Untimely Meditations — Timely Medication
The West—and therefore the world—seems to be at an inflection point. I have equated these two entities because, for the last three hundred years, in the eyes of many in the West, these have been the same thing. The West, it was believed, was at the forefront of World History: we embodied the image of what the rest of the world would soon be—our actions were “world-historical.” This belief is what underlay the ideology of modern imperialism and colonialism; it is also the belief that underlies modern science. The truths that were being uncovered (whether it was the unvarying relationship between the moon and the tide, or the self-evidence of our inalienable human rights) were held to be universal and prescriptive. And it was further believed that it was the “white man’s burden” to bring these truths to the rest of humanity.
This way of thinking was of course thoroughly discredited during the twentieth century through the critique of what is generally referred to as “postmodernism.” As its name would imply, post-modernism is that which comes after Modernity (the historical epoch beginning in 1492 with Columbus’ discovery of the Americas until roughly 1992). This designation, however, I believe to be a complete misnomer. This movement did not bring about a transcendence of the modern world, but its apotheosis: the logical conclusion implanted in it from its very inception. Thus, a true postmodern world is yet to be born.
But where shall we find the resources to create this new world? In Untimely Meditations.
The world must be seen anew, felt anew, experienced anew. And this, I believe, begins with thinking anew. Join me as I traverse the Dialectic of Modernity.
