The Age of Modernism: How It Defied the Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Modernism: How It Defied the Age of Enlightenment
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The Age of Modernism: How it Defied the Age of Enlightenment
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new revolutionary and unconventional streams of philosophical thoughts emerged because of growing scientific advancement and a radical political atmosphere that changed the whole perspective of humans and their relationship with society. The most evident deviation trends were observable in arts and philosophy when several thinkers and philosophers introduced irrational philosophical theories about human consciousness, nature, and desire and the limits imposed on them by society. These radical philosophical thoughts attempted to explain the growing discontent of man and the growing existentialist crisis in the modern world, especially in the wake of World War I and the rise of Fascist movements in several European countries. Therefore, the following paragraphs discuss some of these revolutionary ideas and thoughts in the arts and philosophy of the modern world to expose the difference between the Age of Modernism and the preceding Age of Enlightenment.
Sigmund Freud was one of the most renowned philosophers and psychologists of the modern age, and his theory of human consciousness provides a radical view of understanding human nature. Indeed, his view of human consciousness defies all the previous conceptions of inborn human gentility and goodness propounded by the previous Age of Enlightenment philosophers. In an extraordinary brave attempt to reveal the innermost and true human nature, Freud explains that human nature is based on his unconscious dreams and desires hidden deep inside his brain, unreachable. For him, these dreams are based on the natural human instinct of unbridled freedom characterized by desires for free sexuality and gratification of all carnal desires. For him, the human "id" of the subconscious is "a cauldron full of seething excitations" (Anonymous, n.d.).
However, social norms and customs put a strict check on this desire for unrestrained pleasure, and consequently, the human mind suffers from anxiety, depression, and distress. These negative feelings emerge either from the guilt of violating the social norms or the inability to satiate the carnal desires (Anonymous, n.d.). Thus, Freud's radical psychoanalysis of the human subconscious provides a contrasting modernist view that challenges the view of the Age of Enlightenment that humans by nature are meek, peaceful, and rational beings that tend to live under social decorum.
This frustration of a man of the Age of Modernism is manifested in the radical arts of the period. For instance, Edward Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" thoroughly reveals the feeling of frustration triggered by emotional torments inflicted by social restrictions on otherwise wild human nature (Anonymous, n.d.). In this painting, the image of a nervous and dazzled man attempting to cover his ears reveals modern humans' struggle to overcome the intense craving for wild pleasures. The wide-open eyes filled with fear and anxiety reflect the modern man's dilemma to strike a balance between society and t...