Dialogue Between Modernity And Postmodernity

"Modernity" is the primary problem of the debate between the modernist and the postmodernist, and the debate between J. Harbermas and Lyotard is the highest level that deputized each of the two sides. The ideal of modernity, which formed by the enlightenment, uses reason as the rationality base of all things. But in its process, modernity that based on subjectivity and reason breaks up and brings crisis, Hegel tries to conform the divisive spirit world and conquers the crisis with his "absolute idea" under the paradigm of the consciousness philosophy, but that does not succeed. Habermas follows Hegel, he claims that modernity is "an unfinished project", and he defends for modernity from saving the base of reason, he tries to unify the society and saving the harmony through the communicative reason, which is unforced and inter subjectivity, so he carries through the reconstructive critique for modernity. His basis way is to continue to admit the validity of metadiscourse. Otherwise Lyotard doubts modernity that with the symbol of metanarratives through reflecting the postmodern knowledge condition and he criticizes the metadiscourse, so he carries through the post-constructive critique for modernity. He claims that we should leave modernity and walk into post modernity.In the first part of the passage, I hackle the origin of the crisis of modernity through introducing Habermas and Lyotard' comprehension on modernity, in order to show the focus problem in the debate between modernity and postmodernity. Habermas comprehends modernity as a kind of new age consciousness, a narrative category that indicates the character of new age to describe a style or a period of society; he considers the character of modern society as a unity reason. While Lyotard regards post modernity as the suspicion of metanarratives, he claims to use small narratives to replace grand narrative and metadiscourse, which means he also connects modernity with reason, especially with the whole unity reason. According to Lyotard, he insists on differences and calls us to fight for the whole reason. The dialogue between Habermas and Lyotard is the debate whether we should insist on or give up the position of modernity.During the process of reflecting modernity, both Habermas and Lyotard adopt the achievement of the 20^th' linguistic turn. But that means the different ways for them: for Habermas, it means affirming the project of modernity, so he uses the achievement of the theory of speech action to reconstruct modernity; and for Lyotard, it means negating the project of modernity, so he uses the method of Wittgenstein' Language Games to re-write modernity by paralogy. Habermas opposes division to pursue totality while Lyotard opposes totality to pursue differences.Habermas and Lyotard' debate on modernity and postmodernity spreads in two aspects:First, whether there is universal reason? Habermas stands on the modernity' position, he tries to search a kind of universal communicative reason through the connection between communication and reason, then depending on the different dimensionality to unify reason, to criticize and abandon the traditional concept of reason, and then to transform the paradigm of reason. Lyotard stands on postmodernity's position, he finds the differences and multiplicity of "Language Games", so he abandons the universal reason. He arguments that there is not a kind of unified but multiple reason. The second part of the passage discusses and analyses detailed for this.Second, whether reason can provides criterion of values and whether reason is a kind of normative competence? Habermas wants to lay a foundation for the rationality of practice actions through the concept of consensus and the ideal communicative community, and then depending on the consensus truth that formed by the discourse ethics under the ideal communicative condition, to establish the universal values and the normative competence of reason. On the other hand, Lyotard abandons the foundation of reason, he refutes the precondition of consensus and deconstructs the universal values and the normative competence of reason by the paradoxes, he claims that the cracked reason based on different language games, they obey the different rules, so it is impossible to produce the universal values and criterion. In the third part of the passage, I analysis and discuss the above content.Finally, R. Rorty wants to give an equitable judgment of the debate between Habermas and Lyotard through his theory of pragmatics, but his theory of pragmatics and the post-cultural thought don't solve the difficult problem between modernity and postmodernity. Nevertheless, he tells us to conquer the negative factors and absorb the positive factors from the critique of postmodernity, and keep the strength relation between modernity and post modernity, then we should carry out the dialogue of multicultural societies and balance the differences, that is just in the diversity of its voices, the unity of reason can be comprehended.