The Evolution of Rationality and Modernity Crisis

Chenggang Zhang

School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

DOI: 10.4236/sm.2013.32024                

Abstract

As the necessary result of the modernity movement, the technological problems not only reflect the conflict between technology and nature, but also reveal the inherent contradiction of the modernity culture. This study aims at providing a new explanation of modernity crisis partly caused by technology from the perspective of the evolution of rationality. As one of the core cultural ideas of modernity, rationality is both the source and the driving force of modernity. There does not exist absolutely pure rationality, and what really exists can only be a social and historical rationality situated in certain context. This paper identified three types of rationality in the movement of modernity: enlightenment rationality, science rationality, and technological rationality. The author considers that the transformation from Enlightenment rationality to technological rationality and the domination of technological rationality in modern society will answer for the emergence of technological problems partially.

Keywords

Technology; Risk; Rationality; Modernity Crisis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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