Introduzione. L’edificio multipiano della modernità: prospettive critiche e genealogiche

In this introduction, we develop an analysis of the question of modernity taking into account the theoretical acquisitions of the first half of the 20th century (from Weber to the Frankfurt theorists), the definitions and differentiations made during the second half of the last century – in particular by Foucault, Blumenberg and Koselleck – as well as the developments of the discussion in recent decades (from Habermas onwards) and, therefore, also the decolonial critical perspective. Proposing a multilateral approach to the problem, we highlight the ambiguities of the notion (which can refer as much to structural phenomena as to processes of theoretical self-understanding), we show that the category of “modernity” is constructed on several mutually communicating planes, in an edifice that also, and primarily, includes the perception of “modern” authors of the novelty of their theoretical approaches. Finally, we discuss the contributions in the volume and their connection to the core problematic.