Een boetpredikatie in de cultuursociologie

Samenvatting

A review article on the book Van Renaissance tot wereldoorlog (From Renaissance to World War) by P. J. Bouman (Amsterdam, the Netherlands: 1938 and 1955). The book's thesis is that European history since the Renaissance is responsible for 'the chaos of today' and that only the Christian religion provides a way out of this chaos. Bouman contrasts the 'static' Middle Ages with 'dynamic' modern history but fails to prove that the former were more harmonious or less chaotic. He contrasts a 'rationalist' Western Europe with an 'irrational' Central Europe, but fails to make the distinction work in Germany. He blames 'materialism' for humanity's recent disasters; but his numerous quotations from O. Spengler, J. Huizinga, J. Ortega y Gasset, K. Mannheim and A. Toynbee show that he grew up, like them, before WWI and believed in 'progress.' Like them, he was disillusioned and reversed his belief. I. Langnas.