Modern

Period
You have to stand on the
shoulders of giants to have
higher, longer and farther
visions.
- Bernard of Chartres
• Ancient philosophy (6th B.C to 6th A.D)-concerned
with cosmos – Cosmo-centric (Thales, Heraclitus,
Parmenides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

• Medieval philosophy (500-1500) concern of this

period was more about God – Theo-centric (St.
Augustine, St. Anselm, St. Thomas)

• Modern philosophy (1600-1900) concerned with the

man and his thinking- Anthropocentric ( Descartes,
Leibniz, Spinoza, Hume, Kant)
• Post-Modern philosophy
• Post-Modernity means that which
comes after modernity
• Jacques Derrida – Deconstruction
• Michael Foucault – Genealogical
Method
• Jean-Francois Lyotard – Disbelief in
Grand Narratives
• Modern ideas have their roots in the Past, Ancient
and Medieval times
• The terminology/labels we use today is largely
historical – for example Cartesian dualism
• The dominant ideas today, somehow reflect the
language of the past
• Philosophers of the past have contributed
undoubtedly for what we call the birth of the
modern
• Socratic Method - Meutic - Search for Truth
• Skeptics - Skepsis – Investigation –Clarity and
precision Vs Descartes
• Knowledge of the past helps us to study the
interconnections between the topics.
• Not to study topics in isolation
• To understand the deep connections between the
ideas of different epochs. For example,
• Platonic Dualism – Cartesian Dualism
• The interplay and between key figures in the
history of Philosophy
• How different philosophers counter and
• One needs not to be antiquarian to get values
from the old philosophers
• What we need is the selective appropriation in
the positive sense
• Benefit out of the advancement in Knowledge in
major thinkers for intellectual progress
 Modern Turn – Immediate Reasons
• Demise of Aristotelian World View
• Geocentric Vs Heliocentric Theories
• Observation Vs Experiment
• Augustine Two Books
• Book of Scripture – Book of Nature
• Eclipse of Hierarchically ordered Cosmos
• The End of Medieval Consensus
Francis Bacon speaks about Three
inventions that catalyzed the birth
of Modernity
1. Compass
2. Telescope
3. Gun Powder
 Invention of Printing
• Johannes Guttenberg (1450)
• Fast Spreading of Ideas to all
layers of Society
Vs
• Privileged access of Knowledge
• Indian Context – Manu Smriti
 Columbian Exchange
• Mappa Mundi - Medieval
European Map – Jerusalem as the
Centre
• Discovery of America (1492
October)
• Columbian Exchange - The transfer
between the Old World and the
New World that followed the first
voyage of Columbus
• Exposure to Pluralism
 Political Invasions
• Exposure to Pluralism
• Invention of Gun Powder
• The Fall of Constantinople (1453)
• Automan Turks
• Exposure to Pluralism and Religious
Diversity
 Political Invasions
- - Colonialists, by applying the Darwinian principle
Survival of the fittest, justified the atrocities of
colonial invasion
- Whiteman’s Burden Vs Orientalism (Edward
Said- Palestinian American Thinker
-Stephen Jay Gould in his work– The Mismeasure of
Man – Corrects the pseudo hypotheses of
Colonialists
 Three forms/versions of Modernity
1. Enlightenment
- Scientific Progress –Galileo, Newton, Copernicus
– From Geocentric to Helio centric Theory
- Immanuel Kant- Sapere Aude
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
- Answering the Question: What is
Enlightenment?
- Sapere Aude – Dare to Think (Know)
- Originally formulated by Roman Poet Horace
- First Book of Letters, 20 BCE.
 Three forms/versions of Modernity
Kant uses the term Unmundigkeit
- Possible translations – tutelage, Dependence,
Unfree
- Lack of courage to use one’s own reason, intellect
and wisdom without the guidance of the other
- Key to Enlightenment – Reason
- Use your reason and throw off the Yoke of
Immaturity
- Catch Phrase of Enlightenment – Sola Ratio
(Reason alone)
- Vs Sola Fide of Protestant Reformation
 Three forms/versions of Modernity
1. 2. Humanism – echoes the Protagorean dictum -
“Man is the measure of all things”
– Later Marx and Nietzsche elaborates this tradition
of Humanistic Atheism
3. Romanticism – 18th Century
- Emphasizes the role of inspiration and Human
subjectivity
- P. B. Shelley – put forward the idea of Subtler
Languages in his poem – Laon and Cythna
(1817)
- Inability of human beings to relate with the rest
of creation.
- Modern Scientific language has become
 Three forms/versions of Modernity
3. Romanticism – 18th Century
- Emphasizes the role of inspiration and Human
subjectivity
- P. B. Shelley – put forward the idea of Subtler
Languages in his poem – Laon and Cythna
(1817)
- Inability of human beings to relate with the rest
of creation.
- Modern Scientific language has become
- Sacramental nature of Language
 Some Characteristic Features of
Modern Philosophy
Catch Phrase of Enlightenment – Sola Ratio
(Reason alone)
- Skeptical attitude – Disbelief in Traditional
answers and the consequent search for
Certainty and Precision. Methodic doubt of
Descartes is to be understood in this historic
background
- Descartes – Cogito Ergo Sum – I think
therefore I am
 - Some Characteristic Features of
Modern Philosophy
- Decline of Church’s Influence
- The end of Papal States and Republics
- Emergence of Modern Nation States
Eclipse of Scholasticism and the
dominance of theology
- Awakening of Reflective Spirit
- Revolt against authority and tradition
(French Revolution)
- A demand for freedom of thought and
Action
 Characteristics of Modern Philosophy
Modern philosophy may be described
- as an awakening of the reflective spirit,
- as a quickening of criticism,
- as a revolt against authority and
tradition,
- as a protest against absolutism and
collectivism
- as a demand for greater freedom of
thought and expression
 Against Absolutism and Collectivism

