Abstract
Chapter 5 argues that the first steps towards the birth of happiness can be traced back to the Renaissance and Reformation movements. In addition to the existent and still prevalent christian problematization of salvation, the Renaissance movement (starting in the 15th and 16th centuries) and the Reformation movement (starting in the 16th century) introduced the problematization of (good) feeling and the affirmation of mundane life, which—when they were eventually intensified—resulted in the birth of happiness.
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Notes
- 1.
This view has been promoted by the influential 19th century scholar of the Renaissance Jacob Burckhardt (see Burckhardt 1945).
- 2.
See also Celso Maffei’s Pleasing Explanation of the Sensuous Pleasures of Paradise (1504).
- 3.
It is interesting that this Renaissance diagnosis of widespread melancholy resemble the diagnosis of widespread depression in contemporary western societies.
- 4.
This encompassed both places (certain places were holier than others), objects, and people (and their vocations).
- 5.
We could perhaps link this anxiety to the widespread melancholy diagnosed by Burton.
- 6.
Here, it is worth mentioning that given the vast doctrinal diversity and the confusion, according to McGarth (2004, p. 25), ‘It could be argued that Luther’s comprehensive theological protest against the church of his day was the consequence of an improper identification of the theological opinions of the via concerning the justification of humanity before God (opinions which he came to regard as Pelagian) with the official teaching of the church’.
- 7.
The idea of treasury of merits was already described above in 9.2.1.
- 8.
We shall analyze the effects of this development for the constellation of power relations bellow in the section about power.
- 9.
As we shall see in the chapter about power, according to Foucault (2007), these existing conditions mostly correspond to the existing modality of pastoral power institutionalized in the Church.
- 10.
The best example of this is a written polemic on free will between Erasmus of Rotterdam (probably one of the most famous Renaissance thinkers) and Luther (see Luther and Erasmus 1969).
- 11.
Here, we should add that, according to Foucault (2007, p. 268), the hierarchy of the sacred and the consequent hierarchical distinction between the laity and the clerics was actually a result of the institutionalization of pastoral power. As such, it should also be seen as one of the central points and outcomes of pastoral struggles in the context of the Reformation movement.
- 12.
Of course, there are also certain connections between renaissance and reformation (see McGrath 2004).
- 13.
Following from this the reformed tradition appreciated the created order and did not directly condemn the realm of sensual pleasures: ‘on the one hand, through cross-bearing we are crucified to the world and the world to us. On the other hand, devout Christians enjoy this present life, albeit with due restraint and moderation, for they are taught to use things in this world for the purpose that God intended them’ (Beeke 2004, p. 143). The reformers therefore opted for the middle way and advised their followers to avoid two opposite extremes: ‘they must spurn the monkish error of renouncing the things of this world’ (Taylor 2001, p. 222) and at the same time be careful not to become too absorbed in things of this world.
- 14.
In relation to sensual pleasures, it is possible to observe an interesting, somewhat paradoxical difference between the Catholic and the Protestant tradition. In the Catholic tradition (in theory at least), the desire for the sensual has to be completely neutralized. Given that this imperative is obviously impossible to put into practice, there is always a certain leeway for occasional (either individual or collective) transgression (like medieval carnivals). While the idea of Vice and various penitential practices in this sense serve as an absolution for such transgressions, in turn, the possibility of an absolution also opens up a wider space for occasional sensual transgressions. On the other hand, the Protestant tradition in theory does not entirely condemn the sensual, provided that life is enjoyed with due restraint and moderation. In practice, however, this leads to a kind of tyranny of moderation in the context of which a good Protestant (in theory) indeed can enjoy life, but is (in practice) never moderate enough.
- 15.
Which includes the refusal of (obligatory) confession by majority of the protestant churches.
- 16.
For more on Protestant ‘religious despair,’ see Stachniewski (1991).
- 17.
In Chap. 6 we shall see that this way of translating beatitude is related to Christianity operating in the new context of the modern experience of happiness.
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Zevnik, L. (2014). The Origins of Happiness in Renaissance and Reformation. In: Critical Perspectives in Happiness Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04403-3_5
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