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Javnost - The Public, Vol. 31 - 2024, Suplement
Guest Edited by Jernej Kaluža and Sašo Slaček Brlek
Kolaps razuma? Sociohistorični prispevek k obravnavi moderne javnosti in njenih kriz
Zadnje desetletje zaznamuje govor o krizi zahodnih demokracij in njenih javnosti. V ospredju analize so družbeni mediji in porast tipa razpravljanja, ki temelji na iracionalnem, čustvenem in intuitivnem zagovarjanju stališč. Splošna presoja, ki nastaja iz kakofonije spletnega deliberiranja, je, da gre za odmik od razsvetljenskih vrednot razumnega argumentiranja s ciljem iskanja skupnega dobrega in konsenza. Članek se tej obravnavi pridruži iz historično-sociološke perspektive, ki problematizira preprosto polariziranje moderne javnosti na racionalno razsvetljensko in iracionalno postrazvestljensko. Nasprotno, trdi, da je vsaka zgodovinska modaliteta javnosti – glede na tip tehnologije, na katerem je temeljilo prevladujoče javno komuniciranje – oblikovala svoj kolektivni prostor dojemanja družbene stvarnosti in odzive nanj, pri čemer »predmoderni« preostanki iracionalnega in »dionizičnega« ostajajo speči elementi modernosti. Če v analizo vključimo ta historični presek, postane jasno, da je »kolaps razuma«, ki ga zaznava sodobna razprava, toliko kontingenčni produkt izteka modernosti v neoliberalno stanje, kot je njen nujni epistemski izraz.
A Collapse of Reason? Socio-Historical Comment on the Modern Public and Its Crises
The last decade has been defined by the notion of the crisis of the (Western) democracies and their publics. At the forefront of the debate stand social media and the type of deliberation they promote, namely the irrational, emotional and intuitive defence of individual viewpoints. A general conclusion arising from the cacophony of the on-line modes of deliberation is that this presents a detour from the Enlightenment and its ideals of rational argument in pursuit of collective good and consent. In the article, we apply a historical-sociological perspective to argue against the simplified polarization of the modern public between the rational Enlightenment and the irrational post-Enlightenment public of the neoliberal phase. In fact, we argue that each of the modern publics formed its own collective space of public reflection whereby the pre-modern remnants of the irrational and “the Dionysian” remain the underlying currents of modernity. With this historical lens in place, it becomes evident that the “collapse of reason” is as much a contingent product of the neoliberal turn as it is its necessary epistemic expression.
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