POL320Y1 Study Guide - Baruch Spinoza, French Revolution, Secularism
Document Summary
Modernity is the creation of a certain culture, and when we use the term. Modern (modernity)- is part of a narrative that starts with plato, and continues on through the dark ages, to niche, to today, there has been a continuous tradition of the same books being read by students and intellectuals. We are trying to look back and figure out what the story was . On way of telling the story is that rationalism is created from this development of thinking. The hegemonic strand is the development of rationalism. There is a radical shift from the ancient world of thinking to the modern. In pol320 we should start with hobbes, but we start with rousseau, which is the beginning of the enlightenment. modern we are talking about a tradition that started in a specific place (europe/western). It is important to understand that it is not world political thought, it is specific to one culture and tradition.
