Historically & Philosophically Defining Moderntiy

As usual my dad always finds a way to talking about  the marvels of modernity and technology today compared to what he had growing up. As I lay in bed desperately trying to sleep, my insane mind decided to wander off in a web of thoughts ... tonight's topics of randomess is modernity. 

The phrase modern life is usually associated with one’s current life being new or up to date. Which has done more to define this modern life, conflicts of tradition and modernity or tensions between science and religion, is hard to say as they were all very important in their own times. The reason for this is because they are all interrelated; in the long run, everything is a cause and effect resulting from modernity over coming traditions.
 

However, it was the conflict between science and religion that had defined a greater part of modern life. Centuries of religious uniformity under the Roman Catholic Church for example gave way to religious diversity as new Protestant churches cast off papal authority and rejected traditional Catholic doctrines. Intellectuals lost interest in the abstract theological and philosophical issues that had preoccupied their predecessors, and inspired by new interests in Greek and Roman antiquity, broke new ground in science, moral philosophy and political thought. Taken together, these changes mark the end of the Middle Ages or what some intellects like to call the Pre-Modernity era. So basically modernity was generally viewed as an indication of progress and people were better educated. If anything there appeared to be advancements in the age of Renaissance or rebirth after centuries of medieval stagnation.

With modernity, came great achievements that have shaped our world today in one way or another. It had led to some of the greatest voyages of exploration. Take the Spanish and Portuguese for instance, they initiated a maritime revolution that had changed the course of history. Prince Henry of Portugal also known as Henry the Navigator, had promoted exploration and founded as research institution for studying navigation and collecting information of the unexplored lands. One of the Portuguese expeditions around Africa and India was lead by Vasco Da Gama. Christopher Columbus was an explorer in the service of the Spanish led an expedition across the Atlantic and discovered the Americas. Kinda makes you feel like we took maps and gps for granted huh. how cool would it be go about exploring uncharted lands and territories!!

 How can I not bring up the Enlightenment i.e. the Scientific Revolution and the Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance. During the Age of Enlightenment, many intellectuals had come to raise, Evan Voltaire being one of them. His career best represents values and spirits of the Enlightenment. He wrote a tragic drama called the Oedipus. His work influenced the enlightenment from various aspects, but his greatest contribution was his devotion to the principle of toleration and freedom of thought. Other intellectuals of the time included Sir Isaac Newton who came up with the law of gravity.

 Similar to the Enlightenment, during the Scientific Revolution, the intellectual movements of Europe that were initially associated with the planets and other aspects of physics were set as the grounds for modern science. Some of the greatest Scientists of the time included Galileo Galilei who developed the theory of inertia, explained the laws of motion and invented the telescope. Copernicus (cant remember his first name) was the first to state that the sun was the center of the universe and that the Earth revolved around the sun. Rene Descartes a mathematician and Francis Bacon and a philosopher were instrumental in formulating strategies and methods of the new science. Guess we have these guys to thank for making our lives so much easier huh?!

Another major factor of modernity was the Industrial Revolution. During this period of time, there was a drastic increase in the number of industries that were emerging. There were improvements in modes of transportation, communication and more people were working in mines and improvements of new technologies (consequently we are all hooked on our ipads, iphones and other smartphones :p). All these factors led to an in crease in the overall productivity and efficiency of the economy and thus resulted in an economic growth. Prior to the Industrial Revolution people lived in rural villages and worked in terms of agriculture. After the revolution a majority of the population lived in cities and worked in factories or offices. The industrial Revolution was the single most important cause to expansion and modernity in the nineteenth century. Small family owned businesses gave way to large corporations, monopolies, and new sources of energy such as petroleum and electricity. Although initially working conditions were in very bad shape, certain laws were passed to protect the workers and improve the working conditions. 

The last major contribution to a modern life so to speak was the French Revolution. This revolution was different from the other in that it was more religion and politics orientated. It expanded the mass participation in political life and also destabilized the power of the Catholic Church. The French King Louis the something ( for the life of me cant remember the number right now) wanted absolutism, but was killed and the feudal system was also abolished as a result.The new French constitution after the downfall of the King states that all public administration, in all matters having to do with allocation and collection of taxes, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing, communications, public works projects, construction, and public morals shall be entrusted to the provincial assemblies.

The religious aspect of the French Revolution was during the rule of Cardinal Richelieu, who had enemies since he supported the Spanish who followed the Catholic religion rather than Christianity. These religious conflicts lead to the “Thirty Years’ War” (now if memory serves me right, this war ended in the early years of the Cold War). Because he openly aligned French with Protestant powers, Richelieu was denounced by many as a traitor to the Roman Catholic Church. Military hostilities, at first, were disastrous for the French, with many victories going to Spain and the Empire. Both sides however could not obtain a decisive advantage, and so the conflict lingered on until after Richelieu’s death.

Ok so it is 3:08am and seems I have rambled on long enough to forget the point I was getting too haha. All I can say is this .... the conflict between science and religion has done more to define modern life in comparison to the conflicts between tradition and modernity. This is because this era had major events such as the Renaissance, Scientific Revolution, French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution; all put together have defined and shaped our modern life.