Critique of Modernist Discourse in Zygmunt Bauman

Abstract

Western modernity represents a historical stage that arose from the difficult intellectual transformations experienced by Western thought, beginning with the European Renaissance in Italy and beyond, as well as humanism, with the aim of breaking away from the old order and from the Church, which had placed God at the center of the universe and marginalized man. From this point, a new mode of thought emerged, one that believed in reason, science, and progress, and carried many aspirations, especially during the Enlightenment, to achieve human happiness. Yet the crisis of modernity, its failure, and the collapse of the moral and value system led man to engage in a process of reconsideration, as concepts changed and solidity turned into liquidity, in the terms of the Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, who examined the transformations and manifestations of solid modernity into liquid modernity.