Abstract

The conclusions of David Gross' The Past in Ruins are far too timid. This may be due to his being too embedded in modernity. According to Gross, each individual would have to decide with regard to traditions whether some truth would be irretrievably lost if they disappeared; or whether traditions would help to advance critical consciousness; or whether traditions improve individual autonomy or strengthen moral awareness. These, however, are academic issues because the question of tradition arises only in the context of crises and, therefore always involves critical reflection on the present situation. According to Gross: “The reappropriation of tradition is, in itself, no alternative to an immanent critique of modernity.