Modernism vs. Postmodernism

post-modernity definitely presents itself as anti-modernity this statement describes an emotional current of our times which has penetrated all spheres of intellectual life it is placed on the agenda theories of post-enlightenment post-modernity even of post-history since habermas wrote these words in 1981 this situation has only become more acute now well into the 21st century the trenches of the so-called culture war are drawn by the tension between the two world views we identify with modernity and post-modernity in this episode we're going to explore the meaning of these two terms their historical origins their traits and of course their differences the word modern is a nebulous term that has been used to refer to the contemporary day and age since the 6th century a.d but in the past few decades a particular time period has come to be identified as modernity the dates of this cultural phase vary with some calling everything after the middle ages modernity others divide the modern era into three phases the early corresponding to the french enlightenment and the scientific revolution the classical corresponding to the long 19th century and late modernity which ended somewhere between 1968 and 1989. for our purposes here the exact dates do not matter because we're not really talking about historical period following michel foucault's analysis in his essay what is enlightenment we will be treating modernity more as an attitude than as a period of history and this attitude is most salient in the period known as the long 19th century which spanned from the french revolution in 1789 to the outbreak of the first world war in 1914. this was the time when modernity had come into its fullness and was the dominant force in the culture foucault identifies a number of traits of modernity including a questioning or rejection of tradition the prioritizing of individualism freedom and formal equality faith in inevitable social scientific and technological progress a movement from feudalism towards capitalism and the market economy industrialization and urbanization secularization and the development of the nation-state representative democracy and public education the groundwork for modernity was laid by the philosophers of the french enlightenment who influenced the founding fathers of the us and the rebels of the french revolution the ideas of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the us and liberty equality and fraternity in france were the clarion call of modernity man was liberated from his oppressors the monarchies and aristocracies were cast aside church and state were separated modernity was to be an age of reason the world view of modernity was characterized by an extravagant optimism and confidence in its own power reason was the guiding principle of the age and the novelty of this was intoxicating with it came a naivety and optimism about the inevitability of progress in all spheres of life his confidence rose to a peak at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th new technologies that revolutionized life were emerging every year in the space of a few decades dozens of world altering inventions appeared on the scene for the first time we had bikes planes and cars light bulbs telephones and the radio diseases that once wiped out entire slaves of the population were now being eradicated science was making rapid leaps forward and it seemed that it was a mere matter of tying up loose ends in the long 19th century the laws of thermodynamics were formulated the periodic table was created and einstein published his revolutionary papers on relativity even in philosophy there was a fervent excitement about the new study of language and logic in one of the most typical expressions of modernity self-confidence ludwig wittgenstein claimed in 1922 to have dissolved all the problems of philosophy writing that the problems are dissolved in the actual sense of the word like a lump of sugar in water on the social and cultural front it was the age of democracy when across the world women were getting the vote and slavery was being banned but it was also what mate kalinesku described as the age of ideology when people like marx and freud tried to give exhaustive accounts of human life it was the age of communism anarchism and fascism which each had a grand totalizing narrative that proposed a revolution in the ways society is arranged modernity had big dreams it was cresting the wave of progress and with the inevitable success of that wave anything seemed possible it was a time of audacious dreaming by the second half of the 20th century it became obvious that the vision was a fantasy the promises of liberty equality of fraternity of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness began to appear increasingly hollow with every year the brutality of the french and algeria was hardly an embodiment of liberty equality or fraternity the soldiers addicted to heroin in vietnam were far from the jeffersonian life liberty and the pursuit of happiness the millions of vietnamese who even today suffer the downstream effects of the american agent orange would undoubtedly agree women had been given the vote but were still ostracized from the workplace and very far from true autonomy the african-american community may have been technically freed from slavery but they called them even second-class citizens in 1950s and 60s america would have been laughable as the second half of the 20th century progressed it became obvious that the equality and liberty that had been promised in modernity's wave of revolutions against the old powers was for many a horizon that drew no closer when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence they were signing a promissory note to whichever american was to fall out this note was a promise that all men yes black men as well as white men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it is obvious today that america has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned instead of honoring this sacred obligation america has given the negro people a bad check a check which has come back marked insufficient fund the balance of power had shifted but the hands that held it fitted the same demographic profile but now instead of monarchs and aristocrats there were tycoons and bankers modernity had taken great leaps forward but it was not enough cynicism began to set in the dream of modernity was dead in its wake post-modernity emerged the attitude of this post-modernity was everything that modernity wasn't by by to the grand narratives to the naivety and optimism to utopian dreams of happily ever after and the glorifying of science post-modernism began to poke holes in the lumbering carcass of modernity the dreams of unity that modernity had dreamed were revealed to be skewed narratives this wasn't just the case with clearly delusional modernist fantasies like fascism it became clear that the glorious promises of modernity came with a set of terms and conditions white male heterosexual and preferably from a wealthy background as the post-modern age emerged in the 1960s however people had had enough postmodernity was not about fulfilling utopian visions it was about justice and about equality the counter-culture of post-modernity fought for the voices neglected and excluded by modernity postmodern philosophers took up the voices of the underdog of the excluded of women of other races of other sexualities and genders of prisoners the insane and the colonized the tone of post-modernity was laced with irony and sarcasm this was the tone of cynicism that comes with living in a world of false promises it was the tone most suited to meet the betrayal of modernity ironically for all its disdain of modernity postmodernism was fulfilling the dreams of its predecessor its fight for justice and equality contained an implicit affirmation of the values of modernity there was no whisper of a return to the medieval values of faith and piety if anything post modernity was characterized by fully embracing the liberty and equality promised by modernity postmodernism was about filling in the cracks in modernity's narrative of equality but post-modernity did jettison many core modernist elements it dispensed with all grand narratives with belief in modernity's idle progress it was critical of science's prestige and its power in modern life having seen where the arrogant certainty of modernity has led post-modernity was characterized more by the nihilism and relativism that comes with seeing the world from countless perspectives and as the time has passed and post-modernism has worked to fulfill the promises that modernity had reneged on a new worldview has begun to emerge this new cultural phase metamodernism takes the irony and manifold perspectives of postmodernism and integrates it with the optimism and audacity of modernity it is a synthesis that strives to take the big picture perspective of modernity which metamodernism finds essential for tackling the major crises facing the world today while maintaining the depth and biting self-reflection of post-modernity in the next episode we're going to look at this new cultural phase that has begun to emerge in the 21st century but for now that's everything for this episode of the living philosophy if you've enjoyed it please give the video a thumbs up down below and if you really enjoyed it head over to patreon where you can support the channel and get early access to scripts and videos and get your name in the credits like these wonderful people and much much more have any thoughts insights or feedback i'd love to hear from you down in the comments otherwise i shall see you next time thank you for watching

Channel: The Living Philosophy

Views: 130,076

Keywords: Modernity, modernity vs postmodernity, postmodernity, postmodernism, what is postmodernism, what is modernity, modernism vs postmodernism, what is modernism, post modernism, postmodernism explained, modernism vs postmodernism sociology, modernity and postmodernity, post modernism explained, introduction to postmodernism, postmodern philosophy, Modernism vs postmodernism literature, modernism and postmodernism, modern vs postmodern, postmodernism philosophy, Post modernity

Id: iMVjI3pcwcU

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 09 2022