Deleted member 16384
Sphinx
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How l view historical progress of western thought in a roundabout manner
Enlightenment --> Romanticism --> Realism --> Modernism --> Here ( ~ Post Modernism + post post modernism )
- Enlightenment period set a false dichotomy between faith and reason, cast religious authority and the sacred in negative light. The negative experience of Europe with the church led enlightenment thinkers to universalize the redundant function of religion in state function. The state effectively replaced the sovereignty of God in veneration and scope of power, giving birth to modern discipline based highly legalistic bureau-Technocratic-surveillance nation state ( a terrible nightmare )
The Romantic movement secularized religious content (metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics mostly ) which led to the birth of humanism and various social sciences. The progress of science had its impact on industrialization and life was improved significantly as far as material needs are concerned ( even if it wasn't available to everyone, it was made possible), the rebellion of romantic age thinkers-artists seemed immature. Realist attacked the escapist tendencies of the Romanticism and the rigid thinking of enlightenment era. They sought to show the world as it is with all its ugliness and beauty, truth and lies. But this movement lost its flavor, as any one dimensional movement
It's clear that as history unfolded, every movement tried to contend itself as the (intellectual, artistic, philosophical ) foundation and there was a constant tug of war. Here, the Modernist comes along. He is displeased to see how every movement tries to establish a secure foundation to only see a rival force demolish it. The Modernist cure is the absence of a foundation, which ironically serves as a foundation when one studies and examines the emerging paradigm. For some of you, this has the flavor of post modernism but l want to group the meaning-free relativistic dizzying "post modernism" and modernism (early 20 century) in one group as its still an ongoing dialectic
Enough with abstraction, let's see where we stand. In our present age, l can easily list the main problems faced by people in the first world and the whole world eventually with the takeover of globalism
- Destruction of the natural habitat ( include global warming ) and a false sense of security that the society ( government and corporations ) responsible for its destruction will also find a cure
- Fragmentation of the self and the increased rate of depression, anxiety, angst. The alienation of the self and the lack of upward social-economic mobility due to the monopoly big multinational corporations over resources and government ( esp in developing countries, made really apparent during Covid ). This has led to a drop in birth rates as people don't want to put their child through this mess of a world we have created.
- Radicalization of society into polar extremes along the vertical and horizontal axis. The sense of harmony required for a "healthy" society is disappearing, people live in conflict and prefer to engage in vitriolic argumentations in place of civil discussion .
- Included in radicalization is the emergence of 3-5 th wave of feminism and its counter reaction, Men's rights movement in the manosphere. Can a society function well if both genders are taught to resent and distrust each other ? Various studies have shown a disproportionate number of men not receiving their share of sexual intimacy, not to mention the imminent collapse of traditional masculine values. Women on the other hand feel less satisfied in the pursuit of non-traditional career oriented lifestyle but don't have a way out to balance the need of women to have a family.
I can go on and on but l feel the enlightenment movement has created a monster 400 years later. This Judeo-Christian western civilization isn't my inheritance, perhaps this gives rise to my bias but l have tried my very best to remain impartial. I can only dream of an alternative history, the Andalusian culture surviving the onslaught of reconquista or the legacy of the Abbasids surviving history. However, I can't be charged with nostalgia as l don't see any ancient civilization giving birth to an alternative world order in the foreseeable future. The only way left for me is to reject this civilization in its totality and embrace the life of a shepherd in a countryside, away from all the trouble and in peace with myself. However, many of you don't think this is the way to go, but do you see the light at the end of the tunnel ?
Enlightenment --> Romanticism --> Realism --> Modernism --> Here ( ~ Post Modernism + post post modernism )
- Enlightenment period set a false dichotomy between faith and reason, cast religious authority and the sacred in negative light. The negative experience of Europe with the church led enlightenment thinkers to universalize the redundant function of religion in state function. The state effectively replaced the sovereignty of God in veneration and scope of power, giving birth to modern discipline based highly legalistic bureau-Technocratic-surveillance nation state ( a terrible nightmare )
The Romantic movement secularized religious content (metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics mostly ) which led to the birth of humanism and various social sciences. The progress of science had its impact on industrialization and life was improved significantly as far as material needs are concerned ( even if it wasn't available to everyone, it was made possible), the rebellion of romantic age thinkers-artists seemed immature. Realist attacked the escapist tendencies of the Romanticism and the rigid thinking of enlightenment era. They sought to show the world as it is with all its ugliness and beauty, truth and lies. But this movement lost its flavor, as any one dimensional movement
It's clear that as history unfolded, every movement tried to contend itself as the (intellectual, artistic, philosophical ) foundation and there was a constant tug of war. Here, the Modernist comes along. He is displeased to see how every movement tries to establish a secure foundation to only see a rival force demolish it. The Modernist cure is the absence of a foundation, which ironically serves as a foundation when one studies and examines the emerging paradigm. For some of you, this has the flavor of post modernism but l want to group the meaning-free relativistic dizzying "post modernism" and modernism (early 20 century) in one group as its still an ongoing dialectic
Enough with abstraction, let's see where we stand. In our present age, l can easily list the main problems faced by people in the first world and the whole world eventually with the takeover of globalism
- Destruction of the natural habitat ( include global warming ) and a false sense of security that the society ( government and corporations ) responsible for its destruction will also find a cure
- Fragmentation of the self and the increased rate of depression, anxiety, angst. The alienation of the self and the lack of upward social-economic mobility due to the monopoly big multinational corporations over resources and government ( esp in developing countries, made really apparent during Covid ). This has led to a drop in birth rates as people don't want to put their child through this mess of a world we have created.
- Radicalization of society into polar extremes along the vertical and horizontal axis. The sense of harmony required for a "healthy" society is disappearing, people live in conflict and prefer to engage in vitriolic argumentations in place of civil discussion .
- Included in radicalization is the emergence of 3-5 th wave of feminism and its counter reaction, Men's rights movement in the manosphere. Can a society function well if both genders are taught to resent and distrust each other ? Various studies have shown a disproportionate number of men not receiving their share of sexual intimacy, not to mention the imminent collapse of traditional masculine values. Women on the other hand feel less satisfied in the pursuit of non-traditional career oriented lifestyle but don't have a way out to balance the need of women to have a family.
I can go on and on but l feel the enlightenment movement has created a monster 400 years later. This Judeo-Christian western civilization isn't my inheritance, perhaps this gives rise to my bias but l have tried my very best to remain impartial. I can only dream of an alternative history, the Andalusian culture surviving the onslaught of reconquista or the legacy of the Abbasids surviving history. However, I can't be charged with nostalgia as l don't see any ancient civilization giving birth to an alternative world order in the foreseeable future. The only way left for me is to reject this civilization in its totality and embrace the life of a shepherd in a countryside, away from all the trouble and in peace with myself. However, many of you don't think this is the way to go, but do you see the light at the end of the tunnel ?
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