The Crisis of Modernity

By Augusto Del Noce.

-Recommended by Traversing Tradition-

Del Noce offers a philosophical genealogy of modernity that is unique in its approach — instead of offering an empirical set of chronological events in which religion was merely supplanted by technology, Del Noce views history itself as pushed forward by a “spirit of the age” where philosophy apprehends society in a way that determines politics, society, and culture. This idea of spirit determining society and not vice versa is well known to Muslims, but most post-Marxist thought in the West views history as propelled by material developments in political economy and institutions. Del Noce instead reflects on how the failure of Marxism to defeat idealism philosophically or liberal individualism empirically has led to a technocratic society in which materialism dominates without the Marxist revolutionary spirit. Rather, all aspects of modern life are determined by technocratic rationalism and bureaucracy, whether politics, religion, culture, or ethics.

by Aqil Azme and Faizan Malik.