Potential foundations of postmodern criticism towards enlightenment in conservative criticism

No philosophical movement that has taken its place in the history of political thought is unfounded or, in other words, unrelated to the past. Each of them establishes a unique relationship with a trend or trends that emerged before it. The main subject of this study is the thematic relationship between conservative and postmodern criticisms directed towards the Philosophy of Enlightenment. In order to clarify the mentioned philosophical and political relationship, three philosophers from each of the two critical movements were chosen, and the (political) philosophies of the chosen names were examined with their most distinctive features. The conservative trio is composed of Edmund Burke, David Hume and Adam Smith, while the postmodern trio is composed of Michel Foucault, Richard Rorty and Chantal Mouffe. As a result, it has been concluded that the relationship between conservatism and postmodernism manifests itself most in the criticism of modern constructivist political rationality. In other words, some of the ready-to-use foundations of postmodernism can be found in the political mind of conservatism. Of course, this connection may weaken or strengthen depending on which conservatism or which postmodernism is mentioned. In addition to this, another conclusion drawn from the study is that the postmodern criticism of the Philosophy of Enlightenment is included in ongoing modernity which has born in the Age of Enlightenment. Because, criticism of the Enlightenment, in its non-radicalized state, is already present in modernity itself.