The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by
Carl Trueman
Navigating the culture that we take up residence in, with
its laser focus on sexual identity, tolerance, and an individualism that raises
its head at every corner, Christians need a robust account of how we got to
this point in our Western culture without retreating to our churches nor
morphing with the latest trends. Carl
Trueman, professor of religion and theology at Grove City College, brings his
keen historical research to bear on this issue in his new book, The Rise and
Triumph of the Modern Self. Part
historical survey and philosophical analysis, Dr. Trueman traces the
trajectories of key thinkers such as Rousseau, Freud, and Marx, while also
incorporating the insights of Charles Taylor and Phillip Rieff to form a cogent
argument as to how we got to this point in our history, both in our expressive
individualism and sexual freedom outlooks.
The book is surprisingly insightful and yet demands from the reader the
patience of a saint.
One compelling aspect of the book is Trueman’s aim to draw
together several strands of literature to provide weight to his argumentation.
In Part 2, Carl describes a story from Rousseau about a friend asking him to
steal his mother’s asparagus so he can sell it and make a profit. The stealing of the asparagus to give to
Verrat was not an internal disposition or depraved desire but rather social
pressure that cajoled him into stealing the vegetable. Countering this example is a story from St.
Augustine about stealing pears when there were plenty of good pears in his own
garden. The summation delineated by Trueman
is such that: “Augustine blames himself for his sin because he is basically
wicked from birth; Rousseau blames society for his sin because he is basically
good at birth and then perverted by external forces.” (112) Drawing out the implications of this to modern
society, a person is his most inauthentic self when he is pressured to conform
or pattern his life and behavior after social pressure, be that friends,
authorities, moral codes, Scripture/church, or any other demanding overseer. To throw off the shackles of someone else whispering
in your ear in each choice is to be governed rather by your own mental
furniture.
The vanquishing of the concept of human nature or a
special view that man/woman are endowed with supreme significance due to their
creation by God is a stalwart of modern belief. Trueman draws the line from Nietzsche
thru Marx and then to Darwin in his section on Plastic People, gathering
evidence for the utter insignificance of humanity. In the telling conclusion, there is a very
important part in which Trueman writes (190),
“Whether evolution can be argued from
the evidence is actually irrelevant to the reason most people believe it. Few
of us are qualified to opine on the science. But evolution draws on the
authority that science possesses in modern society. Like priests of old who
were trusted by the community at large and therefore had significant social
authority, so scientists today often carry similar weight. And when the idea
being taught has an intuitive plausibility, it is persuasive.”
The idea of intuitive plausibility not only gathers widespread
support in evolutionary conversation but can also be witnessed in discussions
of equality, transgenderism, and sexual ethics.
If one purports an opposing view, then he/she is denying an intuitive
and thus right impulse.
The focus on Freud is foundational for the rest of the
book and rests upon his few assertions that are so imbedded in our culture that
we see them everyone: one, “That myth is the idea that sex, in terms of sexual
desire and sexual fulfillment, is the real key to human existence…”, two, “There
is no stage in life in which sexual desire and its satisfaction are not
foundational to human behavior. All that changes is the means by which
individuals find this satisfaction.” (205, 211). Much of what Freud has written has been
utterly discredited and discarded by scholars, but the underlying impulse of sexual
desire and drawing our entire life’s aim by sexuality is apparent today. Take Trueman’s conclusion, “It is also
important to note that Freud’s emphasis on sexual fulfillment as the essence of
human happiness also leads to a reconfiguration of human destiny. The end of
human life is no longer something set in the future; rather, it is enclosed
within the present.” (223) Cultural messages judge the couple waiting until marriage
to consummate the marriage as something outdated and prudish rather than beautiful
and sacred, the infirmed couple sticking by each other amidst such physical pain
as killing their sexual nature.
Drawing on the work of Charles Taylor and his social imaginaries
and how people’s psychological selves rule their exterior actions, it is not hard
to see how a biblical worldview rooted in a transcendent God and his plan for
the world collide with this enclosed selfview. Trueman has written a cogent and
weighty book that needs to be re-read and focused upon. I think the real value of the book is his
drawing upon historical thinkers and sources that inhabit the psychological selves
view as connected with a much larger past from Rousseau to today. In other words, the concept of gender as
fluid and sexuality as preference didn’t arise out of a 1960’s free love
generation but from the deep wellsprings right after the Enlightenment. Now, these views are imbedded in our culture
and even Christians can succumb to such societal pressure, yet this book provides
a strong antidote to this kind of thinking.
Thanks to Crossway for providing a copy of this book in
exchange for an honest review.
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