Claimed benefits vindicate modernity’s moral basis

Evidence

In order to reckon with the unbearable heaviness of the ensuing contradictions within its fabric, modern understanding of the world had to be framed as a theory of morality (Guénon’s “moralism”), a necessary myth that, as I have been trying to show, makes irreconcilable contradictions not only bearable but eminently justifiable. … The balance between superiority and subjectivity has paradigmatically worked in favor of modern forms of morality, and largely of epistemology, for the coliseum of debate, including its presiding Caesar, remains undeniably modern. In a system that a priori sets limits to what can and cannot be acceptable standards of legitimate discourse, subjectivity and relativism work hand in hand and complement the stance of superiority—that which we know by the other names of racism and progress. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 461 (#complicates, via linked claim)

The point made in this chapter is that powerful moral drives have a pre-societal origin, while some aspects of modern societal organization cause considerable weakening of their constraining power; that, in effect, society may make the immoral conduct more, rather than less, plausible. — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 566 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Rather than these developments taking us “beyond modernity,” they provide a fuller understanding of the reflexivity inherent in modernity itself. Modernity is not only unsettling because of the circularity of reason, but because the nature of that circularity is ultimately puzzling. How can we justify a commitment to reason in the name of reason? — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 124 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modernity frames itself as morality to make its contradictions bearable and justifiable — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of…, 461; Modern ethics falsely severs morality from socially formed virtue and recognition — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 1187; Modernity’s need for self-justification arises from the collapse of traditional norms — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 264 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Modernity frames itself as morality to make its contradictions bearable and justifiable #complicates (0.82) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 461
• Modern societal organization can weaken moral drives and make immorality more plausible #complicates (0.80) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 566
• Modernity’s reflexivity makes its own rational grounds ultimately puzzling #complicates (0.80) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 124
• Modernity’s reflexivity subverts reason’s claim to certitude. #complicates (0.79) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 100
• Colonial power instrumentalized reason and thereby corrupted modernity’s promise #complicates (0.74) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 615
• Modern ethics falsely severs morality from socially formed virtue and recognition #complicates (0.72) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 1187