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One dilemma of deciding whether or not we have entered into postmodernity is the lack of a clear idea of what modernity itself is, or was, or indeed what it is we are supposed to have superseded. This chapter argues that there is more coherence in modernity than initially appears to be the case. This coherence derives from a specific attitude to the human self which pervades all forms of modernity. With that understanding it becomes clear that if the fundamental attitude of modernity becomes problematic, the whole of modernity is called in doubt. This is exactly our present situation. The typically modern relation to the self can no longer be sustained. In this sense, it is argued, we have entered a postmodern situation.

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-14989-6_9

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