Habermas's Modernity Theory

Modernity has become the core discussion in Western ideology since last century.The discussion related to Modernity develops increasingly prominent, for the Enlightenment Movement has been launched for several hundred years, and the western modernization has been already deeply rooted. Debate on Modernity is widespread among theorists. Some people even doubt the existence of Modernity, while some hold the idea that Enlightenment thought is merely a Utopia Dream. From 1960 to now,postmodernisms have started to oppose Modernity. They declare that Modernity is dead,Utopia is gone, with their diversification, fragmentation and planarity to combat against integrity, and depth, and try to explore the microscopic narrative and marginal discourse concealed by the grand narrative of modernity. Meanwhile, conservatisms also resist modernity against tradition,standing on the position of a striking against modern with postmodernisms. It is in this context of age that Habermas made a defense to Modernity..Habermas is the representative figure of the second generation in Frankfurt school,and as a contemporary famous philosopher, Habermas's theory is distinct. He thinks Modernity is not finished, and the emergence of Modernity problem is not the result of the excessive development of reason. On the contrary, it is caused by the inadequate development of reason. Habermas points out that enlightenment reason includes instrumental reason, and also the communicative reason. The supremacy of instrumental reason has caused the alienation of people, and thus it is believed that the symptoms of enlightenment can be treated through the construction of communicative reason.There are four main parts in this thesis. To start with, the historical discourse of Modernity will be introduced briefly, and the source of Habermas's theory on Modernity,and his criticism on Hegel and Nietzsche about the concept of Modernity discourse will be sorted, too. Secondly, the theory of Habermas's reconstruction of Modernity will be elaborated systematically, which is the construction of universal pragmatics in linguistics,from philosophy of consciousness to communication in philosophy, criticism on the colonization of the lifeworld in sociology, and the rationalization of the lifeworld. Thirdly,by analyzing the controversy between Habermas and Foucault and Lyotard, two representative figures of postmodernisms, differences between modernism and postmodernism on theoretical characteristics and the concept differences will be viewed comprehensively. Fourthly, due to the special national condition, Modernity in China is tortuous and complicated, particularly in contemporary period, for the Pre-Modern,Modern and Post-Modern coexist. Therefore, under the construction of domestic enlightenment spirit and cultural modernity,and Chinese cultural discourse power and identity in the context of globalization, Habermas's modernity theory undoubtedly has far-reaching practical significance.