Modernity

Postmodern situation

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Modernity means Age of Enlightenment The era of "new" world system. A kind of continuous progress Purposiveness Irreversible Time concept 。 Modernity promotion nation-state And form the political concept and legal concept of the nation-state, and establish an efficient social organization Mechanism to create a set of values with freedom, democracy and equality as the core.

Chinese name: Modernity

Foreign name: modernity
Definition: The era of the generation of the "new" world system since the Age of Enlightenment

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one concept
two course
three Problems
four resolvent

concept

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Post modernity (or a more derogatory term“ Postmodern Situation ") usually refers to the economic and/or cultural state or situation of human society that appears after modernity. Some schools of thought believe that modernity ended at the end of the 20th century and was replaced by postmodernism; Other schools believe that modernity has always continued and includes the development content represented by postmodernism. The characteristics of postmodernism include globalization 、 consumerism The disintegration of authority and the commercialization of knowledge

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Phase I

In the study of the history of thought in the West, the word "modern" can be traced back to the medieval scholastic theology, and its Latin form is "modernus". In his book Aesthetic Standards and Historical Reflections on the Controversy between Ancient and Modern, German hermeneuter Jauss made an authoritative textual research on the origin of the word "modern". He believed that it was first used in the late tenth century to refer to ancient times Imperium Romanum The transition period to the Christian world aims to distinguish the ancient from the modern. In Five Masks of Modernity, Karinescu investigated that the concept of modernity originated from the worldview of Christian eschatology. Published by the historian Toynbee in 1947《 Historical Studies 》In a book Human history It can be divided into four stages: the Dark Age (675-1075), the Middle Ages (1075-1475), the Modern Age (1475-1875), and the Postmodern Age (1875-1875). His "modern period" refers to The Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment 。 In his view, the post-modern period refers to the rationalism and enlightenment since 1875 Mental breakdown It is characterized by "turbulent years". According to the most authoritative theorist of "modernity" jurgen habermas The word "modern", which regards itself as the result of changes from ancient times to the present, also repeatedly expresses a sense of the times closely related to the ancient past with the change of content. Habermas pointed out that "the modern view of human beings has changed with different beliefs. This belief is driven by science, which believes in the infinite progress of knowledge, the infinite development of society and improvement."

Phase II

Obviously, modernity refers to the era when the new world system has been generated since the Age of Enlightenment. A kind of continuous progress Purposiveness Irreversible Time view Read. just as Wang Hui To sum up, the concept of "modern" presents its own meaning in the distinction between medieval and ancient times, "it reflects the belief that the future has begun. This is an era of survival for the future, an era open to the future" new ". This evolutionary, progressive and irreversible view of time provides a way for people to look at history and reality, and also integrates the significance of people's own survival and struggle into the track of time, the position of the times and the goal of the future.

Phase III

In the later period of Toynbee's view of the "modern era", and the post-modern "turbulent era" since 1875, when rationalism and enlightenment spirit collapsed, it is modernity that reprogrammes society Organizational system , new Legal system , secularized sense of worth Mindfulness and aesthetics cognitive style The period of. Modernity is also a strong and long-term social and spiritual change launched in the above aspects. It is difficult to accurately indicate the age of the origin of modernity. Sociologists and historians have very different analytical models, but generally tend to think that the origin of modernity is capitalism The origin is closely related.

Problems

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Of course, there is another problem, capitalism Originated in historian and sociologist The discussion is not very clear. Marx is right about this One time Marks also appear hesitant. Marx understood capitalist production from the polarization of goods and markets Basic conditions The root cause that can be produced. Marx set this date in the 16th century, because it was just Atlantic Of Ocean route When it was opened, it made possible the exchange and circulation of goods, labor and a wider range of markets. French historian Fei Fernand Braudel He regards the "long 16th century" (from 1450 to the 16th century) as the period of the origin of capitalism, but he even traces the bud back to the 12th and 13th centuries. He believes that the bud of capitalism came into being at that time. Brodale endowed industrial revolution And divide the world's time into Two stages That is, before and after the 18th century, the 18th century is considered to be the symbol of the true birth of capitalism. Since the origin of capitalism is a very complex problem, we cannot simply equate the origin of modernity with it. The origin of modernity should be a broader and more profound historical process of political, economic, ideological and cultural changes. In this view, the 18th century Enlightenment It is reasonable to regard the rise of movement as the origin of modernity.

