cultural norms for judging all premodern texts and ideas. All that certitude is now gone, however, and we are left rootless. Modern chauvinism has attempted a preemptive strike on all premodern wisdoms. The label modern chauvinism refers to the attitude of those who assume the intrinsic inferiority of all premodern ideas and texts, and the intrinsic superiority of all modern methods of investigation. Modern chauvinists, who long ago decided that no premodern voice said anything worth hearing, have