From a state of bleary-eyed semi-coherence I write (from my couch) to you. I’m sick today. Anyhow, let us proceed:

I’ve been reading a great deal of early modern English philosophy of late; heavy doses of Francis Bacon (Novum Organum), and Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan). This isn’t due to the fact that 1 get a buzz out of 15th century philosophical archaisms but merely because I’m taking a Modern Philosophy course.

Despite the relatively impenetrable text, several things have struck me at the macro level. Bacon and Hobbes, like many early moderns, were responding to the ridiculously unscientific approaches of medieval scholasticism. The Scholastics believed and promoted an entire range of beliefs that more resembled folklore, superstition, and paganism than anything resembling what we would call science.

An understanding and knowledge of Modernity’s background is something that was lacking when my fascination with postmodern theory and deconstructive modes began last spring. It now seems possible to me that more uninformed postmoderns may easily write modernity off without really understanding the foundation from which it arose. I think this is a mistake and leads to the condemnation of an element that is only partly known and wrongly interpreted—in fact, I would argue that in some ways it is a return to primitive philosophical paganism that drove modernity to form.

That said, I still love Deconstruction, but I certainly refuse to disown Modernity completely and think that those who do are retreating to a futile medieval scholasticism that happily embraces anti-intellectualism.