Expressive individualism, the phrase coined by philosopher Charles Taylor in A Secular Age, captures the largest ideological shift in America during the twentieth century. It represents the cumulative effect of secularism’s insatiable appetite to understand the self. Two other phrases coined by Taylor provide some background.
The first is “exclusive humanism,” the idea that humans are exclusively responsible for the happenings in our world. This idea, on a societal level, cuts off any true contact with transcendence. Exclusive humanism means humans on their own, without God.
This leads to a second phrase—the “immanent frame.” This is Taylor’s term for a “constructed social space where instrumental rationality is a key value.” In other words, humans who have abandoned God still long for meaning, and if that meaning can’t be found in transcendence, then it must be found in what is immanent—in what is here, accessible, earthly. The immanent frame infuses depth in material things, but in isolation from the Creator that exclusive humanism denies. The immanent frame requires that the things of this world must be special.
This is the thinking behind our society’s fairly recent infatuation with “organic,” “hand-crafted,” “home-made,” and so forth. Take a look in your pantry and
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