The Ethics of Modernity: Formation and Transformation in Britain, France, Germany, and the USA / Edition 296

by Richard Munch, Richard Mbnch, Richard Mynch

Overview

Based on intensive, long-term study, this comparative book traces the role of ethics in the formation of modernity in four Western nations (the US, Britain, France, and Germany). Münch's analysis spans several centuries of historical and political development. While ethics has played a clear role in the West's transition to modernity, he shows that its role has varied substantially and that it has influenced the development of each nation's political and social institutions. The book begins with an assessment of the ethics of the West in contrast with the East. Münch then looks at the formation of the ethics of modernity from ancient Judaism to ascetic Protestantism and modern secularized culture. The Ethics of Modernity builds a systematic reconstruction of the ethical formation of modernity in its different stages and variations, concluding with current globalization trends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847699216
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/20/2000
Series:	Legacies of Social Thought Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.82(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Richard Münch is professor of sociology at the University of Bamberg, Germany.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: The Western Culture of Instrumental Activism Part 2 Ethics and the World: A Comparative View Chapter 3 Magic Chapter 4 Archaic Religion Chapter 5 Ethical Religion I: The Problem of Theodicy Chapter 6 Ethical Religion II: The Path to Salvation Chapter 7 Types of Relating Ethics to the World Chapter 8 Structural Settings Shaping the Relationship between Ethics and World Chapter 9 Different Patterns of Relating Ethics to the World within Western Culture: Britain, France, Germany, and America Part 10 From Ancient Judaism to Ascetic Protestantism Chapter 11 Introduction Chapter 12 Ethical Penetration of the World: Ancient Judaism Chapter 13 From Ethno-Religious Particularism to the Universal Church: The Teachings of Jesus Christ, the Pauline Mission, Early Catholicism, and the Gregorian Ecclesiastical Reforms Chapter 14 From Traditionalistic Culture to Modern Culture: The Medieval City and Scholasticism Chapter 15 The Last Attempt at Reconciling Ethics and the World: St Thomas Acquinas' Organic Social Ethics Chapter 16 The Mutual Penetration of Religious Ethics and World: Ascetic Protestantism Chapter 17 Modernization as Ethical Transformation Part 18 Britain: Tradition and Reform Chapter 19 Introduction Chapter 20 The Position of Religion in Society: Orthodox Anglicanism and Heterodox Puritanism Chapter 21 Agents of Modernization: Lawyers and Entrepreneurs in the Common Law Tradition Chapter 22 Inclusion of Ethics in the Project of Modernization: Moderate Extension of Rights through Representation Chapter 23 Social Change: The Interplay Between Tradition and Modernity Part 24 France: Routine and Revolution Chapter 25 Introduction Chapter 26 The Position of Religion in Society: The Alliance between the Catholic Church and the Absolutist Rule Chapter 27 Agents of Modernization: The Administrative Elite Chapter 28 Inclusion of Ethics in the Project of Modernization: Radical Intellectual Criticism Chapter 29 Social Change: The Cycle of Routine and Revolution Part 30 Germany: Conformity and Alienation Chapter 31 Introduction Chapter 32 The Position of Religion in Society: The Alliance between Protestant Church and Secular Rule Chapter 33 Agents of Modernization: The Cooperation of State and Industry Chapter 34 Inclusion of Ethics in the Project of Modernization: The Gap between Ethics and World Chapter 35 Social Change: Between Affirmation and Rejection Part 36 America: Continuity and Renewal Chapter 37 Introduction Chapter 38 The Position of Religion in Society: The Sacred Covenant Chapter 39 Agents of Modernization: Moral, Political, and Economic Entrepreneurs Chapter 40 Inclusion of Ethics in the Project of Modernization: God's Envoys in the Wilderness Chapter 41 Social Change: Continuity and Renewal Part 42 Ethics and World: A Comparative Developmental History Chapter 43 Introduction Chapter 44 The Western Culture of Instrumental Activism in Comparative View Chapter 45 From Ancient Judaism to the Reformation Chapter 46 Modern Secularized Culture Chapter 47 Differentiation of Cultural Traditions Chapter 48 Concluding Remarks

Editorial Reviews

An important endeavor to provide a grand narrative of the trajectory of modernity, in the vein of the sociological master of us all, Weber. This book will be useful in courses looking for recent sociological ventures in comparative-historical analysis, especially if one is looking for an informed Weberian antidote to postmodern or even antimodern nihilism, or to a narrative that priviliges the economic or the political at the expense of the religio-cultural.

American Journal of Sociology

Richard Münch's comparative interpretation of the modern impulse in the prototypical Western nations is a remarkable intellectual product. It is an original and imaginative extension of the best of Max Weber's sociology. It is a beautiful appreciation of the simultaneity of the common impulse of the transformation to modernism and the different contexts into which this impulse was thrust. It is a work of high scholarship. But above all it is a book that is true. Münch gets it right in his interpretation of the Western experience, and has it right in his prediction of the continuity of the modernizing impulse into the globalizing world.

Neil J. Smelser

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