January 25, 2001
The
period in which we now live is often called “postmodernism”. According to
Nancy Murphy, author of Anglo-American Postmodernity, postmodernism in
the Anglo-American world started some time around 1950. Others would perhaps say
that postmodernism is something
which evolved after 1968. But anyway, in 1979 Jean-Francois Lyotard published a
book called The Postmodern Condition. At this point someone had defined
postmodernism, and during the last 20 years the ideas of postmodernism have been
much debated in the Western world.
The
Meaning of The Term
“Postmodernism” is not
easy to define. The term is used in philosophy, literature, social sciences and architecture. Different postmodern thinkers may have different opinions, and
people from different fields may have somewhat different definitions of
“postmodernism”. And if there is one thing postmodernists don’t tend to
like, it is fixed criteria or dogmatism, so perhaps we should be careful trying
to give a final definition of the term.
But in
this article I will focus on postmodernism as used in philosophy. However, some
of the points I emphasize may also be
recognized in popular culture.
“Postmodernism”
is of course composed by two parts “post” and “modern”. “Post” is
latin for “after”, and “modernism” refers to the modern period. In
philosophy the modern period was started by Descartes (1596-1650) who believed
in exact science and objective knowledge. He believed that there are certain
self-evident principles that may provide a foundation for other types of
knowledge. Descartes was
rationalist –he believed in reason, and he thought that human reason can grasp
truths independent of time and place. However, let us not focus too much on
Descartes and the etymology of the term “postmodern.” As I now turn to some
characteristics of the postmodern, you will be able to see how it differs from
Descartes, and not merely go into postmodernism as a historical phenomenon, but
understand it qua philosophy.
Relativism
Postmodernism is associated with relativism. Relativism is the idea that
“anything goes.”
It is the position where one has left the belief in absolute truth, and
instead embraced the idea that knowledge is dependent on one’s perspective.
While in the Middle Ages, people believed
in God, Nietzsche (1844-1900) argued that “God is dead.” For some
reason, many people just accepted this, and thought that we are left with a
contingent immanent reality. There are no eternal fix-points in life –that’s
what many postmodern followers of Nietzsche believe.
No
Grand Narrative
A narrative is a history – a story. In his book from 1979, Lyotard
emphasized
that in postmodernism one has left the idea of a grand narrative. In the
Enlightenment, one had certain ideas guiding the culture, a unified project,
where knowledge and information were important. In the Middle Ages, belief in
God and the Bible gave society a grand narrative. All aspects of life could be
interpreted from a religious point of view, and a large number of the population
believed in God and Christianity.
But in postmodernism, society is more fragmented. Belief in the One Truth,
or universal criteria, has been substituted by a number of
“small stories,” and a diversity of criteria.
I think for instance Europe or USA today is much more pluralist, than
Europe in the Middle Ages.
Social
Constructivism
Another idea within postmodernism, is social constructivism. I guess this
idea can appear in different versions. At its most extreme. It might be
something like: ‘Reality is created by social reality.’ But the main idea is
that there is no objective knowledge or absolute representation of reality. Many
of our concepts and categories are based on the social reality, and not because
we veridically can represent physical reality. A Norwegian theologian has been
led to say that the distinction between the male and female sex is arbitrary, it
is a social construction. I will soon criticize this position.
Some may even believe that scientific results are constructs –the
philosopher Daniel Dennett told about a person believing the DNA-biology to be
“just another story!”
Other
Traits
So now we have emphasized
three important traits in postmodernism: relativism, no universal narrative and
social constructivism. There are other keywords relating to this, like the
emphasis on contingency, and that language shapes our views of reality. Don
Cupitt, for instance, has said that language creates reality. “Reality does
not determine language, language determines reality.” This position may be
called linguistic idealism, a radical
and quite bizarre idea that language constructs reality.
What is Wrong With
Postmodernism?
Let me
first say that I believe postmodernism represents an important virtue. This
virtue is pluralism. Remember that I
said that in postmodernism one has left the idea of a grand narrative. There are
many histories and ways of looking at reality in contemporary society,
But
although pluralism is a good thing, certain aspects of pluralism should, in my
opinion, be rejected. Let us look at some counter-arguments.
Relativism.
