The readings for this week, Gascoigne and Gross disuss some of the momentous changes that took place in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These changes were associated with events such as the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution, and the agrarian revolution and the rise of empiricism, rationalism and early capitalism.

The changes assocaited with these events can be understood in terms of the the shift from tradition to modenrity. Tradition and modenrity are both key concepts in relation to your essays.

The class disucussion is seeking to explain this shift (from tradition to modernity) in terms of changing orienation towards the notion of time. In particular it seeks to compare and contrast tradition's orintation towards the past with modernity's orientation towards the future.

Provide some contemporary examples

1. Tradition
Gascoigne on Tradition

• Entrenched form of discourse
• Containment of change

Gross on Tradition

• By following tradition backward from an impoverished "now" to a rich and plentiful "then," one could gain access to the time of creation (p. 2)
• Almost all the important elements of a traditional attitude are expressed here: that the old ways are the best; that value is found by following the old paths; that comfort and peace come by holding on to the legacies of the past; and that "the past" and "the good" are for all practical purposes one and the same (p.1)

2. Gascoigne and Gross on key changs that took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth century

• The Industrial Revolution, however, set in motion processes which permanently altered social reality.

industrialism induced people to let go of tradition in the interest of new constructions.

The scientific revolution of the seventeenth century

Industrial revolution

Agrarian revolution

Enlightenment, bureaucratisation, the rule of law, the rise of rational institutions of governance- Gasc, Gebder

Empiricism and rationalism

Early capitalism

Centralised / absolutist state

Industrial revolution

3. Modernity

• Improvement

  Progress meant a willingness to accept change for future advantage and a confidence that the application of reason would ultimately mean a better world

  Renoval of impediments (Adam Smith)

  ·         the idea that it was possible literally to "begin again"
• The view that society could be improved through the application of reason and industry

   

In the seventeenth century, however, the idea that it was possible literally to "begin again" was seriously entertained for the first time. Moreover, it came to be assumed that if a second beginning occurred, it could actually be superior to the first one if it managed to wipe away the shortcomings of the original.