POSTMODERNISM

Okay, we are about to embark on a weekend venture into postmodernism, the emerging philosophical movement that seeks to respond to the fact that nobody has been able to agree on much in the modern world, and with bloody consequences.

Now even here you can see where an initial criticism could come: one might say; "oh contraire!" The world does agree on quite many things and the modern world has made much progress; would you prefer the Middle Ages?

Indeed, postmodernism raises questions that get pretty interesting, and real. So your assignment will be to do a one pager that tries to explain in your own words what postmodernism is and to give one example of a postmodern principle.

To do this assignment well, you will need to spend some TIME. Below I will give some internet links, but there is much, much, out there on this. And I do NOT want your paper to be some cut-and-paste definition from a site. Rather, try to understand this emerging philosophy.

Here are a few traits of postmodernism:

--it is in reaction to Modernity (1600's - 1900's) and the hopes of the Enlightenment that Reason and Science could produce a common worldview and bring people together. Postmoderns think that project failed.

--it places great emphasis on the community one chooses to be part of. It says that Truth is not something out there that you can express by stringing sentences together in the right way. Rather, Truth is relative to a community. A community or group has Truth when its beliefs and practices are coherent and make sense given what the group is about.

--it is very skeptical of the idea of being "objective" or "neutral." Postmoderns would say that if someone claims to be totally unbiased on a subject, that's when the red flags should go up. Rather, we should seek to understand our biases and rather than trying to "hover above" all the issues of the world, we can committ to a particular community. We may not thus be able to prove objective truth, but we can make sense of our lives.

Now, I must say that there are MANY types of postmoderns. And many types of criticisms of it. We will focus some here on what Christians have said about it, but others use it too. Here are a few links to some positive and negative takes on it-- and look up articles yourself.

Feel free to post responses too, perhaps some classmates can help explain things. Do not be afraid of this big new concept. All postmodernism is trying to do is to understand the world today, and in particular the facts that: a) people have so many, many choices in life that sometimes we make none b) people seem to be, in the moral sphere, speaking different languages c) we seem to have a penchant for resolving big divides through violence.

Okay, here are some links, so start exploring!

Here is an article that criticizes postmodernism as a threat to Christianity

Here is an article that says postmodernism can be a helpful tool for those who minister to youth

Here is one of the most famous essays in postmodernism, "There's No Such Thing as Objective Truth, and It's a Good Thing, Too"

Here is the webpage of today's most articulate advocate for postmodernism and his take on it