The Evolution of Rationality and Modernity Crisis

universality and repeatability. And its inherent social, historical, mankind’s and cultural meanings have potential dangers of being destructed. With the coming of industrial revolution, vigorous practice activities of industrial technology transform this possibility into reality. With the proceeding of modernity movement, rationality degenerates into a suppressing force and dominating method gradually, and enlightenment rationality degenerates into technological rationality and gradually occupying the core position of social culture (Horkheimer & Adormo, 1972). In impelling the course of western modernity movement, Industrial Revolution plays a very important role, and just because of this, the academic values it possesses have received widespread attention, and many different interpretations from different points of view co-exist with one another. For example, Cipolla explain Industrial Revolution from the perspective of the energy using. He states that the Industrial Revolution “can be defined as the process by which a society acquired control over vast sources of inanimate energy” (Cipolla, 1976: p. 274). Norbert Winer also considered the replacement of human muscle as a source of energy to be the only “industrial revolution” Copyright © 2013 SciRes. 181