Jahānbaghlou: Modern Society is the Result of Human Self-Reflection and Autonomy

The Agora Philosophical Society meetings with Ramin Jahānbaghlou, a philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, explore various philosophical, historical, and sociological aspects of the concept of 'modernity' each week. The concept of modernity is one of the most complex ideas in the history of thought due to the minimal consensus on what modernity is or what it means to be modern. Despite this lack of agreement and the multitude of modern meanings, all of which refer to a unique experience of the modern human, we can say that modernity is a concept and idea that cannot be approached arbitrarily or heterogeneously. Modernity, in any case, has a philosophical meaning that we attempt to explore here and engage in a rational discussion about. Generally, we can define modernity as the culture of modern society. In one word, if we ask what modernity is, we can say that modernity is the culture of modern society, which refers to a new understanding that humans have of themselves and the world around them. Therefore, there are two points here. One is that modernity is related to humans and modern society and is connected to a mentality or understanding that the human has of themselves and their world and society. A modern society is one that results from human self-reflection and autonomy, which takes shape over a long process. We can say that this process has been ongoing for nearly 500 years, beginning with the discovery of the new world, elements such as religious reform and Protestantism, the artistic Renaissance, scientific revolutions, the Enlightenment, industrialization, and new urbanization, culminating in the technology we deal with today, which in a way has elevated liberal democracy and, conversely, totalitarianism in the twentieth century has shaped modern society over these 500 years. An interesting point that I have written about and many philosophers like Habermas have referred to is that the word 'modern,' which comes from the Latin 'modernus,' has not necessarily been used in the last 500 years; rather, its first recorded use dates back to the fifth century AD. Interestingly, when the ancients spoke of modernity in that period, the Christian Church was the first to use the term 'modern' to distinguish itself from the non-Christian Roman society. It differentiates itself from the religious tradition that preceded it. It is interesting that whenever people in Iran claim to be modern, they are distinguishing themselves from those who are pre-modern or non-modern. Modernity has always been associated with this differentiation. We see that the word modern always creates a distance between the present, which it embodies, and its past. Since modernity has taken its scientific, philosophical, artistic, and political form in Europe, every time Western Europe has turned its back on its past or looked at it differently, attempting to face the future, it has always used the term modern. For example, after the fifth century AD, in the twelfth century, and later during the time of Charlemagne, the term modern is used. Here we have a conflict between the ancients and the moderns, and these individuals always present themselves as modern. In every era, we see that the elites of society view their past merely as 'the past' and perceive themselves as socially, politically, morally, scientifically, and artistically ahead, feeling themselves to be avant-garde and giving themselves the label of modern. As I mentioned in a speech I gave years ago in Iran, being modern is always associated with being new and fresh. This has always been the case in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Moderns have always introduced themselves as fresh and new individuals. However, the term modernity that we use philosophically today came later in Europe. Europeans did not necessarily speak of modernity. It was only in the nineteenth century that in Germany and France the term modernity took on its contemporary form, with the first person to discuss it being the famous nineteenth-century French poet Baudelaire. Baudelaire used modernity in relation to art, modern painting, and of course, his reference is to the Impressionist painters of France. His reference indicates that we are moving away from stereotypical forms and thus beginning a new era in art. We are modern. In Germany, the same principle is applied in relation to philosophy, meaning that a philosophy that considers itself modern wants to create a rupture with its predecessors. An interesting question here is why they say modern and pre-modern. Because most moderns, whether in science or art, believe that their work is empirical. They claim to be doing empirical work for the first time. Experience plays a significant role for them. Here, experience refers to both experience and experimentation. We know that experimentation plays a crucial role in modern science. However, experience is also very important because we are talking about existential and individual experience. The experience that an individual undergoes internally and believes that those who are pre-modern do not have such experience because their judgments come from a world beyond and transcendent world. Therefore, it is important here that modernity is self-propelling. Emphasizing this worldly, non-divine, empirical nature and all these points that exist in modern philosophy, modern art, and modern science.