Kreeft subdivides his topics into questions that relate to topics like Metaphysics, Philosophical Theology, Angelology, Cosmology, Epistemology, Aesthetics, and Ethics. While the book does not cover every possible topic, it does show the range of thought that went into Tolkien’s sub-creation.

Kreeft is always an interesting read. He is most interesting when he is writing about C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though this book has Tolkien in the title, there is a hefty dose of Lewis in its pages. I’m sure he quotes Tolkien more, but it is surprising how much of Lewis worked his way into the book. Of course, that is because Lewis and Tolkien were friends for much of their adult lives (despite a cooling, which seemed to stem from Tolkien’s dislike of the Narnia series), and shared much of their understanding of Christianity. As well, the inclusion of Lewis makes this book stronger because Tolkien wrote much less non-fiction prose. Lewis wrote many essays that cover a wide range of topics. Therefore, since Lewis and Tolkien share so much in common with their worldview, there are many times when Lewis can be used to explain why Tolkien is illustrating with The Lord of the Rings.

It may seem odd to some that there is a book by a significant, articulate, and well-studied philosopher delving into the underpinnings of a fantasy world. After all, especially since the movies have been released, there are enthusiasts of various ages that dress up in costumes and play act as the many fantastical characters of the epic novel. A better question, however, is why the imaginative world of a twentieth century Roman Catholic inspires nones, pagans, Christians, atheists, and others to invest so much of their lives. Even before the movies caught on there were many people of diverse backgrounds who found the story of Frodo’s quest to destroy the One Ring a compelling narrative. Graffiti popped up on college campuses shortly after The Lord of the Rings was published declaring that “Frodo lives.” Even SciFi legend Leonard Nimoy felt condemned to write a song honoring Bilbo Baggins.

Tolkien is popular because he points to something deep and meaningful. For many years I struggled to articular why I read The Hobbit dozens of times and have read The Lord of the Rings about once a year for many years. Kreeft provides an easier path to understanding the powerful vision under the surface of The Lord of the Rings that draws thoughtful readers back again and again. It isn’t simply that Tolkien wrote with a greater detail and presented a more thoroughly consistent world than any other fantasy writer. Rather, it is that the world he created is overlaid on the greatest and truest myth there ever was—Christianity. Tolkien’s creation points toward reality as it really is and as it is described by Christianity.

For the academically minded Christian who wonders what the Tolkien fandom is all about, The Philosophy of Tolkien provides a serious exploration of the value of this fantastical story that extends well beyond entertainment. For the Tolkien-lover wondering why philosophy and theology matter, Kreeft’s book opens doors to abstractions like metaphysics and epistemology through the world that The Lord of the Rings fans already know so well. There is a certain sort of homeschooler who would benefit greatly for having this book put into their hands. As for me, I found the book both delightful and instructive. It was an enjoyable way to pass the time thinking about a story I love and thinking more carefully about the real world I live in.

Begotten or Made? - A Review

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As news circulates that a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge recently use chattel property laws to make a decision about the fate of frozen embryos, we have another opportunity to consider the morality of various forms of artificial reproductive technology.

Though Oliver O’Donovan’s book, Begotten or Made?, was initially published in 1984, many Christians are unaware of any writing on these topics. As an ethicist, I have been asked more than once about the morality of in vitro fertilization (IVF), with the tacit assumption by the questioner that of course it was morally licit, please explain why. O’Donovan argues convincingly that it is most cases not moral. If anything, O’Donovan is too open to the possibility of a morally legitimate IVF, but his argument is rigorous and eloquent.

Begotten or Made? was originally a set of lectures. At the time they were commissioned, IVF was still a novel technology. O’Donovan deals less with the technique of artificial reproduction than he does with the theology behind it. His reasoning is sound, even as the technology has changed somewhat. By penetrating through the concreteness of the technique of IVF into the ideas that enable it, O’Donovan wrote a treatise that has stood the test of time.

