Modernity is an unending project (Essay 2017) Outlines:

Introduction

1. Birth of modernity

a) Bacon and reason

b) Galileo and scientific advancement

c) Lock’s empiricism

d) Newtonian revolution

e) Enlightenment and humanity

2. Manifestation of modernity

a) French Revolution and defeat of old order

b) Declaration of rights of men

c) Expanding boundaries of modernity

3. Decline of modernist project

a) Congress of Vienna and restoration of old order

4. Modernity re-emerges

a) Age of progress and scientific advancements

b) Industrial revolution and new challenges to modernity

c) Marx’s solution to cure ills of modernity

5. War and disillusionment towards modernity

6. Modernity and East

a) Sir Syed’s education project

b) Jinnah’s Constitutional struggle

c) Challenges to modernity in Pakistan

7. Modernity in present era

Modernity is a journey from medieval ignorance to scientific inquiry, from dogma to reason, from
orthodoxy to liberalism, from feudalism to capitalism, from autocracy to democracy and from slavery to
freedom. It is considered as one of the greatest projects of the history. Philosophically it started from
Bacon, Locke and other empiricists’ notion of experience based knowledge and it developed in theories
of Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu and French Philosophes, the critics of authority and dogma and
preachers of rationality. Modernity was actualized through French Revolution and rolled back after
Napoleon’s defeat. But this great project was unstoppable and re-emerged with industrial urbanization
and technology. Marx’s philosophy based on scientific socialism was destined to liberate humans from
age old slavery based on class exploitation. Modernity faced crisis during two world wars, confidence in
man’s rational future was shattered by war frenzy. War torn humanity realized that blessings lie only in
peace and democracy. Eastern societies have their own quest for modernity. Freedom from colonials
was the first step towards modernity. Countries like Pakistan are still battling with autocracy, feudalism,
dogma but process of history will pave more opportunities for modernization in order to survive. Early
thinker of modernity were the proponents of reason and rationality. It include many philosopher but the
first great spokesman for the modernity was the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon(1561-
1626), who denounced reliance on authority and criticized Aristotelian logic as useless for the discovery
of new laws. In the new philosophical climate, experience and reason became the sole standards of
truth. Bacon called for a new scientific method based on reasoned generalization from careful
observation and experiment. He was the first to formulate rules for this new method of drawing
conclusions, now known as inductive inference.

Italian scientist Galileo (1564-1642) was of even greater importance in the development of a new
worldview. Galileo’s physics entirely replaced the Aristotelian methods. His works on astronomy and
scientific discovery of heliocentric model of universe created great unrest among the followers of
orthodoxy. For that purpose he was sent to jail for life for promoting scientific and modernist ideology.
Modernity was behind bars but destined to pave its way towards progress.

In 1690 Locke gave empiricism a systematic framework with the publication of his Essay Concerning
Human Understanding. Of particular importance was Locke’s redirection of philosophy away from the
study of the physical world and toward the study of the human mind. In so doing he made epistemology,
the study of the nature of knowledge, the principal concern of philosophy in the 17th and 18th
centuries. In his own theory of the mind Locke attempted to reduce all ideas to simple elements of
experience, but he distinguished sensation and reflection as sources of experience, sensation providing
the material for knowledge of the external world, and reflection the material for knowledge of the mind.

Modernity was an abiding faith in the power of human reason. The age was enormously impressed by
the discovery by Isaac Newton of universal gravitation.
If humanity could so unlock the laws of the universe, God’s own laws, why could it not also discover the
laws underlying all of nature and society? This belief was summed up by Alexander Pope:

“Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night God said, ‘Let Newton be,’ and all was light.” People came to
assume that through a judicious use of reason, an unending progress would be possible—progress in
knowledge, in technical achievement, in political sphere and even in moral values.

It was the age of Enlightenment in which the project of modernity flourished and found roots in masses.
German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s motto “Dare to know” was a desire to re-examine and question all
received ideas and values, to explore new ideas in many different directions. Rousseau’s observation
“Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains” paved way for new forms of liberty from autocrats.
Voltaire’s slogan “Let us crush the infamous one” was an attack on religious authoritarianism. Many
proponents of the Enlightenment liked to refer to themselves as the “party of humanity”. Man occupied
central position in project of modernity Copyrights © 2020 Shamsher Seelro Modernity advanced from
theory to practice. French Revolution was the practical manifestation of theories of enlightenment.
Completely new, a modern social order replaced the old order by this single event of the history.
Political institutions like democracy and nation state were built on the basis of human will instead of
aristocratic authority. Feudalism was destroyed, monarch was dethroned, and church was demolished.
Victory of equality, fraternity and liberty was considered as victory of reason.

Declaration of rights of the man and citizen was the most important document of modernist ideology. It
provided equality to the people; all people were subject to equal laws, equal taxations, and equal rights
to vote. All people were to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of education. This
document became the model for nations struggling to achieve a social order, based on reason and
humanity.

With the advent of French Revolution, there emerged new movements.

Feminists, like Olympe de Gouges were demanding the equal rights for woman.

Slave leaders, like Francois Louverture were struggling for abolition of slavery.

Socialists, like Gracchus Babeuf were asking for classless society. Modernity was expanding its
boundaries.

