Protestant and Individualistic Origins of American Cultural Orientations.pdf

1、The paper discusses the ancestors of American modern society and culture. No one can deny the power of ideas and ideologies to shape the course of human events. American Protestant tradition and individualistic develop

2、ment constitute the two major elements of American cultural orientations, with the former one as the religious light and the latter one as the secular light on the shaping of the characters of American people and Amer

3、ican society. From the starting point, Protestantism is not only a spiritual campaign, but also a social reform movement. Early Protestantism of Lutheranism and Calvinism claims to regulate State and society according

4、to the supernatural standpoint of revelation. Modern Protestantism does not attempt to control secular life through the State and recognizes a plurality of different religious convictions, based on voluntary effo

5、rt and personal conviction,independent from the State. Protestantism has furthered the rise of the American modern world and has secured greater freedom of development by doing away with the hindrances to the modern worl

6、d.Above all, Protestantism gaveto the new ideas a firm foundation of a good conscience and an impulse towards social progress. If we look at the political, social, and technical aspects of the American modern world, w

7、e can still see a softened form of Protestant orthodoxy. Last but not least, the American modern world is also characterized by an individualism which has a deeply and strongly rooted metaphysical con

8、stitution. The American modern individualism is based on the essentially Christian idea of the destination of man to acquire perfected personality through the ascent to God. These metaphysics of absolute persona

9、lity permeate the American world and gives a metaphysical background to the thought of freedom and the autonomous self. In the first chapter of this paper, the unique American cultural qualities are discussed to i

10、mprove the understanding of American cultural orientations. In the second and the third chapters,attention is thrown onto the two major origins of Americanculture: Protestantism and individualism. The forth chapter hig

11、hlights the significance of Protestantism and individualism in connection with American social transformations. The last chapter is the brief surveys and comments on the process of enrichment and perfection of Ameri