Gray Mass: a Critical Engagement with John Gray's Political Philosophy and the Role of Christian Eschatology

摘要

Contemporary political philosopher John Gray has recently asserted:“modern politics is a chapter in the history of religion.” Gray demonstrates how theroots of modern political violence can be traced back to Christianity. Furthermore, hesees Utopianism, “the Enlightenment project”, anthropocentrism and any notion ofhuman meaning as all originating in the Christian notion of “salvation”. Gray arguesthat all of these ideas are disproven by values pluralism – the idea that human lifeconsists of an incommensurable range of values. Gray is also critical of humanbeings technological appropriation of the world and the ecological crisis that thisconsciousness has precipitated. Gray claims that all forms of universalism aremistaken because they privilege a particular set of values at the expense of others.Gray offers a modus vivendi as a political construct that can appropriate the insightsof values pluralism, without privileging any particular set of values. Despiteconsidering Christianity (and its offspring) illusory, Gray asserts that the “myth ofhuman meaning” is a “necessary illusion”; it is one that human beings cannot livewithout. Gray’s argument, however, is beset with inconsistencies, including animplicit teleology, despite his explicit rejection of all teleology, and the tendency ofhis thought toward nihilism, undermining his proposal of a modus vivendi. In his ownconstructive proposal Gray inadvertently privileges values of peaceful coexistenceand human flourishing. His own political vision has some similarities with theChristian vision of the ideal human life. Christian eschatology is examined throughthe work of Jürgen Moltmann, and the values of hope and love are highlighted as theethical consequence of Christian eschatology, as opposed to the violence that Grayclaims has been generated from it. Moltmann’s thought also reveals the resourcespresent in a theological perspective that are able to resolve some of thecontradictions between individuality and sociality and between human beings andnature. This has significant implications for the ecological crisis, which is also one ofGray’s central concerns. Finally, Martin Heidegger’s concept of Gelassenheit isexamined as a point of common ground between Gray’s thought and a theologicalapproach to the world of politics and nature.