The term "Postmodern" begins to make sense if you understand what "Modernism" refers to. In this case, "Modernism" usually refers to Neo-Classical, Enlightenment assumptions concerning the role reason, or rationality, or scientific reasoning, play in guiding our understanding of the human condition and, in extreme cases of Postmodern theory, nature itself. Postmodernism basically challenges those basic assumptions.
Modernism (or Enlightenment Humanism)
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Postmodernism
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Existence of
stable, coherent “self”, independent of culture and society.
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The “self” is a
myth and largely a composite of one’s social experiences and cultural
contexts. The "self" is an Ideology.
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Reason and
science provide accurate, objective, reliable foundation of “knowledge”
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Reason and
science are Ideologies in the Marxist sense; myths created by man.
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Reason
transcends and exists independently of our existential, historical, cultural
contexts; it is universal and “true”.
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There is no
universal, objective means of judging any given concept as “true”; ALL
judgments of truth exist within a cultural context (cultural relativism).
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Reason and human independence/freedom
are inherently linked; just laws
conform to the dictates of Reason. We hold these truths to be self
evident…
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The application
of pure Reason (predicated Cartesian Radical Skepticism) disproves the
universal nature of a priori human freedom. Independence/Freedom are
Western Ideologies used to colonize foreign cultures (ie Belgian Congo, Viet
Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan)
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Because it is
universal, Reason can help us overcome all conflicts.
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Reason is no
more universal than is any other culture’s definition of “truth”.
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Science is the
paradigm of all true knowledge.
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Science is
Ideology.
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Language is
transparent; a one to one relationship between signifier (word) and
signified (thing or concept).
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Language is
fluid and arbitrary and/or rooted in Power/Knowledge relations. Meaning is
fluid and arbitrary. Meaning is “messy”.
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Reason
will lead to universal truths all cultures will embrace.
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“…no eternal
truths, no universal human experience, no universal human rights, overriding
narrative of human progress” (Faigley, 8).
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In sum: Truth
exists independent of human consciousness and can be known thru the
application of Reason.
All
Enlightenment conclusions lead from this assumption.
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In sum: Truth
may exist independent of human consciousness but there is no objective means
of nailing it down.
All Postmodern
conclusions lead from this assumption.
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Connotations:
The application of Reason leads to a progressive movement toward
civilization, democracy, freedom, scientific advancement.
The
Enlightenment is prescriptive: a means of building a better society.
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Connotations:
There is no objective means upon which to predicate morality and right/just
governance.
Postmodern
theory is descriptive of the human condition; it describes an
impasse in philosophy and social relations.
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Modernist
Feminism: Women are oppressed by patriarchy and can use Reason to achieve
both independence and regain their “authentic selves”.
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Postmodern
Feminism: The categories male/female, masculine/feminine are themselves
culturally constructed and/or Ideology. Gender roles are culturally relative in all
cultures and contexts.
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Source:
Borrowed heavily from Jane Flax, via Lester Faigley's Fragments Of
Rationality
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