Postmodernism

Postmodern Thought

Postmodern thinkers question values and beliefs associated with the modern era and the 18th-century European Enlightenment. Some believe these ideas are illegitimate and should be overthrown. Others believe these ideas, while problematic, may be retained but must be reconceived.

The nature of knowledge and the rational subject are two interrelated modern concepts that postmodernists challenge. From the viewpoint of modernity, true knowledge is the product of evidence and reasoned argument. In the case of science, sound empirical methodology aids rational thinking. All individuals regardless of cultural background can learn to exercise reason and recognize when claims are true. True knowledge is certain, universal, and objective. The evidence and conclusions of true knowledge are independent of interpretive frameworks that reflect particular places and epochs or that further the motivations and interests of particular individuals.

According to Jean-François Lyotard, modern knowledge is sustained by what he calls “metanarratives.” A metanarrative is a story people tell to legitimate their pursuits. The metanarrative that legitimates scientific knowledge maintains that science enables humankind to control nature and society and liberate itself from natural vagaries, political oppression, and economic want. Like all metanarratives, this one appeals to certain values, including progress, individual self-determination, and emancipation from natural and human-made bonds. Metanarratives presume that the values they espouse are self-evidently good and are shared by all. As Lyotard puts it, metanarratives tell “grand” stories and engage in “totalizing” thinking. The tendency to assume that modern values and beliefs are universal distinguishes modernity from other epochs, Lyotard claims.

In Lyotard's view, “incredulity toward metanarratives” summarizes the postmodern attitude toward modernity in general and toward modern science in particular (Lyotard, 1984, p. xxiv). Nuclear disaster, environmental erosion, and the systematic suffering and extermination of certain populations in the name of science have contributed to the postmodern suspicion that scientific knowledge is not as benevolent or as innocent as its metanarrative purports. Postmodern incredulity toward metanarratives also is fueled by ideas that question the modern tendency to assume that its values and beliefs are universal and unifying.

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