Rational enchantment: Transcendent meaning in the modern world

Sociologists since Max Weber have been concerned with the problem of meaninglessness in the modern world. Contemporary theorists of modernity like Jurgen Habermas and Anthony Giddens agree with Weber's argument that modern rationality undermines the capacity of religious traditions to provide compelling transcendent meanings. This dissertation argues that this rejection of religion as a viable source for modern meaning is grounded on a faulty assumption about the ways modern people might meaningfully relate to religious tradition. Specifically, these theorists equate religiosity with a traditionalism that they understand as opposed to the rational critical reflexivity that characterizes modern societies. Using evidence from participant observation, this dissertation shows how some modern Americans are actually practicing a reflexive relationship to religious tradition; they draw on rational critical ways of knowing in order to explore and create transcendent meanings.; The dissertation draws upon fieldwork in both religious and secular settings where people had come together in groups to talk about transcendent meaning, including a large United Methodist church, an adult education center that specializes in the world religions, groups of business workers gathered to discuss spirituality in the business world, public lectures, and call-in radio interviews with popular authors. My analysis of these conversations reveals shared patterns in the ways that people in all of these settings related rationality to transcendent meaning; I call these shared patterns of talking and thinking a culture of reflexive spirituality. This culture of reflexive spirituality promotes rational engagement with the symbols, stories, and rituals contained in religious traditions, toward the goal of making such traditions meaningful for modern people. At the same time, people who practice reflexive spirituality use religious traditions to critique the limitations that technological rationality places on transcendent meaning. Because it promotes the value of both rationality and transcendent meaning, the culture of reflexive spirituality sustains a more interactive relationship between religion and rationality than theorists of modernity have imagined. This interactive relationship suggests the possibility that religious traditions might contribute guiding transcendent meanings to the ongoing project of modernity.