Die Krise der Moderne und die Geisteswissenschaften
The Crisis of Modernity and the Humanities

Summary/Abstract: The notions “postmodernism” and “posthistoire” signify two different tendencies of modern civilization: the tendency of differentiation and the other to make the human world homogeneous. The crisis of modern age consists (1) in the tendency to destroy the different cultural traditions and nature and (2) in the reactions: nationalism and religious fanaticism. The humanities (1) make aware of cultural phenomena, which are leveled by civilization, and (2) as academic disciplines are struggling against every fanaticism and narrow-minded ideologies. Today the humanities are often criticized for subjecting everything to general terms. But their special methods are description, hermeneutics and telling stories.

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