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biographical account is, moreover, an important testament of Australias religious

history.
MAURICE SCHILD
Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide

DANIEL DUBUISSON: Wisdoms of Humanity: Buddhism, Paganism, and Christianity,

trans. Seth Cherney. Leiden: Brill, 2011; pp. 255.
Daniel Dubuissons monograph addresses the way that the consciousness or the I
(ego) was perceived and experienced by what he calls the wisdoms of humanity,
namely Buddhism, Paganism and Christianity. Challenging the a priori existence of the
I, he nevertheless seeks to counter the human sciences, which, since mile Durkheim,
have paradoxically neglected the most interior dimensions of the human person
(p. 12). Dubuisson instead hones in on this interiority, claiming that the I, far from
existing a priori, is a labile phenomenon that is constantly shaped and affected, and
is therefore an outcome of its experiences. In short, his main thesis is to criticise the
unity and permanence (p. 41) of the self that we modern people take for granted so
that we can realise, just like the sages of old, the need to undertake certain ascetical
disciplines abstinence, poverty, self-control, etc. in order to engender some
stability for an I in a constant state of flux.
After his introduction, Dubuisson outlines the Object of the Wisdoms, which he
lists as detachment, self mastery, serenity, apatheia, and ataraxy which were utilised
in order to strengthen the unity of the I in the face of the painful trials of existence,
bodily sufferings, affections of the soul and the prospect of death (p. 4). In this
section he also sets the parameters for his critique of the modern valorisation
of the I before moving to the first part of the book entitled Certitude or Futility? that
is divided into five chapters. The first chapter explores the Fragile and Uncertain I
or the flux of consciousness before looking at how modern people deal with this flux
through cosmographic formation i.e. the reassuring coordinates and reference
points (p. 25) that we set up to create our own organized world (p. 26) and poetic
anthropology, or how we constantly make ourselves through the texts, which are not
necessarily written documents, but any existential reference point. It is, according to
Dubuisson, this textual function that gives meaning to our I and helps us to
maintain our arbitrary worlds (pp. 2931). It is here that he asserts that the I does
not pre-exist what disturbs it but is rather an outcome of its aggregate experiences, i.e.
it is literally in-dividuated.
Chapter 2, A Labile Consciousness continues by exploring modern writers who
have criticised the permanence of the I (Marcel Proust, Pierre Janet, Ernesto de
Martino) from various perspectives. The third chapter, The Pure Consciousness of the
Philosophers critiques Descartes for prioritising the self to its experiences, so that
the I became the definitive condition for existing (cogito ergo sum) in opposition to
the body and, by extension, the world. Kant is summarily criticised for positing the the
transcendental and unifying activity of the consciousness as an a priori necessity
(p. 65), meaning that both Descartes and Kant stood in opposition to the authors thesis
that whatever I exists can only be the result or consequence of many different
experiences. Dubuissons criticism of these philosophers leads to the next chapter on
Impermanence and Vacuity, where he elaborates upon Claude Lvi-Strauss approach
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towards Buddhist asceticism, namely in relation to the passions which can only be
overcome by the complete annihilation of self in the state of Nirvana. To this
ontology founded in emptiness (p. 82) is added the next chapter on Unfinished
Humanity which focuses on David Humes position that the I is not independent
from and neither does it pre-exist impressions (moods, sensations, sentiments, notions
. . .) which are numerous, unstable, changing, ephemeral (p. 85). He then observes
what he believes is Humes insufficient analysis of the ways in which we imagine or
invent ourselves as uninterrupted or continuous persons.
After completing the section on Hume, Dubuisson begins Part 2 of the book entitled
Christian Techniques of the Soul, which is divided into four chapters. The first of these
chapters, Techniques of the Body and Spiritual Exercises, bases itself on the work of
Marcel Mauss to undertake a comparative analysis of ancient schools such as Stoicism
and Buddhism in order to show the various exercises and practices they prescribed to
escape ones miserable condition (p. 114) resulting in a detachment from the world
and the I or self. The ensuing chapters on Christianity are subsequently refracted
through the lens of these particular wisdoms. The section entitled Christian Anthropology concerns the paradox of the transcendent God as being the closest thing to
the Christian believers inner life, and explores St Augustine, St Francis de Sales,
Thomas Kempis, St John of the Cross, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Teresa of vila, and
others in order to demonstrate this internalization of the absolute (p. 125) around
which the entire mental and interior life of the believer (p. 127) was organised.
Dubuisson sees this as unprecedented yet problematic, and turns to the soul itself
(which, from a theological perspective, is the I) to determine just how Christians
specifically, the medieval mystics envisaged it, before moving onto the next chapter,
Disciplines of the Interior Life. Here, he describes the initial rupture and change of
the I, the resolution to remain changed which is forged through willpower, the
renunciation of self (pp. 1524), and the exercises used to progress in this state; all of
which are rendered in the dualistic, anti-body terminology of some of these mystics,
especially throughout the next subsections on the Discipline of the Heart and Character and the Discipline of the Spirit.
In the next chapter, Suffering and Culpability he contrasts the wisdoms that
instructed individuals that they had the inherent capacity to endure this painful life to
Christianitys preoccupation with internalising the suffering of Christ so as to receive
a reward in a mythical hereafter. Whilst it is incontestable that in the Medieval
Christian West there was an inordinate focus on Christs passion, this must be contextualised in relation to the Dark Ages that preceded (and even persisted into) this
period, where the suffering Christ became a psychic projection of the Wests own
suffering. This sort of contextualisation may have resulted in a more sympathetic
portrait than that which is contained in this monograph, because the impression that
is given is that Christianity in general has been, and remains, afflicted by a morbid
disposition. A comparative analysis with the Orthodox Christianity of Byzantium,
which, with its focus on the resurrection of Christ, was much more optimistic, may
have helped to mitigate the severity of Dubuissons approach. Indeed, the Byzantine
mystics of the late Middle Ages, such as St Gregory Palamas, St Nicholas Cabasilas,
and others, did not postpone heaven to the hereafter, but instead affirmed its attainment in the here and now through an ascetic imitatio Christi within the ecclesial
context. So, despite their different goal which was an immediate participation in
God the Byzantines are perhaps more suitably comparable to the representatives of
the wisdoms insofar as they also share a concern for how to properly endure the
troubles of this life.
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The third section of the book, The Wisdoms of Cultures, returns to the human
sciences that Dubuisson critiqued in the introduction, establishing their incapacity to
address the human being as an individual (p. 184). Instead, they are preoccupied with
categories or superstructures such as the middle class, the workers (p. 183) etc., which
disparage the significance of the I. This is followed by an exploration of how the
wisdoms can address this problem through cosmographic formation, before turning
specifically to these wisdoms in order to contrast the Christian and pagan approaches,
where the author discloses his preference for the latter. Continuing this line of thought,
the following chapter, Metaphysics and Religions, tries to dismantle the discipline of
the history of religions for ostensibly interpreting other religions/faiths/beliefs unilaterally from a Christian perspective. The last chapter, Anthropology and Wisdoms
then praises the wisdoms (sans Christianity) for approaching the difficulties of life apart
from any belief in God or gods; an assessment that is slightly anachronistic since their
atheism or agnosticism which the author mentions (p. 223) cannot be
compared to todays equivalents. According to Dubuisson, it was these wisdoms alone
that were concerned with human beings acquiring a calm and more robust I
(p. 225); an assertion that, I believe, is difficult to maintain with as much certainty as the
author does here. This is followed by the authors conclusion, aptly entitled The
Forgetting of Wisdom which contains his main contribution. This is to point out that
contemporary humanity, which is plagued by similar and even worse problems (which
he lists, pp. 2334) than those experienced by our wise ancestors, could learn from
them how to endure this life how to consolidate the I. In a world replete with quick
fix remedies, this message is indispensable. However, his complete dismissal of the
utility of religion in this endeavour, which is reiterated in the final paragraph of the work
(p. 243), is unfortunate.
MARIO BAGHOS
University of Sydney

