Abstract
This book is a bold attempt to address the current status of civilisation of the West by referring back to what the author considers as the foundation of its civilisation: Christianity. As he states, ‘global and political changes require comprehensive reflection about the foundational ideals and values of Western culture’ (p. 1), namely, Christian influences. Even bolder is his assertion that this attempt will benefit the ‘common good of a full humanity’ (p. 317).
Therefore the grandiose scope of this book encompasses contemporary issues brought along by globalisation and the whole ‘human existence’ which ‘more often than not’ dependent on religious worldviews as its ultimate ends (p. 1), as the backbone for the Christian roots of Western humanism. The history of humanism is carefully examined from Greek and Roman emphasis on education and human nature to the idea of ‘Christian humanism’, which correlates transcendence and immanence through incarnation (Chapter 2, pp. 49-77). Following this is a thorough discussion on the medieval and Renaissance development of Christian understanding of humanity, and Schleiermacher’s philosophy, which is considered to be the beginning of a more anthropological-oriented humanism (pp. 88-149). Ideas of Heidegger, Levinas, Gadamer and Derrida are explored in relation to their view on being, together with ‘Christian responses’ from Maurice Blondel and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Chapter 7).
As Zimmermann notes, the study of the origins and contours of humanism has been motivated by contemporary discussions concerning the cultural identity crisis of the West in its confrontation with ‘other’, and this ‘other’ for him is more openly religious-oriented cultures (p. 317). The questions hence arising are first of all, are the ‘other cultures’ confronting the West necessarily more religious-oriented? Or is the author mainly concerned with some recent conflicts between some Western societies and Islamic ones?
The second question lies in the generalised notion of ‘the West’ in terms of religious conditions. It seems to me that the religious landscape differs immensely in Western societies. For example the situation in America is significantly different to Europe (Britain in particular).
Third, in tracing the religious roots of humanism, the transformation of meanings and significance in humanism should not be dismissed. As quite often thoughts and actions take on different roles through historical transitions. For example, Rebecca Aechtner’s work on German humanistic rites of passage shows that despite its Catholic roots, it is not a transcendent belief that gives significance to unity and individual actions. Works such as these challenge what constitutes collective and individual notions of religiosity and secularity.
Forth, humanism seems to be used as an overarching concept responsible for the secular condition in Western societies. However to what extent can humanism represent the ideology of the modern West? French philosophy alone changed dramatically in the second quarter of the twentieth century, and there was a sense that man could no longer fill the void left by the ‘death of God’ without also calling up the worst in human history and denigrating the dignity of the human subject. 1 In response, there appeared a post-war thought which emphasised an atheism that rejected humanism.
In summary, this is a great attempt and offers excellent analysis, but it would have been much more convincing had it provided more careful propositions.
Footnotes
1
See Stefanos Geroulanos, An Atheism that Is Not Humanist Emerges in French Thought (Stanford: Stanford University Press 2010).