Classical social theory defined modernity by the application of scientific rationality over tradition

Evidence

Modernity came to be conceived of as the society in which the Enlightenment project is realized, in which the scientific understand­ ing of the human and physical worlds regulates social interaction. Saint-Simon, influenced by Condorcet’s theory of history, thought of the industrial society whose emergence he anticipated in precisely these terms. The great social theorists of the turn of the nineteenth century did not share Condorcet’s and Saint-Simon’s optimism about the future, but all saw contemporary society as shaped by the practical application of the kinds of concepts and theoretical proce­ dures involved in the seventeenth-century scientific revolution. Va­ rious vocabularies — Weber’s distinction between traditional and rational-bureaucratic forms of domination, Durkheim’s between mechanical and organic solidarity, Tonnies’s between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft — were used to draw a broad contrast between two fundamentally different forms of social organization, separated above all by the dissolving and dynamizing effect of modern scientific rationality and its practical realizations. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 151

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines modernity as the realization of the Enlightenment project via scientific rationality, contrasted against tradition across Weber, Durkheim, and Tonnies.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 151
• XREF: connects to: Weber’s rationalization theory defines modernization as differentiation plus instrumental rationality — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 153; Modernity’s reflexivity makes its own rational grounds ultimately puzzling — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 124; Modernity’s self-image as rational depends on denying its own tacit metaphysics (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• Modernity’s reflexivity makes its own rational grounds ultimately puzzling #expands (0.82) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 124
• Modernity’s self-image as rational depends on denying its own tacit metaphysics #complicates (0.80)
• Scientific rationalism becomes an instrument of social domination #complicates (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 141
• Rationality in social theory attaches to systems and functions, not individual decisions #qualifies (0.78) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 308
• Modernity’s need for self-justification arises from the collapse of traditional norms #expands (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 264
• Modern rationalism combined critical method with quietism toward institutions #qualifies (0.75) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 139
• Modern rationality is procedural rather than substantive across all value spheres #qualifies (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 392
• Modernization theory predicted secularization of religion and natural gender equality #expands (0.75) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 244
• National Socialism radicalized modernity’s own logic of scientific problem-solving #expands (0.72)
• Sociology’s fragmentation stems from Enlightenment faith in transcendental rationality #expands (0.72) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 14
• Enlightenment-based sociology fragments because theories depend on observers’ beliefs about human nature #expands (0.72)