Broadly described modernism is the principles of the enlightenment as a scientific, technological, cultural and political paradigm of social organization. The enlightenment was secular and humanistic, organized on the basis of equality, empiricism and with reason as the guiding mechanism to discover and describe natural truths. Best and Kellner describe three forces of traditionalist anti-modernism; these are conservatism, romanticism and existentialism.
Edmund Burke is the best noted of the anti-enlightenment writers who challenged the notions of equality, secularism and reason. Burke defended the institutions of nationalism and localism, disputing universalist rights; in addition the monarchy, nobility and church were all defended as worthwhile institutions that safeguarded against historical regression.
The main issue conservatism faces is that it historically has been on the wrong side of every political and social issue; at best it is a go slow philosophy, at worst it is a political philosophy dedicated to historical regression.
The enlightenment has been a massive driving force for human achievement; empirically the principles of the enlightenment have advanced and propelled humanity to heights un-thought of during the renaissance.
The romantics rejected empiricism and secularism of the enlightenment along with the 'mechanical worldview of science'. Romanticism sought out the natural human spirit through a repudiation of reason and scientific reductionism - especially of nature. Consequently the 'divine self' was sought through emotion and irrationalism, rather than reason. It was most effective in output in the arts, however, as always in the modern world, the gadgetry and sophisticated output of science and technology discredits it as a method for political, social and economic organization.
The third traditionalist anti-modern force that Best and Kellner identify is the existentialists:
Like the romantics, the 19th and 20th century thinkers associated with existentialism affirmed passion, instinct, and spontaneity over reason, logic and deliberation.Existentialism revolted against mass society and took, in many instances, positions against equality, democracy and human social advancement. Best and Kellner identify the similarity between these three anti-mondernist forces as 'each camp attacks reason as a largely repressive or regressive force' which they note, places may postmodernists in agreement with these three movements.
