Reason and Money

         This is Niya. Chapter fourteen of Norman O. Brown’s Life Against Death:The Psychoanalytic Meaning of History provides a psychoanalytic view of the Protestant Era. One of the main ideas raised by Brown is the centrality of the Devil in Protestantism. What struck me most throughout the chapter was the Lutheran attack on both reason and capitalism. According to Luther, these two seemingly unrelated ideas have made us inescapable caged by the Devil. Reason, because it is born out of Earthly works, Luther argued, is intrinsically tied to the Devil. As Brown writes:  “Reason is the Devil’s ‘bride and whore’. Not only is reason a positive enemy to scriptural faith, but it is also linked to the Aristotelian principle that good works make a man good. Reason is the source of all achievement in the world; but good works and achievements in this world are the domain of the Devil; therefore the teaching of reason can only be the Devil’s teaching, and the voice of reason the voice of the Devil” (213).

      

     This extremely pessimistic statement places every man and woman into the same hopeless category. It matters not what you do – since everything done on Earth, is essentially the work of the Devil. I cannot imagine what a bleak personal view one must have to believe that every act is ultimately bad. This view seems so opposite of the society we live in today. It is much more common to find people fighting for logic and reason, especially when it involves scientific or social advancements. It is a wonder that the Protestants held work ethic so highly, and despised reason. It seems that a combination of the two could have possibly developed great ideas.

       Luther also attacked capitalism, or rather the amount of power we have attributed to money. He firmly believed the Devil uses money to keep us as captives and the ways in which we live our lives only helps to reinforce this power. We have become enslaved to the power, and the freedom money brings us that we lose sight that “the entire kingdom of Satan is essentially capitalist” (221). Unlike Luther’s ideas on reason, this statement is something I can fully understand. In today’s world there is no commodity held in higher regard than money.  We have become trained to place monetary values on all aspects of life, it is almost impossible to think outside of a capitalist frame of mind. Money is powerful enough to form bonds, hold them together, or irrevocably tear them apart. We act in ways that will benefit us financially, forgetting what we have given up for our gain. 

        I can follow Luther’s attack on capitalism. We would be a much simpler, and frankly, more well rested people if we stopped worshipping money. However, I just cannot live without my reason.