- Absolutism was a political system in which one ruler or leader

has complete power and authority- which turn to be more
democratic in politics.
- In Collectivism priority was given to a group or institution rather
than individuals. Middle Ages philosophers were usually monks
lived in the institutions.
- Absolutism + collectivism of both the state + the church was
questioned
- Modern period philosophers were more individualistic and
subjective in method.
 Demand for greater freedom of thought + expression

- As a result of the spirit of independence- slavery, serfdom,

guild system etc. gradually disappeared.
- Within the state there appeared a growing tendency
towards constitutionalism + democratic institutions
- In intellectual field also a free atmosphere emerged
- Truth is not something to be dictated by ecclesiastical or
political authority but something to be discovered by free
and impartial investigation
- The overall result was a slow but steady collapse of the ecclesiastical and
political organization in the middle ages.
- The Conflicts between Church + state was settled in favor of states.
Separation of powers – between them
- Within the state there was – revolt against absolutism- which led to
constitutionalism and democratic institutions.
- Revolt against collectivism was against feudal system and other similar
social evils which degraded the dignity of the human persons.
- The demand for greater social justice - shook foundations of medieval
political + social structures.
This led to gradual - disintegration of empire to small states – emergence of
western nation states/Nationalism.
 Impact in Ecclesiastical field
- Absolutism of the church in religious, moral and intellectual fields
was strongly resented.
In matters of intellect, human reason assumed the role of the final
arbitrator.
In matters of belief and conduct, the individual conscience became
the deciding factor
One may note here the beginning of today’s existentialist and
situation ethics.
The protestant reformation was a typical product of the spirit of
the time.
- Rapid growth of Natural science in Renaissance Period brought a
new awakening in the field of knowledge
- Reason became the sole authority (Sola Ratio)
- Truth – is not something dictated by authority, but something to
be discovered by free and impartial investigations
- Therefore attempts were made to develop new philosophical
method after the model of mathematical science
- Shift of interest from contemplation of supernatural things to the
study of natural realities.
- Middle Ages- Philosophy was ‘the handmaid of theology’. The
outlook of middle age was something “sacred” Vs Secular
- Philosophy became secular - free from Supernatural
presuppositions of the ancient and medieval periods.
- -
Sapere Aude