Difference between revisions of "Postmodernism"

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'''Postmodernism''' is a recent movement in the humanities characterized by denial of the possibility of knowing objective truth, and which asserts that assertions of objective knowledge are generally impossible.  For example, the postmodern will look at a statement primarily in terms of the motives of the person making it. It emphasizes the role of language, and of power relations involved in being male (versus female), straight (versus gay), white (vesus colored), and imperial (versus colonial).   
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[[File:Wexner Center.JPG|thumbnail|200px|right
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The Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University was the first postmodern architecture building.<ref>[https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2014/01/13/ravi-zacharias-on-postmodern-architecture-at-ohio-state/ Ravi Zacharias on Postmodern Architecture at Ohio State]</ref> The architect of the first postmodern building said that he designed it with no design in mind.<ref>[https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2014/01/13/ravi-zacharias-on-postmodern-architecture-at-ohio-state/ Ravi Zacharias on Postmodern Architecture at Ohio State]</ref> See: [[Atheism and architecture]] ]]
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'''Postmodernism''' is an [[antichristian]],<ref>[http://books.google.ca/books?id=TLHM6mM1KkYC John F. MacArthur, "Think Biblically!"]</ref> far-left, 20th century [[worldview]] and [[academic]] movement characterized by denial of objective truth, and which [[stolen concept|asserts]] that assertions of [[objectivity|objective]] knowledge are essentially impossible.   
  
Postmodernity has influenced many disparate fields of the humanities, such as literary criticism, linguistics, art history, and photography. It promotes the study of gay culture (called Queer Theory) as well as Women's Studies. It is weakly represented in historiography and the social sciences, and practically does not exist in the sciences or engineering.
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The [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[Norman Geisler]] wrote about postmodernism: "In short, the root of Post-modernism is [[atheism]] and the fruit of it is [[relativism]] — relativism in every area of life and thought."<ref>[http://normangeisler.com/a-response-to-philosophical-postmodernism-2/ A Response to Philosophical Postmodernism] by [[Norman Geisler|Norman L. Geisler]]</ref> Atheists played a significant role in terms of postmodernist leadership and its following (see: [[Atheism and critical thinking#Atheism, postmodernism and a lack of critical thinking|Postmodernism and atheists]]). Furthermore, Jeff Myers and David A. Noebel note in their book ''Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews'' that "The [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] actually lists postmodernism as a subset of atheism."<ref>Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews By Jeff Myers and David A. Noebel, page 192 (endnote section)</ref> See also: [[Atheism and postmodernism]]
  
Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from modern approaches that had previously been dominant. The term "postmodernism" comes from its rejection of the "modern" scientific mentality created by the [[Enlightenment]]. Both movements coexist today, as does traditionalism.
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Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, [[C.S. Lewis]] Institute, wrote:
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{{cquote|Many postmodern contentions are self-refuting. An ancient example of this was the Greek philosopher Gorgius, who maintained that “All statements are false.The problem is that if the statement that “All statements are false” is true, then it is false. Similarly, postmodernism maintains that it is (objectively) true to say that there are no objective truths. It uses reason to deny the validity of reason. If the statement, “all perspectives on reality are culturally determined” is true, then is this statement itself also culturally determined? If all metanarratives are suspect because they lead to oppression, then can it not be equally maintained that postmodernism is itself a metanarrative and equally suspect? If all knowledge claims are a grab for power, then are not postmodernism’s contentions equally motivated by a will-to-power?<ref>[ C.S. Lewis on Postmodernism?] by Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D.
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Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Institute</ref>}}
  
