Hi Erin,
The biggest problem with postmodernism is the
interpretation of postmodernism. Postmodernism hopes
to introduce us to our "other" which is our only
truth. However, people latch on to the seeming
relativism of postmodernism because they do not have
the patience to understand the subtle hope of
postmodernism. People latch on to what postmodernism
"says" instead of on to what it "shows." It's not
mysticism because it can be talked about but it takes
a certain listening effort that too many are lazy to
give. In that sense, postmodernism is a problem
because it is easy to misinterpret. On the other hand,
there is no easy to express way it's hope without
running into this problem.
What is postmodernism? Since there are no more grand
truths to ground truth in, we find we can interpret
anything according to our own agenda. That is
basically Derrida's method, as he finds ALL of Western
thought tainted with biased notions of "presence."
Foucault acts as a detective or a sort of
archaeologist and shows through story form how certain
static ideas are infiltrated with poisons of bad ideas
cemented in place by time. BUT what people
MISINTERPRET is what Foucault and Derrida "say" is not
what they are "showing". While Foucault's and
Derrida's method is to expose biases and relativism in
histories, their aim is to "awaken" people to the
hopes of postmodernism: the dynamic sociology. It's a
subtle form of expression that is overlooked in the
simple misinterpretations of the mass media. I think
post Modernism has it's roots in Nietzsche, Heidegger,
and late Wittgenstein who wished to call forth the
"vital" nature of humans and get out of the "static"
sayings of traditions. These 3 philosophers relied on
"showing" instead of "saying". Heidegger avoids using
the term "man", Nietzsche uses aphorisms, and late
Wittgenstein exposes us to a long Socratic dialogue.
That quietism, or showing, is the hope of
postmodernism BUT it gets lost in the poor
interpretations of people who want to say something
with it.
Angus
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