Defense Of Modernity

As soon as modernity emerges,it carries a complex duality: on the one hand,the accompanying values of rationality,science,and technology have lifted various bondages of society and individuals from the old cages of pre-modern and greatly promoted the development of capitalist productive forces,on the other hand,new cages constructed by rationality,science,and technology comprehensively impede the development of society and individuals,the crisis of modernity is inevitable.Facing the crisis of modernity,Eagleton and Habermas neither embarked on the "homecoming road" of pre-modernity backwards due to anti-modernity like romanticism,nor pursued "dimension of deconstruction" of deconstructing the modernity that the postmodernism steps forward,but maintained a critical,cautious,optimistic and practical attitude,and diagnosed and defended modernity from the perspective of cultural modernity and social modernity respectively in order to resolve the crisis of modernity by returning to and rebuilding modernity,and to continue to develop the modernity.Although both defend modernity,Eagleton and Habermas have similarities in defense logic,theoretical origins and solutions etc.,there are also different.Both Eagleton and Habermas asserted that "we are still in modern times" and "modernity still has value",but the time direction of the argument is just the opposite.Eagleton started by blocking postmodernism and pointed out that postmodernism which tried to cross the modernity is a mistake.The postmodern utopia constructed by postmodernism is full of precocious illusions and we need to return to find the value of modernity and continue to develop modernity,presenting the counterclockwise defense logic of "from blocking postmodernism to return to modernity".Habermas regarded from the pre-modern to the modern as the present fact of human society,and analyzed the connotation of modernity to prove that human society is marching on the way to unfinished modernity,presenting the clockwise defense logic of "from ending pre-modern to unfinished modernity.Both Eagleton and Habermas acknowledged that "Marx is still present" on the issue of modernity,and took Marx’s thoughts on modernity as important theoretical sources of their modernity theories.But Eagleton and Habermas differ not only in their theoretical sources,but also in the development of their theoretical orientations.Eagleton interpreted Marx’s modernity theory from a cultural perspective and along with cultural Marxism of the Birmingham School,presenting the source and orientation of cultural modernity or aesthetic modernity of "Marx-Williams-Eagleton ".Habermas interpreted Marx’s modernity theory from a social perspective and along with the "social critique" or "enlightenment critique" of the Frankfurt School,presenting the source and orientation of social modernity or enlightenment modernity of "Marx-Horkheimer-Habermas".Both Eagleton and Habermas advocated that "modernity needs to be developed" and "modernity needs to be rebuilt",but the development direction and the road of rebuilding are quite different.Eagleton advocated the reconstruction of socialist grand narrative,aesthetic ideology and reconstruction of "common culture",proposing a set of cultural modernity or aesthetic modernity program.Habermas advocated discourse ethics,reconstruction of inter-subjectivity and communicative rationality,proposing a set of social modernity or enlightenment modernity program.The modernity reconstruction programs of Eagleton and Habermas have enriched and developed modernity theories,and have given important revelations to the development of modernity from different perspectives.But these revelations are carried out from the categories of sensual and rational respectively.Eagleton’s theory of cultural modernity reconstruction shows the value of aesthetic sensibility,while the theory of social modernity reconstruction of Habermas shows the practical significance of communicative rationality.But taking the defense of modernity as the internal consistency,the modernity theories of Eagleton and Habermas are not completely opposed,but can be integrated into a more complete theory of modernity of "cultural-social" or "aesthetic-enlightenment" which contains both sensibility and rationality.