Postmodernism

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Postmodernism

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What is post modern?

• Is this after MODERN in art, history, literary
  styles?
• Is this a change in artistic and literary styles?
• Is this a new era? Between modern and what is to
  come

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Historically
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• 1960s Assumed truths questioned
• Upheaval Vietnam War
• Offensive lifestyles
• Minorities race gender
• Social and political change

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Other Philosophies

• Most philosophies
• -reject basic premise of others
• -advance particular views on nature of
  reality, truth, beauty
• -cohesive world view absolute or relative

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Postmodern Philosophy

• Postmodern
• no cohesive world view
• seek no consensus
• diverse group of commentators and
  philosophies

Additional Information on Postmodernism http//ww
w.sfu.ca/english/Gillies/engl207/pomo.htm http//e
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
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Postmodernist

• In general
• Embrace proposition that no single cultural
  tradition or mode of thought can serve as a
  metanarrative, or universal voice for all human
  experience

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Postmodernist

• In general
• Object to previous philosophies
• Reject all universalizing worldviews
• Question Eurocentric metanarrative
• Question universal rational structures by which
  to judge the good, the true or the beautiful.

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Postmodernist

• In general
• describe the modern ideals of science, justice
  (morality laws), values art as merely modern
  ideals that carry with them specific political
  agendas with no legitimate claim to the status of
  universals of traditional philosophies

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Specifically

• Recognize highest ideals of modernity in
  historical time and geographic region
• Recognize that these ideals bring political
  baggage
• Notion of Western supremacy
• Legitimacy of science
• Distinction between art mass culture

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METAPHYSICAL

• Search for that which is real
• Reality
• Is found in specific cultures and locales
• Cannot find through continued revalidation of
  absolutes and universals of past
• Is suspicious of any philosophys function to
  compel consensus
• Cannot grasp society as a whole or universal
  world view

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METAPHYSICAL

• The nature of reality
• Is focusing on fragments of society
• Nature of reality can be flexible
• Becomes part of an individual reality
• Relates to ones own experiences
• Hear truth from each fragment of society
• Not consensus
• Concept from dominant group is absence of reality
  

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What is reality?

• Reality is unstable and indeterminate
• Reality is in process, complicated complex
• Cannot be just straightforward concept
• Nature of meaning constantly shifting
• Example European Enlightenment concept is little
  more than the outlook of a dominant group

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Deconstructionism (Derrida)
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• Examine content to see how
• it shapes notions of difference
• contributes to elevating some segments of
  society to power and affluence
• reduces other to lower status
• Rules, principles, beliefs may be real, BUT
• Do not have to be a specific theory, in fact,
• There is no single way of thinking.

Jacques Derrida
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Narrative Knowledge (Lyotard)
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• Scientific Knowledge only part
• Narrative Knowledge other part
• Grand narratives
• Little narratives
• Rejection of totality
• Cannot know what is REAL without knowing
• Specific society and
• Little narratives situated and applied

Jean-François Lyotard
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Control

• Fear that Reality will be what is
• Seen on TV
• Promoted on world advertising
• Put forth in bookstores
• Supermarkets by mass media
• Computerized world

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Roger Brown. Talk Show Addicts, 1993. Etching and
aquatint, 22 1/4 x 29 ¾ in.
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POWER

• Who controls these? Who has access?
• Control suggests POWER.
• Power suggests coercive force of conformity to
  the dominant norms.

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Epistemology

• To KNOW is to
• represent accurately what is outside the mind,
• So to understand the possibility nature of
  knowledge
• is to understand the way the mind is able to
  construct such representations
• Knowledge melded with action and hope
• allow humans societal problems to be solved

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Epistemology

• Reject European Enlightment periods belief
  that rational thought produced truth and
  objective knowledge
• Dominant powers claimed the TRUTH
• Science, rational thought, moral progress
• Then became a COERCIVE FORCE

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UNIVERSALS

• Undesirable to have
• Global Village
• Conformity
• Humanity to be one the same
• Implies CORRECTNESS which is unattainable
• Truth or reality is not timeless or universal

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HISTORY

• Historical events are made by
• Multiple processes
• Past practices
• Present variations
• Social inventiveness
• Rather than find UNIVERSAL causes to explain
  History, one should look for multiple influences
  within historical events

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HISTORICAL EVENTS

• Shape and are shaped by notions of truth and
  power
• Discontinue Western philosophic tradition trying
  to discover the foundation of all knowledge TOO
  NARROW

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POWER

• Power- political, economic, cultural, educational
• All disciplines are controlled by power
• Power regimes say they are necessary and
  historically determined
• Not inevitable destiny but human invention in
  specific historical contexts
• Human invention True knowledge Power

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FEMINIST WRITERS

• Reject
• idealism, realism pragmatism
• Universal principles actually reflect cultural
  assumptions
• Multiple points of view
• Inquiry within social context

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Axiology

• Values
• multiple perspectives
• class, race, gender differences
• cultural narratives
• contextual mores

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Axiology

• Morals
• Empowerment of the people on the margin
• Equal participants in mainstream social life
• Committed to the side of the oppressed
• Overcome cruelty in the world

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Axiology

• Art and Literature
• Representative of all cultures, gender
• What is beautiful to that culture, race, gender
  should be included in the many views of what is
  beautiful.

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