Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-09T13:28:00.254Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 23: - Modernity

from Part II - Science and History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2022

Brian Villmoare
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Get access

Summary

Modernity started with Darwin and probably reached its philosophical peak with Einstein. The appearance of modernity is associated with the rise of science as a dominant source of philosophical authority, and worldwide recognition of the rights of citizens, particularly women (the vote, birth control, etc.). For the first time, the orientation of philosophy was towards the future rather than the past, and ancient sources of knowledge, authority, and wisdom, were challenged. Some countries (e.g. Turkey under Ataturk) abandoned their past almost overnight. However, this is also the period of time when there were multiple challenges to the modern world view (based on democracy, the rights of citizens, and science). Religious reactionaries explicitly rejected modernity, whether it be in the form of creationist challenges to Darwinism or suppression of the burgeoning rights of women by the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions. Also, democracy as a model for government was challenged by fascism in the middle of the twentieth century, culminating in the mid-century wars of modernity: the Spanish Civil War and World War II. This chapter reviews the example of modern China, where the current government accepts some parts of traditional Western modernity while rejecting others.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Evolution of Everything
The Patterns and Causes of Big History
, pp. 360 - 390
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Modernity
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.025
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Modernity
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.025
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Modernity
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.025
Available formats
×