Abstract

The proposed paper makes an overview of ideas about the failure of the Modern reason as they are launched in the 20th century Continental Philosophy. It begins with Edmund Husserl’s views about wrong objectivism and naturalism in science and philosophy, proceeds to the radical criticism against the project of Enlightenment practiced by the first generation Frankfurt School, and pays attention to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s dissatisfaction with cliché language and thinking dominating both public and private discourse today. Further examination of the Modern reason misfortunes discusses Emanuel Levinas’ uprising against fundamental ontology for the sake of ethics and responsibility to the Other, Julia Kristeva’s appeal to reestablish the social contract on new sensibility and new rationality, and Jean Boaudrillard’s observation that reason has surrendered to the code of simulacrum. In the second part of the paper, some suggestions proposed by the above philosophers (except Baudrillard) about resolving the deadlock of the Modern reason are viewed briefly. A conclusion is made that Baudrillard’s pessimistic position seems to be the most plausible and relevant in the current socio-political and philosophical climate.