The Embodiment of a Postmodern Quest for Morality: A Study of Agnes Heller

Abstract

An extensive literature has emerged in various disciplines in the field of social sciences on the concept of post- modernity, which has been widely used since the 1970s. Within the scope of the literature in question, many principles pointing to the concept of postmodern have been pointed out. The concept of difference has emerged as one of the principles announced within the framework of postmodernity. Within the scope of postmodernity, which is centered on the principle of difference, it has been mentioned that modernity has an aspect that suppresses difference and the other. It has been claimed that there is homogeneity in the content of the principle of universality, which is accepted as an integral part of modernity. It has been claimed in the context of postmodernity that the homogeneity in question, in other words, sameness, is imposed on both human life and the social sphere. In this respect, the reintroduction of the principle of difference and the other, which is claimed to be excluded in the face of sameness, has been defended within the scope of postmodernity. The idea of Agnes Heller, who is said to stand out as a name that develops thought within the framework of postmodernity, which includes the construction of a philosophy of difference against sameness, will be examined within the scope of this study. Heller, who thinks about the possibility of a personality ethic, relates this ethic to the act of making a choice that includes difference and the other, which is important as the reason for being the subject of this study. Heller's idea, which is stated to be in pursuit of a postmodern morality, will be the subject of the study, based on his idea that the universality centered on sameness put forward in the context of modernity should be overcome with a morality that includes difference and the other.