Post-class: Habermas

Habermas was very interested in the historical context of modernity. He claims that “the project of modernity has not yet been fulfilled,” meaning that modernity can never be completed because it is always evolving. He talks about the conflicts of traditionalism and Avant-gardism and how these factors affect modernity. The Avant-garde refers to people or works that are innovative and original, and push the boundaries of what is culturally accepted as the norm. It breaks from traditionalism and pushes us forward into the future. Traditionalism is perhaps of equal importance, because it anchors us to the past and gives us perspective of what is considered new.

Habermas says, “The relation between ‘modern’ and ‘classical’ has definitely lost a fixed historical reference” (99). When we are thinking about the past (especially when we ourselves have not experienced it), we must be very aware that there could be factors shaping our view. History has long been documented, but by who? Books, cinema, television, radio, and the internet give us information about the past, but these sources are by no means unbiased. Revisions in history (intentional, and unintentional; subtle and, at times, unsubtle) can be dangerous in our cultural understanding of the past. The past is a very strong influence of the future, but we how we perceive the past is sometimes inaccurate, since we ourselves have not experienced it. We must also be careful about nostalgia, because this feeling of fondness can misshape our understanding of the past. History has a way of repeating itself, and in the fast paced world we live in, it is easy to forget the lessons the past has taught us.