==History==
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A strong part of postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from traditional approaches that had previously been dominantPostmodernity has influenced many disparate fields of study, such as architecture, history, literary criticism, art, and others.
Postmodernism emerged from "structuralism" and "poststructuralism" in French philosophy of the 1960s, who were influenced by the German philosopher [[Nietzsche]] (1844-1900); it adopted a good deal of poststructuralism, but it broadened and extended poststructuralism to topics that focused on a wide-ranging critique of the modern world.<ref> Historian [[Arnold Toynbee]] first used the term "postmodern" in 1954, but in a very different sense.</ref> Influential French postmodernists include
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Lyotard (who identified and rejected the master narratives of modernism), Derrida (with his notion of deconstruction of a text to see what really motivated it), Foucault (who stressed that power creates or causes accepted knowledge) and Baudrillard (who introduced notions of implosion, hyperreality, and simulacra).  
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Other favorite terms are: ''spectacle, pastiche, ambiguity, doubt, contradiction, novelty, reflexivity, otherness, difference, identity, heterogeneity, upheaval, carnival, turbulence, instability, discontinuity, limitless choice, and flux.''
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The term "postmodernism" comes from the causal relationship the movement has to [[modernism]], rather than a temporal relationship.  Both movements coexist today.
  
==Ideas==
 
 
Some postmodernist ideas are:
 
Some postmodernist ideas are:
  
* Truth is often [[Social Construct|constructed]] and manipulated by a society's leaders, privileged classes, and institutions of power. <ref>Sarbin, Theodore R. "The Social Construction of Truth." in ''Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.'' Vol 18(2), Fal 1998, 144-150.</ref>
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* Truth is a "[[social construct]]," rather than objectively provable.
* A society's vocabulary reflects their general perceptions of the rules by which the world operates.<ref>http://www.modern-thinker.co.uk/6%20-%20language%20and%20society.htm</ref> (This perhaps fueled the[[political correctness]] movement of the 1990's).
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* Human agency is the only thing allowing for ideals like peace, power, and control to actually have power since they themselves lack any despite being passed down for ages due to just being ideals.
* There is no one superior culture; it is a fallacy to presume that [[Western culture]] is somehow better than others, a position often taken by people locked inside the culture who have not been able to take a broader viewpoint.  
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* A society's choice of language reflects their general perceptions of the rules by which the world operates (see [[political correctness]]).
* Postmodernists often use irony and wordplay to shift the meanings of words, so that readers can better realize the unspoken assumptions they have been making.
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* There is no one superior culture; [[Western culture]] is no better than any other (see [[cultural relativism]]).  This often takes the form of ridicule of anything deemed to be part of [[traditional values]] or mainstream [[American]] culture.
* [[Gender role]]s, sexuality and race are [[social constructionism|socially constructed]], not inborn traits that are the same forever in all societies.
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* Traditional authority has a strong tendency to be false and corrupt.
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* Morality is personal with tradition playing little to no role in it, and as such, "right" and "wrong" is solely a matter of perspective (see [[moral relativism]]).
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* The frequent use of irony and humorous [[wordplay]] to shift the meanings of words is encouraged as this causes people to rethink their assumptions about culture and language.
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* [[Gender role]]s, [[sexuality]] and [[race]] are socially constructed, not [[inborn traits]].
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* The only way towards peace is by embracing [[Globalism|international unity]], as [[nationalism]] causes wars.
  
Critics of postmodernism include traditionalists who believe that truths from authoritative sources should always be believed, and modernists who believe that rational, scientific approaches can lead to the discovery of the truth.
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Critics of postmodernism include those who believe in an objective truth that can be explored by human means, among others.
  
==Postmodern Criticism in the Humanities==
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==Postmodernism, anti-Americanism, and reverse racism==
A popular tactic of postmodernism is to attack or ridicule the western canon of literature, music, and art. Implied in such rhetorical flourishes as the "Great Man" theory and the epithet "Dead White Male" is the criticism that the canon, because of its exclusion of works by women and minorities, is undeserving of respect. In the past several decades, this has led to intense debate over curriculum in public schools and universities, especially over which literary works should be taught in classrooms.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/18/opinion/the-crime-of-white-maleness.html</ref>
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Postmodernism is routinely used by academics to attack American interventionist foreign policy, claiming that democratic society is only an aspect of western society, which should not be "forced" upon other peoples, whose cultures may be despotic or theocratic. In this regard, postmodernism is simply a euphemism for [[moral relativism]] (itself a euphemism for [[sin denial]]).
  
