植民地社会の専門家と権威

Chapter 4：Experts as Claimsmakers

　Colonial Massachusetts was established by Puritans, and ministers were key figures in that society. They saw evidence of God's hand everywhere in the world, and their sermons sometimes commented on current events, interpreting them in religious terms.

A bad harvest might be evidence of God's wrath, and problems among people were caused by sin, by individuals breaking God's commandments. Virtually any event could be interpreted within this religious framework. Ministers, then, were colonial New England's principal experts; their theological training qualified them to explain and evaluate most aspects of life. Their religious frame was seen as authoritative because it was promoted by professionals

representing the society's leading institution.

　The ministers' religious perspective seems less authoritative today. In at least public discussions of social problems, modern Americans rarely speak of sin (and when politicians or even religious leaders do invoke such language, they often come under criticism). Rather, contemporary Americans are more comfortable with a kind of medical vocabulary; when talking about social problems, we are more likely to speak of diseases, syndromes, disorders,

or addictions--words that seem grounded in medical, scientific classifications. Consider how contemporary discussions of Aquinas's classical list of the seven deadly sins often redefine these behaviors as medical problems; for example, lust might be characterized as sex addiction, gluttony as food addiction or compulsive eating, anger as an anger management problem, and sloth as chronic fatigue syndrome. (At the same time, modern medicine sometimes seems to promote those same deadly sins by treating their absence as medical problems that also may require treatment; consider drugs to enhance sexual performance [lust], cosmetic surgery [pride, envy], liposuction [gluttony], or concerns about workaholism and type A personalities [sloth] or low self-esteem [pride].) At least when they talk about social issues, contemporary Americans are less likely to

accept the judgments of religious leaders, and more likely to defer to doctors.