resolvent

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From this point of view, modernity should be understood from two aspects: first, social organization structure On the one hand, modernity marks the formation of a new world system of capitalism, the beginning of the construction of a secular society, and the worldwide flow of markets, goods, and labor; nation-state The establishment of administrative organization and legal system ； Secondly, in terms of ideology and culture Social history And people's own reflective cognitive system began to be established, Education system And large-scale Knowledge Creation And communication, the continuous emergence of various disciplines and schools of thought, which constantly promote the development of society towards the established ideal goals.

stay humanities According to the thinkers of Cultural changes aspect. Max Weber from Religion and metaphysics From the perspective of world view separation to understand modernity. This separation constitutes three areas of self-discipline: science, morality and art. Since the 18th century, the problems left over in the Christian worldview have been incorporated into different Knowledge area They are classified into truth, normative justice, authenticity and beauty. This leads to knowledge problems fairness And moral issues, and fun issues. Scientific language, moral theory jurisprudence And art production and criticism have been set up. Problems in every field of culture have become the focus of special experts. This professional trend of culture makes the social cognitive system and Practical behavior They form three internal structures: cognition tool structure, morality practice structure, Aesthetic expression Of rationality Structure, each structure becomes the control object of special experts. Enlightenment philosophers believe that through science and art, human understanding and handling of the world, self, morality, progress and fairness will tend to be infinitely perfect. Only the history of the 20th century broke this idealized intention, and the reflection on modernity became an important theme of the humanities.

design

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Habermas understood modernity as a scheme and an unfinished cause. Habermas's understanding of modernity is obviously influenced by Max Weber, and he often quotes Max Weber's views when discussing modernity. Modernity of Enlightenment Thinkers conceptual design That is to plan human life from the objective science, universal morality and law, and aesthetic art that Max Weber said. Modern design intends to release the cognitive potential of each of the above fields from its external form. "Enlightenment philosophers tried to take advantage of this special Cultural accumulation To enrich daily life -- that is, to organize and arrange daily civil life 。” Habermas uses a Critical Of Overall He spoke highly of the social theory of early capitalism Public sphere , criticizing its decline in contemporary society. Hastelli does not deny that cultural modernity is also facing difficulties, but the original motivation of modernity is not responsible for it. It is just the consequence of the socialization of modernity, but also the problem of the development of culture itself. Habermas worried that the rejection of rationality would lead to dangerous consequences of theory and politics, so he tried to maintain what he said was the unrealized democratic potential of modernity. Hastert does not believe that modernity is perfect, but he insists that modernity is positive in its early days, but only in its late days. His defense of modernity is to stimulate the potential of modernity, so that it can still play a positive role in contemporary life practice. Rationalized art or aesthetics has become an important way for Habermas to release the potential of modernity. In his view, in the 19th century, the radical evolution derived from the spirit of romanticism and freed from all special historical constraints Modern consciousness Already looked up. The spirit and rules of aesthetic modernity show a clear outline in Baudelaire's works. This modernity of aesthetics only creates an abstract opposition between tradition and modernity, let alone from Modernism And today's aesthetic attitude. He said: "From a certain point of view, it is still the contemporary of the aesthetic modernity that first appeared in the middle of the 19th century.". Habermas and Postmodernism Start an ongoing debate.

present situation

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These explanations are just a corner view. The debate on modernity is complex and chaotic. The main points are: 1. The concept of time of infinite progress; 2, the formation of the nation state and its organizational mechanism and efficiency; 3, to Human value The concept of freedom, democracy, equality, justice, etc.

This interpretation of modernity comes from Peking University has Of Doctoral supervisor Chen Xiaoming sir.

Main differences

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Modernity This word is used to describe the state of "modern". Since the word "modern" has been used in a wide range of many periods, it is necessary to know what "modernity" is from the context.

