A comment on Modernity- And incomplete Project by Jurgen Habermas


Throughout my completion of the reading for tomorrows class period I found myself confused consistently.  Some of the ideas in the reading resonated with me, even if I do not fully understand them yet. But upon deeper thought I can try to break down parts of hat Habermas is trying to say.  One quote that made me ponder was an idea from Daniel Bell.  The concept is that the “crises of the developed societies of the west are to be traced back to a split between culture and society.  Modernist Culture has come to penetrate the values of everyday life; the life-world is infected by modernism.”  The idea of the spit between culture and society keeps me questioning what drew the line?  What itself is the actual split of society and culture?  
If they are split, then can you be a part of one but not the other? Or are they just no longer a part of the same category?  As I sift through my ideas about it, I question the distinct differences between the two.  Society does have classes, but culture does not.  Basic culture doesn’t require a societal status for one to engage.  Culture has a rich and positive history, on the other hand society has a dark history.  At least for myself, the connotations behind the two words is where you see the difference.  Culture is celebrated, society is not.  In my mind that is a distinct enough difference for there to be a split between the two. In the west, we have prioritized one over the other, we want to feel important within our society, we don’t care if we are cultured anymore.  Which creates a huge issue with self-identify in the world today. Why is nobody satisfied? Were we promised a life more spectacular than the one we see today?

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