The Second Mountain

In 2019, David Brooks, author of The Road to Character and The Social Animal, published The Second Mountain, a book on community, virtue, and the committed life. A mix of self-help, advice, personal experience, and sociological data, The Second Mountain aims to present a systematic approach to a life dedicated to self-improvement through self-transcendence. Specifically, Brooks argues that there are four main avenues through which this approach to life should be accessed and adequately integrated: vocation, marriage, philosophy (or faith), and community. Together, these forms of commitments develop individual character and subsequently enhance meaning in life. Each is a route by which a person can climb “the second mountain.”

“The second mountain,” as suggested by its titular status, is the central concept of the book. Brooks develops an extended metaphor that relies on dichotomous approaches to life expressed metaphorically by two mountains. The first mountain signifies a life in pursuit of an ego ideal. Those climbing the first mountain are motivated by the pursuit of individual excellence, autonomy, and self-fulfillment. According to Brooks, there is nothing wrong with the first-mountain pursuit and ideology per se. It is, he believes, useful to a degree, especially when it is succeeded by the second mountain. The problem, Brooks frequently repeats, lies in the overemphasis contemporary Western culture places on first-mountain pursuits. This culture leads to an atomized society that dissolves families and communities and increases deaths from despair. In short, the problem Brooks addresses, on both the social and individual level, is a culture of hyper-individualism.

In response to this problem, and as an outgrowth of personal experiences over the last several years of his life, Brooks develops a communitarian ethic framed around the second mountain. At some point in life, Brooks argues, most people undergo serious, life-defining traumas. They face illness, lose loved ones, get divorced, etc. During these trying times, it is possible for people to fundamentally reorient themselves in the world. In doing so, they may realize that their previous paradigm (of individual autonomy, etc.) was radically insufficient. Growing in experience and wisdom, such people begin in earnest the second mountain pursuit. This reorientation in life is not from ethical egoism to altruism but rather from individualism to communitarianism. Second-mountain people throw themselves into commitments that transcend their personal projects and require good faith and loving, rich connections to others. Through establishing and lovingly maintaining connections with others (be it in a neighborhood, workplace, family, or faith-based community) humans can learn to flourish in ways they cannot in isolated pursuit. Brooks hopes that this “relationalist” perspective will serve people in reorienting their lives around moral joy (as opposed to personal happiness). Simultaneously, he sees this as a systematic criticism of the dominant tendency toward hyper-individualism (in both its conservative and liberal forms) in American culture.

This study guide relies upon the Random House paperback edition published in 2020.

Summary

The Second Mountain is divided into five parts, the first of which (along with the introduction) lays the groundwork for the expositions throughout the remainder of the book.

In the Introduction and Part 1, “The Two Mountains,” Brooks briefly discusses personal experiences and prior philosophical ineptitudes he hopes to correct, especially as expressed in his book The Road to Character. This section also presents the fundamental criticism of American culture (particularly intellectual and business culture) of individualism. He outlines the needs for and value of the second-mountain, relationalist perspective. Among other things, this is about the committed life and the paths along the roads of life that lead to this decisive shift in perspective.

The remainder of the book is labeled “The Four Commitments,” the first of which is vocation. Vocation, Brooks argues, is an essential ingredient of the committed second-mountain life. It is not the careerist pursuit of self-interest or the attempt to climb the corporate ladder. It is, instead, a calling from the depths of one’s nature to pursue some field of study, course of action, etc. to which one can dedicate their resources and energies. It fills the heart with passion and involves a sense of personal obligation. Along the way, Brooks discusses the importance of good mentors, the necessity of skill mastery, and the strange phenomenon of the “call” to vocation.

Then Brooks discusses marriage, which he sees as the ultimate form of interpersonal connection. Given the divorce and subsequent relationship that serve as partial prompts for this book, this section seems particularly personal for Brooks (though he leaves much of the personal for his discussion of faith). Brooks believes that “who you marry is the most important decision you will ever make” (138). He criticizes the way the marriage question is neglected in contemporary culture and, conversely, promotes the idea of a “maximal marriage,” i.e., a marriage in which the parties do not seek personal self-fulfillment through the other but instead give themselves up to dependence on one another in unconditional love. He then discusses the stages of intimacy in the development of a relationship from its inception through mutual recognition in old age.

Part 4 is about commitment to philosophy and/or faith. Therein, Brooks discusses various intellectual and religious commitments and most especially his personal religious decisions. Brooks writes, “The educated life is a journey toward higher and higher love,” indicating that the value of these commitments is not in the research-oriented pursuits of problem-solvers but rather in the admiration and depth of understanding that results from dedication to ideas (201). These can be political, spiritual, humanistic, scientific, or otherwise. Then, for the most self-reflective and personal section of the book, Brooks turns to his own religious awakening. He describes his slow transition from the life of a (somewhat) secular Jewish man to that of a Christian, albeit one still influenced by his Jewish heritage. The turn to religious life seems to be the apotheosis for Brooks of the commitment to the self-transcendent, which grounds the entire second-mountain philosophy.

In the final part of the book, Brooks emphasizes the need to engage on the community level, predominantly the local, neighborhood community. He reinforces his critique of the cultural and technological forces that drive people away from one another. He emphasizes the myriad of ways that close, entangled connections with other people in our proximal environment can have positive ripple effects throughout the neighborhood and beyond. As opposed to autonomy, emphasis is on solidarity and instead of individualism, community. Brooks ends this discussion, and thusly the book, with a “relationalist manifesto.” This is a summary, in manifesto form, of his cultural criticism, basic philosophical perspective, and personal platform for the good life.