Is relativism a
sustainable thesis? I doubt it. Sometimes we may come to recognize the
relativity of our own views, and we don’t know if we are right in holding our
opinions. But this does not mean that relativism should be accepted. Something
is true and something is false. Let us take medical science as an example:
chemotherapy may cure cancer, while, say, drinking coca cola may not normally
cure cancer. This is true! There was once a Christian discussing with another
student. The young student told the Christian that there are no moral
principles. They were sitting in a student room, and the Christian took kettle
of boiling water and held it over the student’s head. He just stood there with
the boiling water over his head, and then took it away. What an ingenious
demonstration of the fact that there are moral
values that all must accept. It would be wrong to poor that boiling water over
the other person. There are certain absolutes, and we must continue to believe
in this.
But the
main argument against relativism is that it leads to logical contradictions. If
you try to defend relativism, you try to say something like “ There is no
absolute truth”. Well, what about that proposition?
Do you deny that this is absolutely true? According to postmoderism
itself, you must, but why then accept it?
No
Grand Narrative.
As a description of contemporary culture, the point that there is no grand
narrative, is a good one. There is no unified theory guiding society now. Even
though science and technology is immensely advanced, not everyone believes in
science as the key to understanding all aspects of life. Some for instance
prefer religion, while others don\t care because they are focused on poetry or
music. To live in a pluralist society, can teach you many things. Although I
don’t think all cultures and groups possess the same amount of truth,
Its fun
to meet people with different opinions, backgrounds, people from the Middle
East, Europe, USA and Latin-America. For instance, I have a problem with
Norwegian girls.
Norwegian
girls are supposed to be very pretty, but there is something about different
cultures and multi-culturalism that attracts me. Learning about different
cultures is interesting, and if the contemporary information flow can lead to
this, it is good.
However,
there is an important point to notice here. If there is such a thing as truth,
one should wish that as many people as possible will acknowledge and embrace it.
Cultures where science is not accepted, would perhaps benefit from changing
their paradigm. Thus I would like to say that I think it is important to note
that it is possible to think that some beliefs are better than others and should
be accepted more universally than others. This must not lead to chauvinism,
but it is still something which is important to consider.
Social
Constructivism. Social constructivism sometimes leads to intellectual confusion. When someone argues that the
distinction between male and female is arbitrary, I would simply point to the
fact that female vs male are categories found in nature. Reality is ordered, and
rational use of concepts and categories often has to do with being able to
represent this reality.
If think that if social
constructivism entered into medical science and NASA's research, it would confuse
the researchers. So the belief that we don’t have a veridical access to
external reality may be dangerous. But still, there might an insight here to
notice.
Certain concepts are social
constructs, and certain moral codes are practiced because of conformity. Sometimes we have
go beyond our own “deep culture” and challenge
mainstream opinions. In a modified and sound version, social constructivism, can
give us insights, but in a radical version it should be criticized and
rejected as another irrational social construction!
Conclusion
There
are both pros and cons when it comes to postmodernism. But there are many cons,
and it is important not merely to follow trends among academics or in popular
culture. As the Norwegian philosopher Dagfinn Føllesdal has emphasized,
analytical reasoning is vital for democracy. Analytical skills are
important to civilization, although many other human qualities definitely are
needed. Some postmodernists do not seem to take logical reasoning seriously, and
instead of listening to reason and arguments, they may tend to focus on
As
previously mentioned, the philosopher Daniel Dennett gave us a good illustration
of how weird postmodern conclusions can become. A friend of Dennett attended a
conference on literature. The conversation turned to DNA, and one of the
participants said: “Oh, do you still believe in that
story?” To believe that DNA is a social construction or just another
story, can be dangerous. If postmodernists undermine respect for helpful science
and moral principles
The
ideas that there are no absolute truth and the belief in social construction,
may end in nihilism and a disrespect for that which can help human civilization
make progress.
Postmodernists
have given us many ideas which are important, we should try to understand
postmodern thinking and learn what we can from the postmodern approach.
Still we
must always be critical. I realize that my treatment of postmodernism is
somewhat rudimentary and not complete. What I do hope, however, is that my essay
gives you something to think about. My goal as an essayist is to make the reader
think and reflect on the topics. Reflection is indeed needed in the postmodern
pluralist world.
Copyright © 2001