Enthusiasm and Modern Political Subjectivity

Abstract

In The revolution of the saints. A study in the origins of radical politics, Michael Walzer describes modern political subjectivity based on the analysis of puritan calvinism throughout the 17th century. In this article we propose a brief history of the term “Enthusiasm” (Enthusiasmus, Schwärmerei) in order to show in which ways the theoretical precautions elaborated on religious enthusiasm constitutes a reaction against some key discursive peculiarities also present in modern political practices. According to our thesis, these conceptualizations reflect a number of features inherent to social languages that between 17th and 18th centuries moved from the religious sphere to our modern secular realm.