Archive for September 13th, 2009

• Modernity

  Date: 2009.09.13 | Category: Glossary, Unit SSK12 | Response: 0

  Glossary (Do not use for learning log)
  Unit: SSK12
  Week: 2
  Date: 13 September 2009

  Word: modernity n.
  Context: Modernity appears in different parts of the unit reader both as a period of societal development and as a framework of understanding the world that surrounds us (i.e. a worldview).
  Definition: Modernity in the context of philosophy is broadly considered to date back to the Enlightenment of 17th and 18th century Europe, and is typically understood to have begun with Descartes (of “I think therefore I am” fame). The main feature of modernity is its emphasis on rationality and as the excerpt from the Conceptual Dictionary in the Unit Reader says, the “privileging of science over traditional thought and action”. (Conceptual Dictionary, 1994) The modernist believes that through the supremacy afforded to rationality and science over traditional thought it is possible to improve upon and progress human society. There is some disagreement as to whether the period of modernity has ended or not, and whether we are still in it, particularly from proponents of postmodernism.
  Word in Use: The objectives and hopes of modernity as purported by the philosophers of the Enlightenment was the continued improvement and ultimate perfection of human society.

  Bullock, A. and S. Trombley. eds. 2000. The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. 3rd ed. London: Harper Collins.

  Bunnin, N., and J. Yu. eds. 2009. The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

  Craig, A.P. et al. 1994. Conceptual Dictionary. Kenwyn, South Africa: Juta, University of Natal.