Postmodernism

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Postmodernism

• To say of what is that it is, or of what is not
  that it is not, is true.
• ARISTOTLE METAPHYSICS 1077B26

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What Are We Talking About Why?
What?

• A worldview that rejects the existence of
  absolute truth

Why?

• For reasons of morality. How ought one to live.
  Are there moral absolutes and duties?

• Evangelism, how can we share the gospel in this
  culture?

• Theology, can we know anything about God?

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Premodernism

• Church Hierarchy

• Access to Truth is Mediated by the Church
• Scripture
• Tradition
• Society

Cf. Postmodernism 101, 23-37
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Modernism

• Reformation

• Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura

• The Role of Politics

• Divine Rights ? Scientific understanding of
  humanity

• The Role of Philosophy

• Foundationalism Descartes

• Faith in the power of reason is the central
  pillar of the modern worldview.

• The Role of Science

• The Copernican Revolution

Cf. Postmodernism 101, 23-37
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The Pale Blue Dot
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance,
the delusion that we have some privileged
position in the Universe, are challenged by this
point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck
in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our
obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint
that help will come from elsewhere to save us
from ourselves. Carl Sagan, from a Public
Lecture delivered October 13, 1994, at Cornell
University
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The Role of Science
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PostmodernismMetaphysical Realism

1. The existence of a theory-independent or language
   independent reality
2. The notion that there is one way the world really
   is and
3. The notion that the basic laws of logic
   identity, non-contradiction, excluded middle
   apply to reality

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PostmodernismRejection of Absolutism

• All thought is historically and socially
  conditioned.

• A rejection of dichotomous thinking there is no
  objective truth, no Gods eye view of things.

• Real/unreal
• True/false
• Rational/irrational
• Right/wrong
• Virtue/vice
• Beautiful/ugly

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PostmodernismRationality Knowledge

• Rationalityobjectivity is impossible

• Knowledgea construction of ones social,
  linguistic structures, not a justified, truthful
  representation of reality by ones mental states.

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PostmodernismAntifoundationalism
Postmoderns reject foundationalism and there is
no quest for epistemic certainty or
justification. The quest is misguided because
people do not need certainty to live their lives
well.
Cf. Postmodernism 101, 30-31
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PostmodernismAntiessentialism Nominalism

• Antiessentialism

• There is no distinction between essential and
  accidental properties

• Being human is essential to Socrates
• Being five feet tall is not essential to Socrates

• Nominalism

• Nothing is literally the same from one moment to
  the next. There is a denial of universals,
  rather names for groups of things.

• The redness of an apple

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PostmodernismMeaning, Interpretation, Self

• Denial of authorial meaning

• There is no book of Romans. Rather, there is a
  Lutheran, Calvinist, Catholic, and Marxist book
  of Romans.

• The Self

• Not an individual, a bundle of social roles

Cf. Postmodernism 101, 67-85, 87-101, 103-122
also for reference to Language
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Puff, the magic dragon Lived by the sea And
frolicked in the autumn mist In a land called
Honah Lee
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PostmodernismMetanarratives
Cf. Postmodernism 101, 150-154
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PostmodernismThe Problem of Historical Knowledge

• History is not objective

• History is only reported from a bias perspective,
  thus cannot be trusted as truly objective.

• Winners write history.

Cf. Postmodernism 101, 139-156
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What Does This Meanfor Christianity?How Should
Christians Respond?