O’Donovan begins by considering the purpose of medicine, which ought to be healing. He notes, “Christians should at this juncture confess their faith in the natural order as the good creation of God.” (15) This is important because it differentiates the process of healing from the process of making something. Much of the technology around artificial reproduction was designed to circumvent nature rather than to restore it.

In the second lecture, O’Donovan deals with what we now call transgenderism. He notes that this is another technology that is primarily oriented toward thwarting nature rather than healing. As such, it cannot be a form of medicine in any meaningful sense. This discussion was meant to show where divorcing reproduction from intercourse between a male and female. O’Donovan’s early thinking has turned to be prophetic. O’Donovan’s treatment of this issue remains one of the clearest, most succinct discussions of a raging topic. The book is worth reading simply for this chapter.

The third lecture explains why involving a donor in the procreative process is inherently immoral. O’Donovan deals with the moral deficiencies of replacing one of the parents within the family with (potentially) a stranger. Notably, he also deals carefully with potential objections raised by the Old Testament levirate marriage, which he argues is distinct. One aspect of this chapter that needs further development (due to its increasing popularity, rather than O’Donovan’s lack) is the renting of wombs through surrogacy.

Lecture four wrestles with the personhood of the embryo. Contemporary medical ethics requires the subject’s consent for experimentation, but an embryo obviously cannot give consent. And yet, so much of the reproductive technology—from freezing embryos to genetic modification—is experimental and has at least some risk of damage or death. At worst the personhood of an embryo is ambiguous, which should cause us to be much more cautious in putting it at risk.

The final lecture wraps up the arguments, making the case as lucid as possible using a fairy tale. One of the most significant aspects of moral reasoning about artificial reproductive technologies that rises from this concluding chapter is that even many of those that participate in such techniques likely do not consider the moral implications of it. The clinical nature of IVF, for example, eliminates the mutual relationship and cooperation normally required for natural conception. It is, on the whole, something different than natural procreation.

The book is slender. This new edition, with a foreword by Matthew Lee Anderson, and a new afterword by the author, is only a little over one hundred pages. It is carefully argued and likely a bit dense for those not familiar with this sort of moral reasoning. The book, however, is well worth the time it takes to read it. Davenant Institute has done a remarkable service in producing a second edition of an increasingly important book.

Begotten or Made?
By O'Donovan, Oliver
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De-Fragmenting Modernity - A Review

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Paul Tyson’s 2017 book, De-fragmenting Modernity: Reintegrating Knowledge with Wisdom, Belief with Truth, and Reality with Being, is a place for those trying to bring order back to the modern world. This is not a book for the philosophical novice, and even those familiar with language like epistemology and ontology will have to read Tyson carefully. At the same time, the thesis and the argument are worth the work.

Tyson’s basic thesis is that “being, knowing, and believing always have their meanings in relation to each other.” (7) Unfortunately, the category of being has largely been ejected from the cultural imagination. This is part of what makes Tyson a challenge to read: He is resurrecting concepts and speaking in terms that are foreign to the way contemporary Western culture is constructed and communicates.

As the title indicates, Tyson is critical of modernity. Here he joins a line of other voices, which includes those who would like to return to some sort of pre-medieval synthesis and those who think that even the misshapen constraints of modernity are too restrictive. Tyson deals less with the cultural impacts of modernity than he does with the philosophical roots of modernity.

The beginning of an answer to what ails modernity, according to Tyson, is restoring the concept of ontology (the study of being) to the cultural imagination and then bringing being, wisdom, and truth back together in conversation. This process begins with the reconstruction of basic cultural assumptions, which begins by recognizing one’s hidden preconceptions and then trying to reconcile them with another set. The challenge is real.

