Comments on: Two views of modernity

By: Dave Tate

Dave Tate — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:32:34 +0000

The first author I’m aware of who explicitly identified and critiqued Modernism as a philosophy was (again) Chesterton. I don’t remember whether he explicitly used the term ‘modernism’, but in hindsight it’s pretty clear that’s what he was singling out.

By: Roberto Lupi

Roberto Lupi — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:35:59 +0000

I have found “Liquid Modernity” by Zygmunt Bauman quite interesting on the topic of Modernity and our own era, call it Post-Modernity if you like, Bauman prefers Liquid modernity to underline that it’s the result of the same modernization trend/processes at work even in our times.

By: Pseudonym

Pseudonym — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:50:51 +0000

We call the art movement “modernism” for two main reasons.

First, they named themselves, and were one of the earliest major art movements to do so.

Secondly, they were preoccupied with everything “here and now” in a way that earlier and later art movements were not. The Renaissance, for example, was preoccupied with the classical world. Art deco was preoccupied with the geometry and iconography of the East. Modernism was preoccupied with everything modern, and pretty much nothing else.

By: Phillip Kent

Phillip Kent — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 23:33:59 +0000

The best thing I have ever read about modernity: All That is Solid Melts into Air by Marshall Berman. Stunning. If I get Berman right, modernity is not a relative thing (now against the past), there are special forces of development created through the conjoined phenomena of industrialization, capitalism, and urbanization.

By: JEP

JEP — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:10:25 +0000

From my English class in college: Modernity could be defined as the “age of manifestos” when everybody was writing essays explicitly claiming “this was the way things should be done.” Contrast that with Post-Modernity which is characterized by disorientation and the claim that we no longer have a frame of reference. The dividing line between Modernity and Post-Modernity is the Holocaust – Germany was a state that had culture, a functioning government, a police force, industry, etc but still managed to slip off the edge of the map into genocide. So what’s preventing our societies from doing the same thing?

By: John

John — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:01:36 +0000

Thanks. I’ve heard Ken Myers speak and was very impressed. I should listen to some of his recordings.

By: IJ

IJ — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:51:41 +0000

If you are not already a listener, you might enjoy Ken Myers at Mars Hill Audio, who reflects frequently on the topic of Modernity. Mostly, I think, in the same vein as your first citation.
http://www.marshillaudio.org