Modern Western philosophy has a number of features, the essence of which can be understood only by comparing the stages of its development. In classical philosophy, as you know, the main direction has always been the knowledge of nature and society and their reasonable transformation. Most adherents of the classical direction admitted the idea of the availability of knowledge, in their opinion, anyone can achieve the truth.
Thinkers who adhere to the classical trend believed that comprehension of the laws and principles of nature and society would allow a person to dominate them. The first blow to the ideas that formed the basis of this theory was dealt by the French revolution in 1879. The events that took place in France then vividly showed that the society, which until now was considered by philosophers based on "principles of reason", in fact turned out to be completely unreasonable and inhuman.
Terror, war and innocent victims made many thinkers think deeply about the real possibilities of science and the human mind. Subsequent events in America and Europe made philosophers doubt the role of enlightenment in establishing social harmony. The most penetrating philosophers of the late 19th century, when, it would seem, the principles of classical philosophy finally triumphed, suddenly began to talk about the irrationality of history and the relativity of truth. Modern Western philosophy takes its roots precisely from the period of rethinking values that occurred in that period of history.
The first signs of a break in classical philosophy can be observed in the teachings of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and their followers. Their work clearly shows the idea that the world is not at all a single rational system, and progress in science may well lead to inevitable and terrible consequences. Attempts to create a kind of comprehensive worldview are absurd and ridiculous against the background of the individualization of being. At Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche one can find motifs characteristic of a later stage in the development of Western philosophy, which began to dominate around the 20s of the 20th century.
If you try to determine the main directions of modern Western philosophy, you should name anthropologism, scientism, a return to the ideas of the mystical-religious sense. New thinking styles and fundamentally different views on the picture of the world arise. Around the middle of the 20th century, in connection with the scientific and technological revolution, global problems of the development of human society began to be developed on a larger scale. Modern Western philosophy, driven by fear for the future of mankind, identifies three main issues, the solution of which is urgent:
- Is there a devastating catastrophic contradiction between humanity and nature?
- If it exists, is it possible to say that such a contradiction is generated by scientific and technological progress?
- And finally, is it really possible today to stop the death of humanity and nature, and how to do it?
Modern Western philosophy, the general characteristic of which is rather ambiguous, offers various solutions to these issues, but nevertheless, modern thinkers see a way out of the current situation in the development of a common culture and the formation of new human qualities. These new human qualities include love of justice, global thinking and aversion to any kind of violence. Modern Western philosophy is trying to reinforce its ideas with the principles of humanism, putting in the first place the person himself, and not some faceless forces. It turned out that the human consciousness, fully focused on solving instrumental problems, actually passes by the main thing - human life and its meaning .