In this collection of fifteen essays, Marilynne Robinson defends the intellectual foundations of humanism against modern materialism and historical cynicism. She examines the theological roots of American democracy, looking specifically at the influence of John Calvin and the Puritan tradition on nineteenth-century abolitionism and higher education. Robinson argues that contemporary discourse has traded a rich, metaphysical understanding of the human soul for a narrow focus on competition and biological determinism. Through close readings of Thomas Paine and William James, she asserts that individual conscience remains the necessary basis for a functioning society.
Readers interested in the intersection of American history and Protestant theology will find a rigorous defense of the life of the mind here. The book appeals to those who want to understand how historical misconceptions about the Reformation still limit modern political thought. A reader finishes these essays with a clearer framework for valuing subjective experience and a renewed vocabulary for discussing civic virtue. It provides an intellectual counter-argument to the cynical perspectives that view human behavior solely through the lens of economic self-interest or evolutionary survival.
- Published
- 2018
- Language
- EN