Criticisms of this stance often make one of two points. First is that the epithet "dead white male" focuses disproportionately on race and gender, obscuring the fact that many artists traditionally have struggled to survive or made brave stances against authority. The second point is that the works of the canon are indeed valuable, and recognizing this value does not prohibit us from studying valuable art of other cultures or from traditionally opressed groups in western culture.<ref>http://media.www.thetriangle.org/media/storage/paper689/news/2006/01/27/EdOp/dead-White.Men.Have.Much.To.Offer.Students-1515340.shtml</ref>
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It is likewise used to attack and condemn the work and culture of white males, by claiming that any such cultural output, be it art, music, literature, etc., is patriarchal and imperialistic.
  
==The Sokal Affair==
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== Antichristian ==
Alan Sokal famously exposed postmodern approaches to the hard sciences as deeply flawed in 1996 by successfully publishing nonsense in a [[Social Text|postmodern humanities journal]], making it a laughing stock among scientists.<ref>http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/index.html</ref>
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Postmodernists seek to denigrate [[Christianity]] and its accomplishments by claiming that it is only an aspect of western culture, and not inherently true. Likewise they denigrate the strong Christian [[scientific]] tradition, and attempt to marginalize Christian historical figures such as [[Isaac Newton]].
  
==See Also==
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Postmodernists rely on the antichristian and [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] psychological theories of [[Atheism|atheist]] [[Sigmund Freud]] to draw whatever meanings they want out of texts, in a method called "psychoanalytical criticism."
* [[Critical Legal Studies]]
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==Postmodernism and immorality==
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As postmodernism teaches that there is no truth, it likewise teaches that there is no absolute [[morality]].  Within this worldview, any action is moral or justifiable, and postmodernism's spread among academia may go some way to explaining [[professor values]].
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==Discredited==
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Alan Sokal famously exposed postmodernism as deeply flawed in 1996 by successfully publishing nonsense in a postmodern journal.<ref>http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/index.html</ref> Since then, postmodernism has largely been considered a laughingstock among all but the most liberal academics.
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==See also==
 
* [[Deconstruction]]
 
* [[Deconstruction]]
* [[Orientalism]]
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* [[Atheism and critical thinking]]
* [[Queer theory]]
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* [[Atheism and postmodernism]]
 
* [[Nihilism]]
 
* [[Nihilism]]
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*[[Jacques Derrida]]
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== External links ==
  
==Further reading==
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*[http://thirdmill.org/files/reformedperspectives/hall_of_frame/HOF.Hale.Derrida%20and%20VanTil.6.30.04.html Derrida, Van Til and the Metaphysics of Postmodernism] An appraisal of Postmodernism, specifically Deconstruction, in light of Van Til by Jacob Gabriel Hale.
* Best, Steven Best and Douglas Kellner. ''Postmodern Theory '' (1991) [http://www.amazon.com/Postmodern-Theory-Steven-Best/dp/0898624185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255660810&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
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* Best, Steven Best and Douglas Kellner. ''The Postmodern Turn'' (1997) [http://www.amazon.com/Postmodern-Turn-Steven-Best/dp/1572302216/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255660575&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
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* Hutcheon, Linda. ''The Politics of Postmodernism.'' (2002) [http://www.questia.com/read/107450059?title=The%20Politics%20of%20Postmodernism online edition]
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==References==
 
==References==
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[[Category:Artistic Movements]]
 
[[Category:Artistic Movements]]
[[Category:culture]]
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[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:philosophical systems]]
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[[Category:Philosophical Systems‏‎]]
 
[[Category:Worldviews]]
 
[[Category:Worldviews]]

Revision as of 04:08, March 2, 2017

right The Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University was the first postmodern architecture building.[1] The architect of the first postmodern building said that he designed it with no design in mind.[2] See: Atheism and architecture

Postmodernism is an antichristian,[3] far-left, 20th century worldview and academic movement characterized by denial of objective truth, and which asserts that assertions of objective knowledge are essentially impossible.

