What is "The New Epoch"?

We are living in a period of transition. The "Modern World"--the attitudes of which are rooted in the experience of the Renaissance, the scientific and industrial revolutions, the Enlightenment, and the rise of international political and social ideologies--is gradually but inexorably coming to an end. Human persons and societies are in the process of developing new presuppositions and modes of experiencing and defining themselves that have never appeared in the history of the human race. A New Epoch is coming into being. It raises new challenges for humanity, while also preserving and encompassing many elements of what has gone before (and what still remains even in its decline). Western culture, for the first time in history, is spread throughout the world, as is so evident by global modes of commerce, communication, and political and social cooperation. At the same time, Western culture must for the first time engage, without condescension, in a serious dialogue with the experiences, histories, and presuppositions of other peoples and cultures. Meanwhile, the explosive and unprecedented expansion of technological power is rapidly transforming the modes of interaction of human beings near and far. This blog is a running commentary on the many aspects of this phenomenon. It is sponsored by John Janaro, director of the Concordia Research and Education Center.