After the decline of French Revolution, Napoleon half-heartedly tried to spread modernist ideas of
French Revolution to different nations of Europe. He tried to impose new order to his newly captured
satellite states but faced resistance.

Modernity was a natural demand; freedom being the very basic notion of modernity cannot be imposed.
Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo took the history towards the crisis of modernity. Congress of Vienna
restored the old monarchy, orthodoxy and authority. It suppressed all the hopes for leading the world
towards a progress and freedom. With the victory of conservatism, modernity faced new dilemma. The
journey of modernity does not end here. Forces who were opposed to the forces of modernity and
wanted to reverse the history, did not know that the modernity will re-emerge even with great zeal.
Growth of industrial prosperity after first quarter of the 19th Century created new situations for
modernity. This scenario is known as “Age of Progress”. With the age of progress there emerged
Copyrights © 2020 Shamsher Seelro man’s unquestioned faith in growing knowledge of science.
Telephone, camera, bulb, diesel engine, x-ray, steel and hundreds of other scientific technologies were
the inventions of age of progress. Science was obtaining additional information about nature and
society. Emergence of atomic physics, bacteriology, genetics, psychology, anthropology, sociology
fostered a faith that through the discovery and application of new forms of knowledge, man could bring
the world and himself under his own control and achieve an earthly paradise.

Along with this, the industrial revolution brought men new freedom, new opportunities and new
comforts and conveniences. Age of progress also brought them a new problem: a huge working class
without any of the traditional safeguard to economic security. Poverty was nothing new, but poverty in
a society capable of producing enormous wealth was difficult to ignore. It was a great riddle of age of
progress. The inadequate living standards of great masses mocked the marvelous advances of science
and industry. This was a new challenge to the project of modernity.

To cope up with poverty and inequality, and to bring prosperity Karl Marx appeared with his modernist
ideas of scientific socialism. Socialism promised a new classless future for humanity based on reason.
Marx believed that important thing was not to conceive of ideal system, but to work for dissolution of
existing one, which was bad and ought to be destroyed. Out of these ashes would arise a new society,
whose contours determined by rational people who had made it. He wrote “Philosopher have hitherto
only interpreted the world in various ways, the real point is to change it” Again the belief in inevitable
progress and modernity was shaken by First and Second World Wars. This disillusionment, caused by
horrors of Verdun and Stalingrad, Hiroshima and Nagasaki completely shattered the dreams of
humanity.

Approximately 10 million people lost their lives and about 21 million people wounded in two wars.
Technology was misused for annihilation of humanity. Due to the barbarism of war, people began to feel
in pessimist ways that progress did not exist, reason and science did not lead to wisdom and prosperity.
Freud’s theory that man is driven by instinct rather than rationally, and unconscious mind plays the
pivotal l role instead of conscious mind became popular in the West.

After two World Wars and Cold War, world realized that future of humanity lies in peace and
democracy, reason and rationality and in knowledge and education. With the advances in
communication, transportation, and information technologies a new global society emerged and the
project of modernity reached to new heights. Digital technologies, internet, social media and a flood of
information changed the shape of nation states all over the world. New theories in social sciences,
natural sciences opened new horizon of knowledge. Third world countries are lagging far behind first
world nations but with the passage of time they will also enjoy the fruits of modernization. East took its
own path for the project of modernity. European captured subcontinent and made it their colony, but
colonialism, based on racism and exploitation, could not bring the fruits of progress. British imperialism
initiated measures to provide technological infrastructure but the human condition demanded a
complete freedom from colonizers in order to bring modernity in true spirit.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the earliest modernist of British India, he truly believed in scientific education.
He concluded after war of 1857 that the main cause of defeat in the war was ignorance and orthodoxy
of Muslims. Sir Syed found Gulshan School at Moradabad, Victoria School at Ghazipur in 1863, and a
scientific society for Muslims in 1864. In 1875, he founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College,
the first Muslim university in South Asia. His struggle for Islam's rational understanding was to make it
compatible with science and modernity. His teachings influenced later Muslim leaders like Allama Iqbal
and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

It was due to efforts of Sir Syed’s modernist education, that a new educated class emerged and
demanded complete constitutional and democratic rights from oppressors. Progress under British
exploitation was never possible, in that scenario Jinnah, a staunch democrat and constitutionalist, came
up with demand of autonomy and creation of new nation state for progress of Muslims of India.

Pakistan came into being in 1947 with the promise to become modern nation state with the dream of
social welfare democracy having peace and prosperity.

Project of modernity was initiated in Europe, but after mid of the 20th century it had been spread all
over the world with independence from colonizers and advancement in modern education and scientific
knowledge. In third world the project could not prosper in its full spirit. Pakistan could not get rid of
feudalism and tribalism. Dictators frequently derailed the process of democracy.

Science and technology could not develop like European nations. Terrorism hit the country worst.
Poverty, inequality, discrimination could not be eradicated completely. Among all these challenges
countries like Pakistan are struggling to fulfill the dream of becoming a modern nation.

It has now established that reason cannot be replaced by dogma. Knowledge cannot be subtracted.
Scientific advancement can never come to stand still. Future lies with institutions which support
humanity. Ills of democracy can only be cured by more democracy. Modernity has survived throughout
the history; it will also thrive in future. Modernity is a process which cannot be stopped.