Modernity

From Geography

Modernity in general usually refers to the post-medieval period. Where the move from feudalism to [capitalism] start to take place. For many philosophers modernity begins with the rise of [capitalism]. In science this usually refers to the start of the rationality in the 16th and 17th century. Where for example: Galileo and Bacon use mathematics to calculate acceleration in free fall and set a new base to approach science using experiments. It can also refer to the formal establishment of social science in the 20th century, starting with [humanism] and [existentialism].

Giddens's description of modernity

A shorthand term for modern society, or industrial civilization. Portrayed in more detail, it is associated with (1) a certain set of attitudes towards the world, the idea of the world as open to transformation, by human intervention; (2) a complex of economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy; (3) a certain range of political institutions, including the nation-state and mass democracy. Largely as a result of these characteristics, modernity is vastly more dynamic than any previous type of social order. It is a society—more technically, a complex of institutions—which, unlike any preceding culture, lives in the future, rather than the past Giddens(1998, 94).

References

Giddens, A. (1998) Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press

Unknown. Retrieved 2012 September 18 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

Unknown. Retrieved 2012 September 18 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernity

Contributors

• page created by--DennisPrince 12:57, 19 September 2012 (CEST)