Giddens has a good deal to say about the late-modern soul, though he mightn't call it that. I reckon awareness of this analysis might really help magnify the existential impact of a few sermons...He identifies four 'tribulations of the self':
1. Unification versus fragmentation By this he means that constructing our identity involes a myriad of contexts and experiences, though which a coherent course must be chartered.
2. Powerlessness versus appropriation We live in a culture surrounded by opportunities and options made available to us by modernity and its technologies. But this also has the effect of generating feelings of powerlessness, even amongst people who are wealthy and educated. It's the system...what can we do about it?
3. Authority versus uncertainty Giddens points out that late modern people experience a radical mistrust of all authorities such that none are final. As a self, therefore, we must steer a way between commitment (possibly without full trust) and uncertainty.
4. Personalised versus commodified experience You have to tell your own story or construct your own self-identity in the midst of circumstances in which the economy of consumption standardises everything. So, because of this one-size-fits-most experience we have in the marketplace, we must find other ways to individualise ourselves...
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a radical mistrust
But do we mistrust ourselves? Or do we rest all on some undefinable gut instinct? Although, perhaps your point is that our 'gut instinct' is made up of these 4 key tensions...?
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