The transition from the pre-modern to the modern world has been revolutionary for the development and becoming of the future society. Many fundamental beliefs and outlooks on the world have been questioned, which has led to the rethinking of the system and search for the answers to the appearing questions. Therefore, the drastic changes have begun when people started doubting their fundamental values.
The development of science highly influenced the shift to modern world. People could access the information more easily with the increasing publishing press in books in a common language worldwide. Consequently, they became more skeptical about the government constructions and realized that there was another way of leading and shaping the individuals. The pre-modern people were very religious, and they formed all the values and beliefs according to the thought that God defined everything and established the law. As they relied on God’s will and lacked scientific knowledge and proof, people took a system as it should, without a doubt that it could be any different.
With the growth of the importance of science, the community was striving to define the only correct path of becoming the human race and civilization as a whole. The modern world concluded that by revealing the world ourselves without relying on religious statements, they could learn about it more precisely and gain more knowledge. However, despite all the positive inventions and openings, the public has used technology for creating weapons and covered all the maleficent actions such as genocide, justifying it with science.
As time goes by, individuals have realized their autonomy and the value of the individual itself, not only the collective or social group of any kind. People started to demand the satisfaction of their needs and representation of their wishes through the governmental structure. Therefore, several views on the modern world have developed, such as democratic socialism and democratic liberalism. Democratic socialism has kept the centralized power in the government but with the people’s views and opinions on the regulations. Democratic liberalism became more of the people’s freedom and free will when they could decide what they found reasonable and necessary. Although some scholars argued that it might lead to undesirable consequences and overuse of power, it seems more likely to assume that society becomes aggressive when oppressed or attacked. Considering that point of view, it is essential to observe that all people are morally equal. Despite their physical or social traits, they have an opportunity to make their own choices.
That idea seems similar to the ones that Sophie de Grouchy had discussed in her letters. She stated that political and moral rights were interconnected with sympathy and emotions (Foundations of the Humanities). Every individual should have a right to express their opinions and have and rights that must be respected in any way. In her works, she discusses empathy and the understanding that positive and negative feelings impact the ability to protect the rights and fight against their violations.
Overall, the pre-modern to modern society changes were inevitable due to the progress and evolution of human knowledge and exploration of the universe’s creation and existence. Understanding that religion is not the only source of explanations and beliefs moved society significantly towards discussing the new possible views on the world. Therefore, people became more conscious of their rights and possibilities, and the role of individuality has increased, leading to new social systems and regulations.
Work Cited
Foundations of the Humanities. Unit Four – The Enlightenment. Introduction to Sophie de Grouchy.