European University Institute Library

Soul, self, and society, the new morality and the modern state, Edward L. Rubin

eng

no index present

non fiction

Soul, self, and society

893316937

Edward L. Rubin

the new morality and the modern state

"Political and social commentators regularly bemoan the decline of morality in the modern world. They claim that the norms and values that held society together in the past are rapidly eroding, to be replaced by permissiveness and empty hedonism. But as Edward Rubin demonstrates in this powerful account of moral transformations, these prophets of doom are missing the point. Morality is not diminishing; instead, a new morality, centered on an ethos of human self-fulfillment, is arising to replace the old one. As Rubin explains, changes in morality have gone hand in hand with changes in the prevailing mode of governance throughout the course of Western history. During the Early Middle Ages, a moral system based on honor gradually developed. In a dangerous world where state power was declining, people relied on bonds of personal loyalty that were secured by generosity to their followers and violence against their enemies. That moral order, exemplified in the early feudal system and in sagas like The Song of Roland, The Song of the Cid, and the Arthurian legends has faded, but its remnants exist today in criminal organizations like the Mafia and in the rap music of the urban ghettos. When state power began to revive in the High Middle Ages through the efforts of the European monarchies, and Christianity became more institutionally effective and more spiritually intense, a new morality emerged. Described by Rubin as the morality of higher purposes, it demanded that people devote their personal efforts to achieving salvation and their social efforts to serving the emerging nation-states. It insisted on social hierarchy, confined women to subordinate roles, restricted sex to procreation, centered child-rearing on moral inculcation, and countenanced slavery and the marriage of pre-teenage girls to older men. Our modern era, which began in the late 18th century, has seen the gradual erosion of this morality of higher purposes and the rise of a new morality of self-fulfillment, one that encourages individuals to pursue the most meaningful and rewarding life-path. Far from being permissive or a moral abdication, it demands that people respect each other's choices, that sex be mutually enjoyable, that public positions be allocated according to merit, and that society provide all its members with their minimum needs so that they have the opportunity to fulfill themselves. Where people once served the state, the state now functions to serve the people. The clash between this ascending morality and the declining morality of higher purposes is the primary driver of contemporary political and cultural conflict. A sweeping, big-idea book in the vein of Francis Fukuyama's The End of History, Charles Taylor's The Secular Age, and Richard Sennett's The Fall of Public Man, Edward Rubin's new volume promises to reshape our understanding of morality, its relationship to government, and its role in shaping the emerging world of High Modernity"--, Provided by publisher"Morality is not declining in the modern world. Instead, a new morality is replacing the previous one. Centered on individual self-fulfillment, and linked to administrative government, it permits things the old morality forbid, like sex for pleasure, but forbids things the old morality allowed, like intolerance and equality of opportunity"--, Provided by publisher

Introduction -- The Thesis -- An Illustration: The 2012 Election -- Plan of the Book -- The Boundaries and Limits of the Thesis -- Part I: Origins of the New Morality -- Chapter 1: The Morality of Honor -- The Privatization of Government in the Roman Empire The Privatization of Governance in Early Medieval Europe The Morality of Honor and the Man of Honor -- The Man of Honor in Action The Morality of Honor and Other Members of Society -- The Co-Causal Connection -- Chapter 2: The Morality of Higher Purposes -- The Publification of Governance -- The Monarchy as a Higher Purpose of Its People and Government -- The Spiritualization of Christianity -- The Morality of Higher Purposes -- Sexual Love as a Higher Purpose -- The Co-Causal Connection -- Chapter 3: The Morality of Self-Fulfillment -- The Idea of the Administrative State -- The Advent of the Administrative State -- Self-Fulfillment Morality: The Process of Secularization -- Self-Fulfillment Morality: The Concept of Mental Health -- The Co-Causal Connection -- Resistance to the New Morality -- Part II: The Nature of the New Morality -- Chapter 4: The Morality of the Self -- The Basic Principle: The Self as a Life-Path -- The Basic Principle: Fulfillment as Pleasure, Planning and Reflection -- Secondary Principles: Non-Interference, Incommensurability and Equality -- Components of the Life Path: Careers -- Components of the Life-Path: Family, Religion and Leisure -- The End of the Life-Path -- Chapter 5: The Morality of Intimate and Personal Relations -- The Validation of Sex -- The Reformulation of Childhood Sex -- The Deregulation of Sex -- The Domestication of Love -- The Personalization of Parenthood -- The Personalization of Friendship and the Officialization of Work -- Chapter 6: The Morality of Relations with Society -- The Self's Relation to the Nation-State -- The Morality of Self-National Relations -- The Non-Interference Principle and Negative Rights -- The Equality Principle and Positive Rights -- Moral Action Beyond Voting: Reiteration and Emergent Consequences -- The New Morality and Environmentalism -- Conclusion: The Future of Christianity -- Christianity and Western History (Chapters 1, 2 and 3) -- Christianity and the New Morality of the Self (Chapter 4) -- Christianity and the New Morality of Personal Relations (Chapter 5) -- Christianity and the New Morality of Relations with Society (Chapter 6) -- A Final Word