| Pre-modern | Modern | Post-modern | Post-post-modern |
Metaphysics (what is the world?) | Spiritual, magic, divine | Physical, mechanical, naturalism, materialism, deism | Social construct, text, anti-realist | Physical, emotional, naturalism, materialism |
Metanarrative (what is your story?) | Mythic, circular, heroic, fatalist, fable | Progress, humanism, liberalism, Marxism, evolution, romanticism | Anti-meta narrative, small stories, non-linear, contradiction, chaos | Progress, humanism, liberalism, evolution, war on terror and intolerance |
Epistemology (how do you know?) | Tradition, wisdom, mysticism, divine revelation | Empiricism, anti-tradition, experience, reason, science | Deconstruction, agnosticism, radical relativism, pluralism, power constructs truth, New Age mysticism | Science, Google, facts, emotion |
Human nature | Hierarchy, fixed, body primary, character, action | Egalitarian, tabula rasa, good, rational, autonomous, improvable, class conflict, mind primary | Social construct, fluid, irrational, power conflict, humans not unique species | Good, genetic, autonomous, mind and emotions primary, must be affirmed, entitled |
Ethics (what is good?) | Old, loyalty, conformity, honour, community-defined | New, individualism, independence, universal human rights, law, utilitarianism | Relativism, no objective good, contingency, permissive, power subversion | New moralism, conformity, authenticity, values, tolerance, environmentalism |
Aesthetics (how things look) | Display of status, traditional, cluttered, mixed spaces | Coherence, magnum opus, clean lines, minimalist, functional | Incoherence, mixing, pastiche, juxtaposition, pop art, playfulness, irony, kitsch, self-conscious | Functional, natural, comfortable, neo-modernist |
Politics and economics | Theocracy, tribalism, feudalism | Secularism, capitalism, socialism, democracy, dictatorship, unions, empires | Pragmatism, anarchy, activism, fragmentation, devolution, knowledge economy, multi-nationals, localism | Populism, centralist, totalitarian, police state |
Key institutions and innovations | Kingship, council of elders, priesthood, clan, tribe, kinship | Universities, parliament, courts, industrialisation, bureaucracy, nation state | Academia, TV, internet, globalisation, community groups | Social media, surveillance |