09 July 2010

Articulacy Fosters Reality

Christian Smith and Melinda Denton in Soul Searching (the book that diagnosed the 'moralistic therapeutic deism' of today's youth--and adults) make a fascinating observation:
Philosophers like Charles Taylor argue that inarticulacy undermines the possibilities of reality. So, for instance, religious faith, practice, and commitment can be no more than vaguely real when people cannot talk much about them. Articulacy fosters reality.
--Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 268

HT: David Nienhuis

2 comments:

Jude St.John said...

Awesome.

That quote goes well with this video that I first saw on Justin Taylor's blog: http://vimeo.com/3829682

Have you seen it?

Great post.

Jude

Dane Ortlund said...

Thanks Jude, hadn't seen that!