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Philosophy of the Social Sciences
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Anthony Giddens in chapter 1 of his work Modernity and Self-Identity gives a holistic approach to the concept of "modernity". Such an approach is made possible through his revision of modernity with respect to the pre-modern social life. He critically discusses the driving force of modernity, that is the increase of "reflexivity of modernity" and of "sequestration of experience". Such an increase contributes to altering modernity itself into "high modernity" and "late modernity". In fact, the shifting-social life of individuals has to be contextualised in terms of institutions and history of the society. Such a contextualisation helps continuously review social practices in the light of new information that concerns these very practices. So, it is suggested that a continuous review of social changes can create constructive conditions for some control of the risks generated by modernity. Modernity is not only understood as an era but also as a form of life and of living. In this respect, modern social life makes difference from the premodern one. This is so because the concepts we currently use by looking at ourselves differ from the ones used by those who lived in a premodern society. In premodern society, individuals limit themselves in time and space projected on their place. In the case of modernity, individuals widen their thinking and feelings by moving from one place to another. In premodern societies, personal problems and relationships affect the community as a small entity of individuals but not the society at large. In return, modernity generates changes in the social life of individuals, families and any other institutions (Giddens 12). Modernity creates various choices for individuals due to the fact that space and time are separated from their societies. People understand only what is they can see and touch in premodern society, but, in modernity, people interact one another over Academia Letters preprint.
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