Postmodernism defined...

Andrew F. Uduigwome writes that,

"Postmodernism has constantly constituted a serious threat to the fundamental epistemological assumptions of philosophy and science since Descartes in the modern period. Inquires into how we know no longer revolve around the concepts of universalism, objectivity, foundationalism and essentialism. In other words, the post modern thinker does not subscribe to the belief in external or universal truths. He repudiates the claim that investigation of the nature of being is crucial to the determination of the true character of reality. Lyotard and Foucault, for instance, reject any attempt to ground reality in one all-encompassing theory or system of thought. The deconstructionist Derrida tries to show that the belief in the existence of an independent external reality that can be intersubjectively interpreted is a myth. For him, the dichotomy of binaries or opposites (eg presence/absence, nature/culture, male/female) that is characteristic of much Western philosophical tradition is illusorry and hence deserves deconstruction. A situation where the second of the binaries is subordinated to the first is strongly rejected. Reality or truth thus ceases to be defined in terms of a correspondence to a fixed entity that the descriptions and manipulations provided in our language must perfectly fit. Rather the preponderant view is that reality both conforms to language and is shaped by it. Language, as it were, is the repository of a people’s culture. Culture itself is a complex phenomenon which revels variety, alterity and ephemerality. The epistemological and metaphysical implication of this is that truth or reality is neither one nor objective but subjective and many. Lyotard posits that there are many discourses and the rules governing these discourses differ in corresponding proportion to socio-cultural and linguistic variations. Thus, our understanding of reality and interpretation of truth must differ in accordance with and reflect the linguistic and cultural variations. By this, deconstruction means dismantling and reorganizing language to expose the anomalies inherent in modern Western philosophical tradition (Effiwatt, 191-193).
Finally, postmodernism is atheistic, anti-metaphysical, anti-status quo of objectivity, consensus and prescriptivism. It is a deconstruction of all status-quos and standards in all realms of human endeavour. It is a philosophy of ‘anything goes’ (Ozumba,60)."

To read the rest of this article please click on http://www.quodlibet.net/uduigwomen-postmodernism.shtml

A philosophy built to be manipulated to suit one's tastes is a dangerous threat to the religious freedom we currently enjoy. The claim that "anything goes" is not quite accurate because the reality is that anything goes...but...anything Christian. The reason for this rejection is simple; to accept Christianity is to accept that there is reason and sense to reality. If there is reason and sense to reality then there is a truth that permeates all, and this is an out right rejection of this philosophy of "anything goes." This rejection will lead to morality which will lead to responsibility which will lead to accountability which in turn leads to standards which eventually lead to the death of a philosophy with no standards. This is postmodernism, and why the fight will be long and hard.