The New Constellation

Book excerpt: In this major new work, Bernstein explores the ethical andpolitical dimensions of the modernity/post-modernity debate. Bernstein argues that modernity / post-modernity should beunderstood as a kind of mood - one which is amorphous, shifting andprotean but which exerts a powerful influence on our currentthinking. Focusing on thinkers such as Heidegger, Derrida,Foucault, Habermas and Rorty, Bernstein probes the strengths andweaknesses of their work, and shows how they have contributed tothe formation of a new mood, a new and distinctive constellation ofideas. This new constellation has put ethical and political issues back onthe philosophical agenda, forcing us to confront anew, the Socraticquestion 'How should I live?'