One huge challenge Tyson identifies is that cultural assumptions are often masked, even (or perhaps especially) for those who specialize in pointing out the assumptions of others. He writes, “When modern theological thinking tries to be ‘scientific’ in modern terms––appealing to notions of objective proof and instrumental effectiveness––it is entirely unrelated to ancient theology. This is as true of ‘liberal’ theology as it is of ‘fundamentalist’ theology in modernity.” (37)

Tyson’s point here will be shocking to some, but he is far from the first to note that many fundamentalists have adopted basically modern approaches to theology. This has sometimes resulted in sub-orthodox formulations of doctrine, even among those most concerned with orthodoxy. The reductionistic tendency of our culture shapes us unless we consistently seek to challenge them, interrogating them to evaluate their integrity. That interrogation must not be done skeptically, with the cynicism entailed in the approach of the college sophomore, but honestly with a repeated attempt to ask “Is this right?” or “What am I missing?”

Tyson’s work fits well into the conversation with individuals like Zygmunt Bauman, Charles Taylor, and others. Tyson comes at the questions from a more directly philosophical angle, rather than the cultural or sociological angle of others. Everyone doing cultural analysis of modernity’s failings is engaged in philosophy, but Tyson’s analysis ventures little beyond philosophy.

De-fragmenting Modernity is a worthwhile volume for those philosophically minded and willing to invest some energy into careful reading. As we continue to try to restore a deeper sense of reality in our lives, including among our circles of friends and family, the foundational work Tyson is doing can be a source of conversation and discovery.

The Man Born to be King - A Review

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In the midst of World War II in the U.K. and all the drama that it entailed, there was some additional drama about a drama. At the center of the hubbub was novelist, playwright, and translator Dorothy L. Sayers.

Perhaps best known for her detective novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayers was also an accomplished dramatist. The BBC commissioned her to write a series of plays for children, to be performed on the radio. They were to be plays about the life and ministry of Jesus.

The cycle of twelve plays was called The Man Born to be King. Though they are not exhaustive, they cover the span of Jesus earthly life, and were meant to be something of a comfort to a nation at war.

Unfortunately, like many well-intentioned attempts to convey Christianity to the masses, Sayers’ efforts met with controversy. The Man Born to be King drew great praise, but it also left people deeply concerned because Sayers used slang rather than King James English to help convey the reality of the Gospel accounts. Additionally, some were concerned about the representation of Jesus, though Sayers was especially careful to draw his dialogue more directly from Scripture. And, of course, any dramatist must fill in some gaps that even four Gospel writers left with minor characters, extrabiblical narrative, and details that illustrate the truths embedded in the life of Christ. The tragedy is really that these plays tend to be more remembered for the drama they caused rather than the greater Drama they portrayed.

The cycle of plays known as The Man Born to be King are so rich that C. S. Lewis read them yearly as Easter approached. This recent republication of these plays by IVP Academic is in time for people to pick up their own copies to follow Lewis’ example.

The plays themselves are not innovative. In fact, were readers not aware of the controversy surrounding their original production, a contemporary audience would find little that is shocking in them. They are an attempt to faithfully convey the greatest story ever told in a manner that may seem more real to contemporary readers because of the effort Sayers invested to bring the stories into the 20th century. Sayers’ effort is part of what makes these plays so spiritually invigorating.

Though an edition of these plays can be found in print through Wipf and Stock, the recent edition of The Man Born to Be King from IVP Academic, published in partnership with the Marion E Wade Center out of Wheaton University, has accompanying notations that enrich the text by providing context for somewhat obscure (to our minds, nearly a century later) references and also show some of the ways that Sayers modified her manuscript along the way. This annotated edition, edited by Kathryn Wehr, augments the text in a way that does not interfere with casual reading and provides a treasure trove for fans of Dorothy L. Sayers.

Whether you read these plays in preparation for Easter or at another point during the year, it will be spiritually beneficial. If this is your first time through The Man Born to be King, feel free to skip the front matter and notes to dive into the text. However, for those who are interested in the story behind the text, what Wehr provides through her annotations is well worth the time to pause and investigate. This new volume is solid scholarship accompanying a remarkable text. It should be read well and widely.