If history is divided into three periods, modern times can represent all the European history 。 The three periods are: Ancient times 、 medieval times And modern. Modern times will also refer to a period from 1870 to 1910. If more specific, it refers to the period from 1910 to 1960

Modern times after the Middle Ages

One of the common usage in modern times refers to the western history since the middle of the 15th century, or roughly speaking, it is found in Europe Letterpress History after printing. The characteristics of this period are:

The rise of the nation-state Industrialization, the rise of capitalism, Socialist country The emergence of representative democracy, the increase of the importance of science and technology, urbanization, the popularization of literacy, and the proliferation of mass media. In this context, modernity is formed after the development of many times, and is affected by many important historical events.

These times include:

Great Geographical Discovery Renaissance, religious revolution and anti religious revolution, rational era enlightenment campaign Romanticism Victorian era (See Industrial Revolution), modern, postmodern (see postmodernity), and major historical events include:

Typography , Puritan Revolution Independence of the United States , the French Revolution, the revolutionary movement in 1848 Russian Revolution 、 the First World War and the Second World War

New features

There are various words used to describe the modern society, social life drive 、 mentality Etc. They include: bureaucracy Rationalization Secularization, Alienation, Commercialization, De contextualization Individualism 、 subjectivism , Linear progress objectivism 、 Universalism , Reductionism, Chaos Mass society 、 industrial society 、 Homogenization , simplification, hybridization, diversification, democratization, centralization, class organization, mechanization, totalitarianism, etc.

Modernity is often characterized by modern society and pre modern or Postmodern However, we do not have a firm understanding of the situation of these non modern societies. In a way, we can reasonably doubt whether there is a concept that can properly describe various historical contexts Social situation , especially the situation of non European society, such as a three-stage social model from pre modernity to post modernity.

Internal contradiction

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Advantages

Modernization has brought people seemingly unquestionable benefits. Lower infant mortality rate , the number of deaths due to hunger, the eradication of some fatal diseases, and fairness to people with different backgrounds and incomes. For some people, although modernity has not yet been fully realized, it is a manifestation of possibility. Generally speaking, for most people Rational science It seems that we still understand what "good" means when we explore problems and pursue economic prosperity social development ”In a reasonable way.

Dark side

But at the same time, sociologists also pointed out many dark sides of modernity. In addition to medical and agricultural fields, science and technology also grow in the military field. World War II During Hiroshima And Nagasaki Atomic bomb , and post-war nuclear weapon Competition, which is considered by some scholars that human beings can or cannot control technology Danger signs 。

Stalin's great purge and Holocaust Some scholars believe that Rational thinking And society Rational organization It may involve symbols of exclusion or extermination of non individuals. and LGBT Crowds, criminals and mentally ill people are also considered by some scholars as objects unfairly excluded by modern society. Modernity includes Value rationality And Instrumental rationality The contradiction between them cannot be ignored. 　 environmental problems Other fields containing the dark side of modernity. Pollution may be the least controversial item among them, but some people regard the decreasing bio-diversity And Climate change And so on. Some scholars believe that, biotechnology And genetic engineering The development of is creating unknown dangers.

In addition to these obvious events, many critics have pointed out the psychological and moral dangers of modern life. Alienation, rootless feeling, close connection and Common values Loss of hedonism Etc. These are accompanied by a reassessment of the pre modern society, although these criticisms may fall into nostalgia for the idealized past.

And contemporary society

There is a continuous debate on the relationship between "modernity" and "current society". This argument has two directions. First, there is an empirical question: whether some current societies can be seen as a continuation of the development of modernity (see Late modernism )； Or should it be regarded as the variation of modernity (see super modernism); Or it should be regarded as an independent type (see Postmodernism )。 Secondly, judge whether modernization has become, and will always be, the expectation of society. On the surface, globalization Cold War New phenomena such as ending, racial conflict, and the growth of information technology are regarded by some scholars as reasons for adopting new ideas when observing social development. However, most contemporary societies agree that modernity has an autonomous structure.

