TY - BOOK ID - 78491933 TI - Secular powers : humility in modern political thought. PY - 2013 SN - 022608132X 1299916228 9781299916227 9780226081328 9780226081298 022608129X PB - Chicago University of Chicago DB - UniCat KW - Modesty. KW - Humility. KW - Secularism KW - Philosophy, European KW - European philosophy KW - Ethics KW - Irreligion KW - Utilitarianism KW - Atheism KW - Postsecularism KW - Secularization (Theology) KW - Meekness KW - Conduct of life KW - History. KW - Hobbes, Thomas, KW - Spinoza, Benedictus de, KW - Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, KW - Ispīnūzā, KW - Spinoza, Baruch, KW - Espinoza, Baruch d', KW - Sbīnūzā, KW - Espinosa, Baruch de, KW - De Spinoza, Benedictus, KW - Shpinozah, KW - Shpinozah, Barukh, KW - Spinoza, Benedict de, KW - Spinoza, Barukh, KW - Spinoza, Baruch de, KW - Spinoza, Benoît de, KW - ספינאזא, ברוך דע KW - ספינאזא, ברוך, KW - שפימוזה, ברוך KW - שפינאזא, בענעדיקט KW - שפינאזא, ברוך KW - שפינאזע, ברוך KW - שפינוזא, בנדיקטוס KW - שפינוזהת ברוך, KW - שפינוזה, ברוך KW - שפינוזה, ברוך די, KW - שפינוזה, ברוך, KW - שפינוזה, ב. KW - سبينوزا، بندكتس KW - Rouseau, Jan Jakub, KW - Russo, Zhan Zhak, KW - Rousseau, John James, KW - Rūssū, Jān Jāk, KW - Lu-so, KW - Ru-xô, Giăng-Giá̆c, KW - Rousseau, Jean Jaques, KW - Rousseau, Jean Jeacques, KW - Rousseau, J. J. KW - Rusō, Jan Jakku, KW - Rousseau, Gian Giacomo, KW - Ruso, Z'an Z'aḳ, KW - Rūcō, KW - Citoyen de Genève, KW - Citizen of Geneva, KW - Roussō, KW - Rousseau, KW - Rūssō, KW - Rousseau, Johann Jacob, KW - Руссо, Жан-Жак, KW - רוסא, זשאן־זשאק KW - רוסא, י׳ן י׳ק, KW - רוסו, זאאן זאאק, KW - רוסו, ז׳אן־ז׳אק, KW - روسو، چان چاك KW - روسو، ژان ژاك KW - 卢梭, KW - Rousseau, Juan Jacobo, KW - Rousseau, G. G. KW - Ruso, Jan Jak, KW - Rūsaw, Zhān Zhāk, KW - Rūsū, Zhān Zhāk, KW - Humility KW - Modesty KW - History KW - Hobbes, Thomas KW - Rousseau, Jean Jacques KW - de Spinoza, Benedictus KW - Rousseau, Jean-Jacques KW - Gobbs, Tomas, KW - Hobbs, Thomas, KW - Gobbes, Tomas, KW - T. H. KW - H., T. KW - Hobs, Thomas, KW - Hobbes, KW - Hobbes, Thom. KW - Hobbius, Thomas, KW - Hobbuzu, Tomasu, KW - Huobusi, KW - Hobbs, Tho. KW - הובס, תומס, KW - 霍布斯, KW - ホッブズ, トマス, KW - Spinoza, Benedictus de KW - Spinoza, Baruch KW - Spinoza, Benedict de KW - secularism, secular, humility, politics, political thought, early modern justification, empowerment, thomas hobbes, baruch spinoza, jean-jacques rousseau, self rule, limitations, humanity, modesty, history, historical study, europe, philosophy, mortality, finitude, self-love, social considerations, place of the individual, enlightenment, rationalism. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78491933 AB - Secularism is usually thought to contain the project of self-deification, in which humans attack God's authority in order to take his place, freed from all constraints. Julie E. Cooper overturns this conception through an incisive analysis of the early modern justifications for secular politics. While she agrees that secularism is a means of empowerment, she argues that we have misunderstood the sources of secular empowerment and the kinds of strength to which it aspires. Contemporary understandings of secularism, Cooper contends, have been shaped by a limited understanding of it as a shift from vulnerability to power. But the works of the foundational thinkers of secularism tell a different story. Analyzing the writings of Hobbes, Spinoza, and Rousseau at the moment of secularity's inception, she shows that all three understood that acknowledging one's limitations was a condition of successful self-rule. And while all three invited humans to collectively build and sustain a political world, their invitations did not amount to self-deification. Cooper establishes that secular politics as originally conceived does not require a choice between power and vulnerability. Rather, it challenges us-today as then-to reconcile them both as essential components of our humanity. ER -