Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism.

Postmodernism in philosophy

Main article: Postmodern philosophy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many figures in the 20th century philosophy of mathematics are identified as "postmodern" due to their rejection of mathematics as a strictly neutral point of view. Some figures in the philosophy of science, especially Thomas Samuel Kuhn and David Bohm, are also so viewed. Some see the ultimate expression of postmodernism in science and mathematics in the cognitive science of mathematics, which seeks to characterize the habit of mathematics itself as strictly human, and based in human cognitive bias.

Related Topics:
Philosophy of mathematics - Mathematics - Philosophy of science - Thomas Samuel Kuhn - David Bohm - Cognitive science of mathematics - Cognitive bias

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term "Neo-liberalism" has been used in a theological sense as a drive to deliberately modify the beliefs and practices of the church (especially evangelical) to conform to post-modernism, for more on this please see emergent church.

Related Topics:
Neo-liberalism - Church - Evangelical - Post-modernism - Emergent church

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Adherents to postmodernism are often to be seen smoking pipes, kreteks, or flavored cigarettes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Postmodernism and post-structuralism

In terms of frequently cited works, postmodernism and post-structuralism overlap quite significantly. Some philosophers, such as Jean-François Lyotard, can legitimately be classified into both groups. This is partly due to the fact that both modernism and structuralism owe much to the Enlightenment project.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Structuralism has a strong tendency to be scientific in seeking out stable patterns in observed phenomena ? an epistemological attitude which is quite compatible with Enlightenment thinking, and incompatible with postmodernists. At the same time, findings from structuralist analysis carried a somewhat anti-Enlightenment message, revealing that rationality can be found in the minds of "savage" people, just in forms differing from those that people from "civilized" societies are used to seeing. Implicit here is a critique of the practice of colonialism, which was partly justified as a "civilizing" process by which wealthier societies bring knowledge, manners, and reason to less "civilized" ones.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Post-structuralism, emerging as a response to the structuralists' scientific orientation, has kept the cultural relativism in structuralism, while discarding the scientific orientations.

Related Topics:
Cultural relativism - Structuralism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One clear difference between postmodernism and poststructuralism is found in their respective attitudes towards the demise of the project of the Enlightenment: post-structuralism is fundamentally ambivalent, while postmodernism is decidedly celebratory.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another difference is the nature of the two positions. While post-structuralism is a position in philosophy, encompassing views on human beings, language, body, society, and many other issues, it is not a name of an era. Post-modernism, on the other hand, is closely associated with "post-modern" era, a period in the history coming after the modern age.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Postmodernity and digital communications

Technological utopianism is a common trait in Western history ? from the 1700s when Adam Smith essentially labelled technological progress as the source of the Wealth of Nations, through the novels of Jules Verne in the late 1800s (with the notable exception of his then-unpublished Paris in the 20th Century), through Winston Churchill's belief that there was little an inventor could not achieve. Its manifestation in post-modernity was first through the explosion of analog mass broadcasting of television. Strongly associated with the work of Marshall McLuhan who argued that "the medium is the message", the ability of mass broadcasting to create visual symbols and mass action was seen as a liberating force in human affairs, even at the same time Newton N. Minow was calling television "a vast wasteland".

Related Topics:
Adam Smith - Jules Verne - Paris in the 20th Century - Winston Churchill - Marshall McLuhan - Newton N. Minow

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The second wave of technological utopianism associated with postmodern thought came with the introduction of digital internetworking, and became identified with Esther Dyson and such popular outlets as Wired Magazine. According to this view digital communications makes the fragmentation of modern society a positive feature, since individuals can seek out those artistic, cultural and community experiences which they regard as being correct for themselves.

Related Topics:
Esther Dyson - Wired Magazine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The common thread is that the fragmentation of society and communication gives the individual more autonomy to create their own environment and narrative. This links into the postmodern novel, which deals with the experience of structuring "truth" from fragments.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~