NOTE: I was provided a gratis copy of this volume from the publisher with no expectation of a positive review.

The Ethics of Authenticity - A Review

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Charles Taylor is one of the critics of modernity whose work cannot be avoided. Taylor’s framework for understanding contemporary Western culture has been invoked, discussed, or critiqued widely in past few decades.

Many who have never picked up one of Taylor’s books nonetheless would recognize terms like buffered self or immanent frame if they were spoken within hearing. Those are ideas that accompany Taylor’s thoughts.

Unfortunately, though Taylor is important (even if not accepted by all) for understanding contemporary discussions, some of his works are both large and challenging to read. Many people, therefore, rely on second hand interpretations which are sometimes helpful, but also tend to carry freight beyond what Taylor intended. It’s always good to go to the source.

Taylor’s book, The Ethics of Authenticity, is a reasonable point of entry for his work. It originated as lectures that were received by a more popular than academic audience, so the language and explanation are much clearer. Additionally, the book itself is much shorter, while still providing a sufficiently thorough explanation of his main points.

In The Ethics of Authenticity, Taylor discusses three malaises of modernity: (1) Individualism; (2) The primacy of instrumental reasoning; and (3) The soft despotism of systems that are trying to maintain modernity’s grip.

Individualism is, Taylor recognizes, both a major accomplishment of modernity and one of its most troubling attributes. It is a good thing that the personhood and agency of an individual has been recognized and greater freedom has come to make real human progress. At the same time, the loss of the sense of belonging, of purpose, and of one’s proper place within the cosmos was swept away by what has become, in more extreme iterations, an existentialism full of dread.

Individualism led to the break down of the sense of order in the cosmos, which led to disenchantment. That disenchantment, in turn, contributes to the primacy of instrumental reasoning. Less often is the inherent worth of an object, a task, or a person considered. Instead, the chief measure of value is whether something is efficient, what the bottom line is, and what it can be used for. This is a totalizing perspective, which forces even those who recognize that people are more than inefficient machines still must terminate the employment of their least efficient workers, whether their family circumstances support it or not.

There is irony in the freedom that has been achieved through modernity. We are cut adrift from many of the most onerous obligations, but we are now caught by our isolation in a much more unforgiving machine, which is difficult to resist. Thus, “the institutions and structures of industrial-technological society severely restrict our choices, that they force societies as well as individuals to give a weight to instrumental reason that in serious moral deliberation we would never do, and which may even be highly destructive.”

These malaises all involve a high place for “authenticity” as a central virtue of modern moral thinking. Rather than faith, hope, and love, which all bear a sense of duty and constraint, the central concern of modern ethics is to be authentic—to be true to oneself. Taylor first of all shows how this is more than total narcissism and vacuous reasoning, which many (especially conservatives) ascribe to modern thinking as they dismiss it. At the same time, authenticity is also tyrannical. One’s identity is not complete until it is recognized (affirmed?) by another. This, then, makes the whole system incoherent.

However, Taylor argues, that the current system is too strongly woven into the fabric of society, so that stepping out of modernity is not possible. He writes, “The struggle ought no to be over authenticity; for or against it, but about it, defining its proper meaning. We ought to be trying to life the culture back up, closer to its motivating ideal.” That is, those of us seeking to reclaim some semblance of sanity in culture might be better off pointing people toward what it means to be truly and properly human.

I’m too new to Taylor’s work to draw a final conclusion. There is also too much more for me to read to claim to say, “This is the way.” However, as I read through The Ethics of Authenticity I underlined and annotated a large number of passages. I found myself nodding along, thinking that he had perhaps gotten something that I had not figured out just yet, and that it would be worth doing more homework to figure out if what he says can be put into practice.  At the very least, I think I have a better sense of what everyone else has been talking about. If you want that, too, then this may be a book for you.