180 likes | 365 Views
LECTURE. ‘An Oak Tree’ Michael Craig-Martin. Jacques Derrida. Gilles Deleuze. 1. Modernity. II. Crisis (1900-1950). III. Postmodernity (?). Modernity 1: Faith in Reason. - The Enlightenment (17th/18th Century). “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity...
E N D
‘An Oak Tree’ Michael Craig-Martin
Jacques Derrida Gilles Deleuze
1. Modernity II. Crisis (1900-1950) III. Postmodernity (?)
Modernity 1: Faith in Reason - The Enlightenment (17th/18th Century) “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity... “The motto of Enlightenment is Sapere Aude [dare to know]: have courage to make use of your own understanding” Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) from “Answering The Question: What Is Enlightenment” (1784)
René Descartes (1596-1650) Cogito Ergo Sum “I think, therefore I am”
Modernity II: Power over nature - Knowledge as power “The sovereignty of man lieth hid in knowledge” -- Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) - Industrial Revolution (18th/19th Centuries)
Modernity III: Idea of Progress Voltaire (1694-1778) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) John Stuart Mill (1806-73)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) -- theory of evolution and the idea of progress “progress has been much more general [in human history] than retrogression; ...man has risen, though by slow and interrupted steps, from a lowly condition to the highest standard as yet attained by him in knowledge, morals and religion.”from, The Descent of Man (1871)
Postmodernity 1 “...we [have] set ourselves nothing less than the discovery of why mankind, instead of entering into a truly human condition, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism.” “...the Enlightenment has always aimed at liberating men from fear and establishing their sovereignty. Yet the fully enlightened earth radiates disaster triumphant.” Adorno & Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944)
Postmodernity 11 “Simplifying to the extreme, I define ‘postmodern’ as incredulity toward metanarratives [grand récits].” “I will use the term modern to designate any science that legitimates itself with reference to a metadiscourse... making an appeal to some grand narrative, such as the dialectics of spirit [Hegel], the hermeneutics of meaning [Schleiermacher], the emancipation of the rational subject [Kant] and the working subject [Marx], or the creation of wealth [Adam Smith].” Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition (1979)
Postmodernity 111 a. Difference vs. universality • “Underneath all reason lies delirium, and drift” • Gilles Deleuze, Desert Islands & Other Texts, 1953-74. b. Truth, Morality & Power “There are no facts, only interpretations.” “...life simply is will to power.” Friedrich Nietzsche, 1880s Notebooks & The Gay Science (1882) c. Power & Modern Institutions “Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish (1977)