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The Resource Secular powers : humility in modern political thought, Julie E. Cooper

Secular powers : humility in modern political thought, Julie E. Cooper

Creator
Summary
Secularism is usually thought to contain the project of self-deification, in which humans attack God's authority in order to take his place, freed from all constraints. Julie E. Cooper overturns this conception through an incisive analysis of the early modern justifications for secular politics. While she agrees that secularism is a means of empowerment, she argues that we have misunderstood the sources of secular empowerment and the kinds of strength to which it aspires. Contemporary understandings of secularism, Cooper contends, have been shaped by a limited understanding of it as a shift from vulnerability to power. But the works of the foundational thinkers of secularism tell a different story. Analyzing the writings of Hobbes, Spinoza, and Rousseau at the moment of secularity's inception, she shows that all three understood that acknowledging one's limitations was a condition of successful self-rule. And while all three invited humans to collectively build and sustain a political world, their invitations did not amount to self-deification. Cooper establishes that secular politics as originally conceived does not require a choice between power and vulnerability. Rather, it challenges us<U+0127> �today as then<U+0127> �to reconcile them both as essential components of our humanity --
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 240 pages
Contents
  • Toward a revised history of modesty and humility
  • Modesty: Hobbes on how mere mortals can create a mortal god
  • Humility: Spinoza on the joys of finitude
  • Self-love: Rousseau on the allure, and the elusiveness of divine self-sufficiency
  • Conclusion: a modest tale about theoretical modesty
Isbn
9780226081298
Instance
Label
Secular powers : humility in modern political thought
Title
Secular powers
Title remainder
humility in modern political thought
Statement of responsibility
Julie E. Cooper
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
Secularism is usually thought to contain the project of self-deification, in which humans attack God's authority in order to take his place, freed from all constraints. Julie E. Cooper overturns this conception through an incisive analysis of the early modern justifications for secular politics. While she agrees that secularism is a means of empowerment, she argues that we have misunderstood the sources of secular empowerment and the kinds of strength to which it aspires. Contemporary understandings of secularism, Cooper contends, have been shaped by a limited understanding of it as a shift from vulnerability to power. But the works of the foundational thinkers of secularism tell a different story. Analyzing the writings of Hobbes, Spinoza, and Rousseau at the moment of secularity's inception, she shows that all three understood that acknowledging one's limitations was a condition of successful self-rule. And while all three invited humans to collectively build and sustain a political world, their invitations did not amount to self-deification. Cooper establishes that secular politics as originally conceived does not require a choice between power and vulnerability. Rather, it challenges us<U+0127> �today as then<U+0127> �to reconcile them both as essential components of our humanity --
Assigning source
Provided by Publisher
Cataloging source
ICU/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Cooper, Julie E
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Hobbes, Thomas
  • Spinoza, Benedictus de
  • Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
  • Modesty
  • Humility
  • Secularism
  • Philosophy, European
Label
Secular powers : humility in modern political thought, Julie E. Cooper
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Toward a revised history of modesty and humility -- Modesty: Hobbes on how mere mortals can create a mortal god -- Humility: Spinoza on the joys of finitude -- Self-love: Rousseau on the allure, and the elusiveness of divine self-sufficiency -- Conclusion: a modest tale about theoretical modesty
Control code
FIEb17498065
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
x, 240 pages
Isbn
9780226081298
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
System control number
(OCoLC)875204127
Label
Secular powers : humility in modern political thought, Julie E. Cooper
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Toward a revised history of modesty and humility -- Modesty: Hobbes on how mere mortals can create a mortal god -- Humility: Spinoza on the joys of finitude -- Self-love: Rousseau on the allure, and the elusiveness of divine self-sufficiency -- Conclusion: a modest tale about theoretical modesty
Control code
FIEb17498065
Dimensions
24 cm.
Extent
x, 240 pages
Isbn
9780226081298
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
System control number
(OCoLC)875204127

Subject

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