Re: [-empyre-] forward from Christiane Paul: Is Modernity our Antiquity? - introductory comments

[Pall Thayer <palli@pallit.lhi.is>]

Hi Empyre,

I just want to throw something into the pot here. Something that I  
think sort of turns things around and twists them up a bit (which is  
always fun). The first thing that came to my mind when I read the  
question, was the so-called "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns"  
and whether we are perhaps going through a similar situation but  
without the quarrel. The question then becomes, did Modernity reach  
such cultural heights that we constantly strive to equal their  
achievements (without ever doing so) or do our contemporary  
achievements already surpass the achievements of Modernity because we  
know things that they didn't? In other words, are we nearing a  
potential "Quarrel of the Moderns and the Post-post-moderns/ 
Hypermoderns/Contemporary-moderns/whateveryoucallit"? In other other  
words, are the achievements of contemporary culture more significant  
than the achievements of Modernity?

Pall Thayer

--
Pall Thayer
palli@pallit.lhi.is
http://www.this.is/pallit