ABSTRACT
Contemporary discourse on modernity has not said enough about the nature and limits of modernity’s own givenness. This chapter analyses this important yet overlooked aspect of modernity by drawing upon and developing a claim that Jurgen Habermas has advanced. It demonstrates that limited discussion of modernity is not meant to illustrate the creative activity of speculative thought, and clarifies a basis for the view that speculative philosophy has continuing relevance. In the process of modernity’s self-determination no aspect of its being can be treated as a fixed and pregiven reference point. Non-modern reflection typically focuses on the subject matter that is being reflected upon, such as the nature of the divine, whilst taking for granted its methods and processes of inquiry. The chapter discusses modernity’s current condition on a demonstration of the way in which the universal givenness of modern particularity is embodied in what is considered to be a paradigm case.
