Review of Larry Siedentop, The invention of the individual

Over the last 20 or so years, there has been a revolution in mainstream philosophy and history--reexamining the relationship between Christianity and modernity: liberalism, secularism, and democracy, etc. Larry Siedentop has joined the ranks of Philip S. Gorski (at Yale), Eric T. Nelson (at Harvard), Charles Taylor (Emeritus Professor at McGill), and the long deceased, but highly influential and respected, Talcott Parsons (at Harvard) who have re-asserted a formerly forgotten widely held belief in the academy--Christianity, regardless of the "God Question," helped give rise to cherished Western principles and values. In "Inventing the Individual," Dr. Siedentop examines the notions of individualism in the early Christian community and historical process. Primarily looking upon the works of the Apostle Paul, his epistles--found in the New testament, Saint Augustine and his work City of God (Penguin Classics), and then Medieval theologians and philosophers, like William of Ockham and Saint Thomas Aquinas among others, Siedentop highlights how these Christian works came to found the foundation for Western liberalism, individualism, and secularism (all good ideas in Siedentop's mind).

Paul's theological egalitarianism, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus," etc. (Gal. 3:28), Augustine's separation of the two worlds (the "two cities": the city of man, and the city of God)--a precursor to secularism, which is not anti-religion, but the separation of matters of the temporal world ("city of man") and possible divine world ("city of God"), Ockham's nominalism (the idea that abstracts exist), and Aquinas's pioneering work in Natural Law all helped slowly build the foundations for liberalism and individualism. Lest we forget that liberal social contract theory, from Hobbes, Locke, Pufendorf, and Grotius, etc. have their foundation, or minimally, some influence, from Natural Law theory which is rooted firmly in the Christian/Catholic tradition. In fact, some conservative critics of liberalism have attempted to pin down liberalism as a modern reincarnation of Medieval Nominalism (cf. Richard Weaver, d. 1963), so again, Siedentop's discussion of Ockham's Nominalism and its influence on the direction of Western understanding of human freedom (pp. 313-319) are incredibly important and insightful, but nothing "new" in the same sense that others have already made these assertions (but in a negative means as opposed to Sidentop's more neutral to celebratory tone). Indeed, even atheist and agnostic scholars and philosophers, not associated with the "New Atheism" of recent fame, have also "rediscovered" Paul's philosophy of individuals and community have begun a "critical" re-examination of Paul and early Christian philosophy through Marxian lenses (cf. John Milbank, Slavoj Zizek, and Creston Davis).

Siedentop's work, most appropriately, can be seen as a scholarship in the field called "political theology." Political Theology is not theocracy, or religious fundamentalism guiding law, but the analysis of how theological principles and ideas have come to influence "secular" institutions. This is where Sidentop's work shines most brightly. He eruditely shows what had been accepted in the Academy long ago, but only recently has been gaining new popularity in the present: religious ideas and principles inexorably influenced Western institutions that we still have today. While Siedentop largely defends modernity as the product, or child, of Christianity, he also offers a cold question for future.

In recent times, the West has been embroiled in a "civil" war between religious conservatives on one side and secular agnostics, atheists, and even anti-institutionalists (mostly referring to being anti-Church and anti-religion) on the other (sometimes better referred to as the "culture wars"). Siedentop argues that this "disturbing" civil war is harming the fabric of Western civilization. Indeed, even learned religious leaders, like Pope Benedict XVI, in saying that his primary mission was the confrontation of secularism, made a huge error in not recognizing the contributions to secularism from Christianity itself (p. 360). This civil war is the product of BOTH sides not really understanding their own history and heritage. As the West is moving into the 21st Century, and with recent conflicts with the Islamic World, the serious question remains whether secular and religious forces in the West will unite to realize its shared heritage, or continue to wage a bitter, destructive, and ultimately needless, if not "disturbing" civil war.

Thus, Siedentop's work is much needed, and hopefully, is not going to be under appreciated by emotivist secularists and Christians who will likely see Siedentop as either "giving cover to Christians" or conversely, "giving cover to secularists." However, one area where Siedentop work falls a bit short, as opposed to Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age" is the brevity of "excessive" footnoted scholarship employed by Dr. Siedentop. While Taylor's A Secular Age is far longer, it is also more extensively footnoted, whereas Siedentop opted for a more accessible and popular style, at the expense of extensive footnoting. Regardless, "Inventing the Individual" is a timely work that is the next wave in modern scholarship finding the roots of Western liberalism.