Defenders of modernity point to the achievements of modern science and technology, the consumer affluence in market economies, and the individual freedoms protected by the liberal democratic state. Critics of modernity point to the environmental costs of unconstrained economic growth, the alienating nature of much work, enormous inequalities in the distribution of wealth, and threats to our sense of personal and social identity. Has the modern world 'progressed,' become more rational or enlightened? Or is the very idea of such progress a dangerous illusion? Do modern societies carry the potential for transformation into something radically better?
This unit explores these questions by examining the work of various twentieth-century social philosophers. We shall consider a number of key themes in social philosophy, such as the critique of instrumental reason, the question of technology, the prospects for modern selfhood and social freedom, and the problem of historical progress in modernity. We shall draw on the work of well-known philosophers such as Heidegger, Habermas, Taylor, Adorno, and Foucault, and will be concerned to analyse their insights in light of contemporary social and cultural debates on technology, globalisation, environmentalism, and modern freedom.