Ontology

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For a long time, although the academic circles have different opinions on "modernity", its connotation is relatively stable and clear: from the perspective of history, modernity marks a unity of fracture and continuity, which is a fracture in continuity; From a sociological perspective, modernity marks the process of modernization Central African Traditional factors The accumulation and filling of Cultural system Transition of; From the psychological point of view, modernity is the experience and identification of modern people with modern (temporal) variations Subjectivity There are disputes, which are talked about by more and more people, and almost constitute the mainstream of modernity research, the academic tradition of "modernity" Legitimacy Thus internalization, deepening and solidification; This directly led to philosophy's generalization of modernity (philosophy always believes that it is qualified to synthesize and abstract all other disciplines, which has brought it too much honor, but also too much shame). Modernity is the variation and structure of subject object complementarity (mutual mapping and acceptance) in modern time and space. But make a natural approach to modernity Ontology of Interpreter It is rare or even unseen. Jean Fran ç ois Liotta's book "Non human - ramble on time" precisely made this effort. The gap between natural ontology and modernity is very far. No matter what kind of understanding, modernity is always confined to human and society. But a mathematician once told me that to study the seemingly simplest integer problem, we need to use the Complex function 、 functional analysis As an analytical tool, the theory of number theory can thoroughly understand and grasp the essence and law of integers. Jean Francois Lyotard probably thought so, so he finally had this wise book that analyzed modernity from natural ontology.

"Non human" first returns to the enchanted natural noumenon, although this is an ancient human View of nature That is to say, nature has a soul. This natural land was born from the ancestors' dependence on and integration with nature Lifestyle 。 "Harmony between man and nature" can be seen as the specific concept of this concept of nature in the eastern society, Eastern mysticism This is generated. Because of the sluggish development of modern oriental society, it is rather slow and difficult to break away from this way of life, which strengthens the oriental mysticism. But this may save the East and even the whole world in the future, although it is necessary to conceptualize its science. Since the development of modern science and the industrial revolution in the West, people have been confident that nature has become the object of human demand and control, so nature has been completely externalized as the object of human beings. The disenchantment of nature has become the main trend of scientific spirit. Therefore, human beings forget that they are part of the object of their arrogance and demand, and natural revenge is presented in a frenzy. It is necessary to learn to live in harmony with nature, so that the re enchanted view of nature that integrates the updated scientific concept with nature comes into being. This undoubtedly inspired Leonta. However, he did not appreciate enchantment, but identified with enchantment in his heart. "There is no matter in Cartesian thinking" materialism If matter is really energy and spirit is accumulation wave Based on this understanding, matter has memory, and information always presents Geometric series The expansion finally led to the complexity of the whole universe. such Directivity The complexity process of time is time, and the essence of time is here. This is in line with Clausius, Maxwell, Hawking, etc natural scientist The view of. Although they don't think it is a process of negative entropy, they think it is a process to be explored at best. But Leotard is more optimistic than them, and therefore less rigorous than them.

He asserts that this is a process of negative entropy, and optimistic attitude forms the basis of his thought. "One of the implications of this trend of thought is that it is possible for me to call it human narcissism It's a new blow. Freud has listed three famous blows: man is not at the center of the universe (Copernicus); Man is not the first life (Darwin); Man is not the master of feeling (Freud himself). Through contemporary Technical science People understand that they are not spiritual monopolists, that is to say, they are not complicated monopolists. Although this complexity is not destined to be recorded (memorized) in the material, it may be in the material, which has happened long before the existence of human beings. But this complexity can be clearly stated. People also know that their own science is also a kind of material complexity. It can be said that in this complexity, energy itself is reflected, but people do not necessarily get privileges from it. Therefore, people should not consider themselves as a cause, nor a result, but as a reliable converter economic development , culture and the new way of memory it brings, that is, a new converter supported by complexity added in the universe ". Man himself is part of the enchanted universe, and therefore part of the process of complexity.

"According to this view, human brain and speech indicate that human nature is such a temporary and very unreliable symptom group. Then, it helps to think that what is called the development of research in contemporary society is more the result of the complexity process of the 'universe' than the works of human wisdom trying to discover truth and realize good, despite these research and development The results are constantly shaking our environment. " This charm and Modern natural science 、 Philosophy of science The typical modern ontology of color is not only an extension of the theory of complementarity between subject and object (Bohr), but also an inheritance of the older thought that "man is a part of nature". The difference is that Lyotard believes that there is nothing special about human beings, in other words, there is no need to highlight the subjectivity of human beings.

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