Blumenberg’s Problematic Secularization Thesis: Augustine, Curiositas and the Emergence of Late Modernity

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Well-constructed article.

Cyril O’Regan would be someone to look at more closely. 

Author Response

Many thanks for the constructive and positive comments. I do cite O'Regan, given his stature in the subdiscipline of Gnostic studies.

Reviewer 2 Report

Lines 206-207 repetition of words in quote.

Line 314: Laten (missing t). 

Overall the argument, culminating in an excellent engagement with curiosity and Augustine’s views of the world, is very interesting, but, unfortunately, the initial definition of Gnosticism, is unclear, lacks content (the picture (the various elements that might comprise a definition of gnosticism)needs to be filled out more), and is difficult to follow. This meant that whenever the author refers to ‘gnosticism’, it was not until sections 4 and 5 that I started seeing what the term gnostic should evoke.

The author might draw on, or provide quotations from, the readings of Gnosticism/ Manicheanism they reference. Quoting from a relevant Ancient source (with qualifications that this source is, perhaps an exemplar of the view of Gnosticism used by Blumberg, but that the category of Gnostic is problematic) might suffice for the author’s intention. If the author could engage with one or two examples from the Ancient texts that would aid their argument for the other-worldliness of Gnosticism.

More specifically, given the emphasis on Augustine, as a response to, but secret harbinger of, Gnosticism, the author might refer to some of Augustine’s (or secondary authors) criticisms of Manicheanism to provide an additional foil to Blumberg. As noted by the author, Augustine’s acceptance or rejection of aspects of sense experience could be a clue that Augustine accepts or rejects this world. Because there are historical factors at play here, for instance, the rejection of visual things could be a Platonist urge to move beyond immediate experiences and toward truth. This may connect with tendencies of ancient (rationalist) science, rather than being a position that rejects the world per se, so some extra clarity around these points are helpful.

Comments on Augustine from line 404 onward (including section 5) are helpful illuminations of Augustine’s engagement with the world. It might be enough that the author bring some of these more specific comments into their initial definition of Gnosticism (identifying things such as rejecting or accepting specific ways of experiencing) so that the comments support the thesis.

Second, addressing this comment is not vital, but could strengthen the thesis. Ancient Christianity is like a more public or democratic mystery cult, whereas the Gnostic ‘esotericism’ favored a smaller or select group of people. This implies that Early Christianity runs counter to some tendencies in the religious pantheon, and suggests that engagement with the world is primary to Christianity’s existence. Perhaps, if space permits, the author could include a few lines on the context of the early church and it’s response to Manicheanism (for instance) so that the Gnosticism the author is engaging with be situated, not only as a theological opponent to early Christianity, but also a challenge to the character of the Ancient Christian community.

I leave this second comment up to the editor and author’s discretion if it were included.

 

Author Response

Many thanks are due to the referee for the extremely helpful comments. To respond, I have included material on an original gnostic source, On the Origin of the World. My delay over the past 2 weeks lies in the fact that I needed sufficient time to read and digest this material. I have included it as a representative of the kind of gnosticism Blumenberg had in mind as a target of critique. I think this much improves the manuscript, so many thanks again! With regard to more material on Augustine and Manicheanism, not least the nature of Ancient Christianity, I am happy to cite a secondary source on that, but I fear my manuscript will become unwieldy if I expand on that point. I'm already at a 11,000 words (which is probably too long as it stands). I agree with the referee that these are important points and that Ancient Christianity distinguished itself from gnosticism on the basis of its democractic structure, but I worry it is simply a topic too far afield for me to include here (if I were to do the topic any justice).

Reviewer 3 Report

I like the level of scholarship manifest in the manuscript, as well as author's arguments to substantiate his critical views of Blumenberg. Where I find issues with the manuscript is on the level of spelling and type errors. The author should read through his/her manuscript and correct the multiple typos and minor mistakes. There are sentences that seem to be missing a word or where a word is misplaced/misspelled. 

The name of Blumenberg, for example, is misspelled a few times...

Rephrase this sentence: "And yet, modernity is not hermetically sealed off from the past that 324 Christian traces of the goodness of creation cannot makes themselves felt within the 325 theoretical curiosity of scientific method..." 

Another example of spelling mistakes/minor errors:

"it its boundaries can ever be truly identified), 344"

Author Response

Many thanks to referee for his/her kind constructive analysis. I have corrected the specific corrections here and have read over the entire manuscript, to ensure typos are fixed and awkward sentences are clarified. Thanks again!

Reviewer 4 Report

I think the author's thesis is obviously right--but the fact that Blumenberg is at all taken seriously is reason enough to publish this article.  

The author does a good job explaining what gnosticism is and is not--and why Augustine is not gnostic but an attempt to overcome gnoticism. 

I do think the author could make more of the fact that modernity comes from Luther and Calvin who come from Augustine--thus Modernity's second overcoming of gnosticism is actually unbroken from Augustine's overcoming. 

I would suggest my book Wisdom's Friendly Heart: Augustinian Hope for Skeptics and Conspiracy Theorists (Cascade, 2020) but that might be self serving--but there are several chapters linking Augustine's anti-gnosticism to Calvin and Luther and through them to Hume and even to Nietzsche that the author might find as a helpful resource for her/his own references to primary texts that show the connection.