We cannot return to the pre- modern situation, because traditional society can no longer be taken for granted, except in some areas of the Third World. We can, though, create a sort of Meta- tradition, by affirming aspects of the modern world, like science and liberal democracy, and showing how they are indebted to philosophy, religion, and the development of scholarship. For example, the Church preserved learning in monastic scriptoria at a time when the civil authorities could not protect against Viking depredation or establish schools. Plato developed a "hypothetical method" for examining issues that is a precursor of the scientific method. Aristotle was the first to systematize the study of nature.
By showing some connection to the Meta- tradition of the modern world, we show the relevance of pre- modern sources of authority, and make it possible to recast them in terms more intelligible to us at this point in history........ |
