The Rise of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman

 

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.