Philosophy Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [postmodernism]

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Is Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem a "cheap trick"?

I found a throw-away critique of Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem in an essay about Deconstruction: The basic enterprise of contemporary literary criticism is actually quite simple. It is based on the observation that with a sufficient amount…
Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
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How come nihilism is so popular today?

I've been trying to attack this question (or more precisely, come up with an answer to that fact) for some time now, but after a while of research I'm suddenly not so sure of the reason the situation is as it is. I used to think that nihilism today…
Yechiam Weiss
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What does it mean for a book or a theorist to be "post-modernist" as opposed to "modernist"?

I'd like a succinct comparison of the two "-isms", though I know this is a tall order.
unusualhabit
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Why so much hate for postmodernism?

There is a lot of hate for postmodernism on YouTube. Is this hate justified? Or is it just becuase postmodernism makes people uncomfortable. I guess what I am asking is "does postmodernism have any powerful critiques against it?"
Scott Simmons
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What is the practical usefulness of post-modernist sociology à la Foucault, e.g. of the insight that "insanity is merely a label applied by society"?

Foucault says what constitutes insanity is a label determined by society. Whether someone is sane or insane is not a clear, objective fact. I do not disagree. He says this labelling can be dangerous. At first glance, this all seems evident but…
Cerberus
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Are there any books about postmodernism being like sophism?

I still find myself relatively often surprised by how much of the spectrum of philosophic thought was already covered at the times of ancient Greece or ancient China (think Axial Age or think footnotes to Plato). Has any recent philosopher (or…
Drux
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What are some theories attacking postmodernism preserving objective truth and morality without assuming a God?

From my simplified understanding postmodernism claims ?: there is no objective truth, only interpretation there is no objective morality, morality usually represent the interest of the powers that be From what I understand these positions were…
Andy
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What is postmodernism?

Postmodernism has always seemed to have a very fuzzy definition to me. It tends to be defined in terms of what it's not, or what it criticizes; for example, it "aims to show that every 'text' is utterly self-contradictory", or it "is a movement…
Jez
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Is Machiavelli's "The Prince" an immoral book?

Machiavelli's The Prince advocates immoral actions. Does it? The book's major premise is "...all political thinking is guided by a single fact: humanity is lost, bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature" (Discourses, Book I, Chapter 3).…
Mauli Davidson
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Why are French postmodern philosophers (like Baudrillard) so hard to read/understand?

I've read my fair share of philosophers. Now I won't say that proper philosophical texts are ever easy to understand, but it seems that French postmodern philosophers like Baudrillard are extremely hard to understand. Now this might just be me. To…
vkjb38sjhbv98h4jgvx98hah3fef
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Can someone identify this school of thought?

There have been many articles, videos, etc. where I have encountered a philosophy similar to the following, so I'm sure it has a name, I'm just unable to find it and therefore to read up a bit more about it. Here goes: Reality is relative, there is…
dnaik
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Is this criticism of Luce Irigaray's statements on physics accurate?

Wikipedia has this to say about Luce Irigaray Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, in their book critiquing postmodern thought (Fashionable Nonsense, 1997), criticize Luce Irigaray on several grounds. In their view, she wrongly regards E=mc2 as a "sexed…
mart
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Is postmodernism the historical source of epistemic relativism? And does epistemic relativism logically derive from postmodernism?

It seems that epistemic relativism denies the possibility of science per se; because if there are no objective facts then there can be no scientific evidence neither as inductive basis (to be used as generalizations) nor as deductive basis (to be…
Luna
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Does the postmodern rejection of "Grand Narratives" have anything to do with "First Principles" argumentation?

I've developed a recent interest in the distinction between "data-driven" argumentation and argumentation in the context of "First Principles", or a priori starting points. Among the various definitions of Post Modernism I've seen, "the rejection of…
JacobIRR
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Is there a name for gradual dissolution of the boundaries between two objects or identities?

The basis for it is a mathematical principal of a limit, wherein a mathematical object is defined as a value or geometric construct that arises from indefinitely approaching but never actually attaining a specific output value as the input changes,…
John Joe
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