OLIVIA COSGROVE, LAURENCE COX, CARMEN KUHLING, and PETER MULHOLLAND,

eds: Irelands New Religious Movements. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge
Scholars, 2011; pp. ix + 423.
The collection of papers in this volume came out of and interdisciplinary conference on
alternative spiritualities, the New Age and new religious movements in Ireland, that
was held in Maynooth during 2009. The interdisciplinary theme is apparent within the
books varied chapters which offer a rich and diverse analysis of Irelands evolving
religious landscape. Split into two parts: The Changing Religious Faces of Ireland and
Irish Religion as Global; the books scope moves from a more localised and historical
perspective, to the examination of migrant religions and the influence of Irish religious
movements or sentiments on a more global scale. The book offers an interesting insight
into the myriad of religious practices and beliefs that can be found within Ireland, while
highlighting the impact of Irish Catholicism on emerging religions and trends.
The two chapters (Chapters 3 and 4) exploring the origins of Buddhist practices offer
colourful and fascinating examples of Buddhism being explored by Irish nationals from
as early as 1871, with the first Irish person being ordained in Burma by the late 1890s
(p. 57). I found Attracta Brownlees chapter on Irish Travellers and their relationship
with healing priests and New Age healing practices (Chapter 6) absorbing. Brownlees
2013 The Authors
Journal of Religious History 2013 Religious History Association