Publication
Modernity and Asceticism. Nietzsche and Weber as Readers of the Reformation
| Summary: | In various parts of his work, Friedrich Nietzsche directly attacks the German Lutheran tradition, arguing against its anti-modern and anti-Renaissance «ascetic ideals», which it carried into the heart of modernity, ultimately leading to its decline. Following Nietzsche, Max Weber, in analyzing the processes of modernity’s secularization, highlights the connection between Protestant asceticism, rooted in justification by faith and the concept of Beruf, the birth of Western capitalist individualism, and the bureaucratic mechanics of modern states. Placing these authors’ approaches within the broader debate on secularization and political theology in modernity, this essay aims to focus on the importance of “techniques of life” and asceticism as instruments for transforming behaviors. It also examines the role that this transformation plays in understanding post-Lutheran modernity, and finally, the theological-political stakes of the current confrontation between the spiritual ecumenism of Christian churches and the governmental nihilism of the globalized «iron cage». |
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| Main Authors: | Ferraro, Gianfranco |
| Subject: | Renascimento Protestantismmo Secularização Niilismo Renaissance Protestantism Secularization Nihilism |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | article |
| Access type: | unknown |
| Associated institution: | Centro de EStudos Globais da Universidade Aberta |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Origin: | e-Letras com Vida — Revista de Estudos Globais: Humanidades, Ciências e Artes (e-LCV) |
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