Ebook: Modernity, Pluralism and the Crisis of Meaning: The Orientation of Modern Man

Certainties of orientations are eroding, identities are being questioned. The increasing velocity of social development is giving rise to such tendencies by changing familiar structures and social certainties established over time. Traditional knowledge -- which is passed on from one generation to the next by the church, the state, schools and families -- is becoming outdated at an accelerating pace. The traditional institutions used for orientation are being supplemented by recently emerged ones. Conflicts between competing orientation are being supplemented by newer ones. Conflicts between competing orientation on the supply side are resolved by the "market," and different self-definitions may be incompatible. Functional elites are being called upon to contribute their share to stabilizing society's future. Effective orientation has to master the challenge of reconciling individually meaningful concepts for life and necessities as a way of maintaining social cohesion.
According to Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, the causes for the modern crises of meaning include prosesses of modernization, pluralism and -- in Europe in particular -- secularization. As a problem-solving strategy, the authors propose a system of intermediate institutions to mediate between the individual and society.