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A review by clagerwey
The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman
3.0
I must admit: this book exceeded my admittedly low initial expectations, and I am glad that I read it to the end despite my initial misgivings (and despite not enjoying some of the early chapters).
The positives: the book was, as the author said, not a jeremiad or polemic, and thus it was somewhat tempered in some of its assertions. I enjoyed Trueman's thoughtful and cogent discussions of identity development over time, especially as it applied to internal versus external sources of identity. We need more consideration of how society shapes identity and how we are members of communities rather than autonomous individuals accountable to no one. The later chapters on the sexual revolution and SCOTUS jurisprudence were thought-provoking, even if I didn't agree with all of Trueman's analysis or conclusions.
The negatives: perhaps this book has been misused by some in the culture wars, but the connections to transgenderism were always just a bit beyond the logical conclusions I saw in the book. In fact, it was some of the logical cohesiveness that most frustrated me about the book. It seemed to me that Trueman never quite explained why psychological wellbeing is so dangerous since he never explained why it is necessarily and inherently antithetical to other approaches to identity such as more orthodox Christian answers. Trueman never quite explained why the thinkers he cited, particularly in the romantic literature section, were intrinsic parts of the creation of the modern self, rather than simply precursors who happen to share certain conclusions with contemporary mores. His discussion and criticism of sexual identities (as dangerously reductive and non-Christian) seemed dangerously close to CRT criticism that erroneously claims CRT makes race the only part of a person's identity. Perhaps I need to study more intellectual history, but a solid book should make those items clearer to a pseudo-lay reader like myself.
My final takeaways are that identity is complicated and more socially constructed than we realize, that modern society has a lamentably fallen view of sexuality, and that Christians need to share positive views of both to enter public square conversations with something useful to contribute. I recommend this book with some caveats to Christians and others working with young people and young adults who are figuring out their identities.
The positives: the book was, as the author said, not a jeremiad or polemic, and thus it was somewhat tempered in some of its assertions. I enjoyed Trueman's thoughtful and cogent discussions of identity development over time, especially as it applied to internal versus external sources of identity. We need more consideration of how society shapes identity and how we are members of communities rather than autonomous individuals accountable to no one. The later chapters on the sexual revolution and SCOTUS jurisprudence were thought-provoking, even if I didn't agree with all of Trueman's analysis or conclusions.
The negatives: perhaps this book has been misused by some in the culture wars, but the connections to transgenderism were always just a bit beyond the logical conclusions I saw in the book. In fact, it was some of the logical cohesiveness that most frustrated me about the book. It seemed to me that Trueman never quite explained why psychological wellbeing is so dangerous since he never explained why it is necessarily and inherently antithetical to other approaches to identity such as more orthodox Christian answers. Trueman never quite explained why the thinkers he cited, particularly in the romantic literature section, were intrinsic parts of the creation of the modern self, rather than simply precursors who happen to share certain conclusions with contemporary mores. His discussion and criticism of sexual identities (as dangerously reductive and non-Christian) seemed dangerously close to CRT criticism that erroneously claims CRT makes race the only part of a person's identity. Perhaps I need to study more intellectual history, but a solid book should make those items clearer to a pseudo-lay reader like myself.
My final takeaways are that identity is complicated and more socially constructed than we realize, that modern society has a lamentably fallen view of sexuality, and that Christians need to share positive views of both to enter public square conversations with something useful to contribute. I recommend this book with some caveats to Christians and others working with young people and young adults who are figuring out their identities.