20th Century Philosophy Paper - Essay Example

Introduction The 20th century witnessed drastic developments in the area of philosophy. With new knowledge, and new economics, social, ethical and logical perspectives in the minds of the people, the classical theories were ousted. The period saw the following philosophical revolutions in particular: Analytical Philosophy, Modernism, and Futurism. Analytical PhilosophyThe birth of analytical philosophy can be traced back to beak of 20th century when Frege refuted Kant’s claims that mathematics is grounded neither in experience, not in logic but spatio-temporal structure.

Frege derived concepts of arithmetic from logic thereby challenging Kant’s proposition. This work was extended by Russel who derived the whole of mathematics from logic. The projects of both Frege, and Russel failed but gave rise to what is known as analytic philosophy today. There is no clear definition of analytic philosophy. This philosophy “emphasizes clarity, rigor, argument, theory, truth. […] This kind of philosophy is more like science than religion, more like mathematics than poetry – though it is neither science nor mathematics” (Collin, 2002).

The history of analytic philosophy can be divided into five phases. The first phase from 1900 to 1910 is characterized by the quasi-platonic form of realism, which was articulated in the idiom of ‘propositions’ and ‘meanings’. Later, Moore proposed the philosophy of common sense, while Russel developed logical atomism with Ludwig Wittgenstein. This second phase continued till 1930. 1930s saw the development of logical positivism by A.J. Ayer. The fourth phase form 1945-1965 saw inclination towards ordinary-language analysis developed by John Wisdom, Gilbert Ryle, and Paul Grice.

Criticism in 1960s led the analytic philosophy to dump its linguistic form. This continued till the end of the 20th century and illustrates pluralism. ModernismSimply defined, modernism is the social thought process, logical behavior, and character in the present time. This movement stretched from 1890 to 1920 and witnessed the genius of Joyce, Eliot, Lewis, and Pound among others. This movement had a far-reaching influence on the American and British society in terms of art, architecture, literature, religion, politics, and social behavior.

Some of the salient features of modernism include: Experimentation; self-consciousness; individualism; elite intellectualism; and anti-realism. The modernism movement was influenced by many sources. It took allusiveness in style from symbolism; an urban setting from realism; artist-focused view, and illogical thinking from Romanticism. It reached zenith after the WWII, and became the language of the educated. It slowly died after the death of older generations of readers. FuturismFuturism is a modern art movement that began in 1909 with the appearance of Filippo Marinetti’s first manifesto of futurism.

Marinetti in this manifesto calls for “divine intuition” (qtd. in Clough, 1942). The futurist movement is characterized by work that glorified war, favored dictatorship, machines, pollution, noise, and interest towards dynamics of natural and man-made forms. Futurists opposed intellectualistic and logical poetry. The futurists welcomed the new world order unlike others who experienced the pleasures of technology, while deceitfully disapproving the forces that made those comforts available.

Reference listMcGinn, Colin. (2002). The Making of a Philosopher: My Journey through Twentieth-Century Philosophy. New York: Harper Perennial. Clough, Rosa Trillo (1942). Looking Back at Futurism. New York: Cocce Press.