We can trace the communitarian fantasy that lies at the root of all humanism back to the model of a literary society, in which participation through reading the canon reveals a common love of inspiring messages. At the heart of humanism so understood we discover a cult or club fantasy: the dream of the portentous solidarity of those who have been chosen to be allowed to read. In the ancient world–indeed, until the dawn of the modern nation-states–the power of reading actually did mean something like membership of a secret elite; linguistic knowledge once counted in many places as the provenance of sorcery. In Middle English the word 'glamour' developed out of the word 'grammar'. The person who could read would be thought easily capable of other impossibilities. Peter Sloterdijk
About This Quote

The communitarian fantasy that lies at the root of all humanism is the idea that human beings are essentially good and that, therefore, we should treat one another as equals. It is also the idea that we can create societies in which people cooperate with one another. The idea of solidarity through reading the canon is often expressed in terms of what it means to believe in what one reads. This is true, but it misses something important about the act of reading.

What is really happening when we read? We are not trying to believe anything; we are trying to understand what others believe. Humanists try their best to make sure that what they read represents wisdom, beauty, and truth; but they cannot guarantee this. Most of us know this; but we still try to reassure ourselves by thinking it through.

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