The Christian apologist Norman Geisler wrote about postmodernism: "In short, the root of Post-modernism is atheism and the fruit of it is relativism — relativism in every area of life and thought."[4] Atheists played a significant role in terms of postmodernist leadership and its following (see: Postmodernism and atheists). Furthermore, Jeff Myers and David A. Noebel note in their book Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews that "The British Broadcasting Corporation actually lists postmodernism as a subset of atheism."[5] See also: Atheism and postmodernism

Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Institute, wrote:

Many postmodern contentions are self-refuting. An ancient example of this was the Greek philosopher Gorgius, who maintained that “All statements are false.” The problem is that if the statement that “All statements are false” is true, then it is false. Similarly, postmodernism maintains that it is (objectively) true to say that there are no objective truths. It uses reason to deny the validity of reason. If the statement, “all perspectives on reality are culturally determined” is true, then is this statement itself also culturally determined? If all metanarratives are suspect because they lead to oppression, then can it not be equally maintained that postmodernism is itself a metanarrative and equally suspect? If all knowledge claims are a grab for power, then are not postmodernism’s contentions equally motivated by a will-to-power?[6]

A strong part of postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from traditional approaches that had previously been dominant. Postmodernity has influenced many disparate fields of study, such as architecture, history, literary criticism, art, and others.

The term "postmodernism" comes from the causal relationship the movement has to modernism, rather than a temporal relationship. Both movements coexist today.

Some postmodernist ideas are:

  • Truth is a "social construct," rather than objectively provable.
  • Human agency is the only thing allowing for ideals like peace, power, and control to actually have power since they themselves lack any despite being passed down for ages due to just being ideals.
  • A society's choice of language reflects their general perceptions of the rules by which the world operates (see political correctness).
  • There is no one superior culture; Western culture is no better than any other (see cultural relativism). This often takes the form of ridicule of anything deemed to be part of traditional values or mainstream American culture.
  • Traditional authority has a strong tendency to be false and corrupt.
  • Morality is personal with tradition playing little to no role in it, and as such, "right" and "wrong" is solely a matter of perspective (see moral relativism).
  • The frequent use of irony and humorous wordplay to shift the meanings of words is encouraged as this causes people to rethink their assumptions about culture and language.
  • Gender roles, sexuality and race are socially constructed, not inborn traits.
  • The only way towards peace is by embracing international unity, as nationalism causes wars.

Critics of postmodernism include those who believe in an objective truth that can be explored by human means, among others.

Postmodernism, anti-Americanism, and reverse racism

Postmodernism is routinely used by academics to attack American interventionist foreign policy, claiming that democratic society is only an aspect of western society, which should not be "forced" upon other peoples, whose cultures may be despotic or theocratic. In this regard, postmodernism is simply a euphemism for moral relativism (itself a euphemism for sin denial).

It is likewise used to attack and condemn the work and culture of white males, by claiming that any such cultural output, be it art, music, literature, etc., is patriarchal and imperialistic.

Antichristian

Postmodernists seek to denigrate Christianity and its accomplishments by claiming that it is only an aspect of western culture, and not inherently true. Likewise they denigrate the strong Christian scientific tradition, and attempt to marginalize Christian historical figures such as Isaac Newton.

Postmodernists rely on the antichristian and pseudoscientific psychological theories of atheist Sigmund Freud to draw whatever meanings they want out of texts, in a method called "psychoanalytical criticism."

Postmodernism and immorality

As postmodernism teaches that there is no truth, it likewise teaches that there is no absolute morality. Within this worldview, any action is moral or justifiable, and postmodernism's spread among academia may go some way to explaining professor values.

Discredited

Alan Sokal famously exposed postmodernism as deeply flawed in 1996 by successfully publishing nonsense in a postmodern journal.[7] Since then, postmodernism has largely been considered a laughingstock among all but the most liberal academics.

See also

External links

References

  1. Ravi Zacharias on Postmodern Architecture at Ohio State
  2. Ravi Zacharias on Postmodern Architecture at Ohio State
  3. John F. MacArthur, "Think Biblically!"
  4. A Response to Philosophical Postmodernism by Norman L. Geisler
  5. Understanding the Times: A Survey of Competing Worldviews By Jeff Myers and David A. Noebel, page 192 (endnote section)
  6. [ C.S. Lewis on Postmodernism?] by Arthur W. Lindsley, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, C.S. Lewis Institute
  7. http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/index.html