Other

Postmodernism and a Straw

by Benjamin Frasca
12/05/20
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

Have you ever heard of Postmodernism? You may not recognize this philosophy but you experience it every day.  It permeates our universities and invades our government. It fills many of our conversations. It is common in the arts and literature. And when you become familiar with Postmodernism you will recognize it everywhere.

To understand postmodernism we need to be familiar with a concept called Modernism. Modernism was the prevalent worldview during the first half of the twentieth century. It is the viewpoint that most of us use on a day to day basis. Modernist philosophy states that things are the way they are and we can understand the cosmos through reason, logic and science. It holds that there are objective truths that apply to all of us. These truths are universal and can be discerned.

But suppose we turn this belief upside down. We then have Postmodernism. Postmodernism does not believe in an objective reality. Everything is a result of our social constructs and our subjective viewpoints. All things are relative. Even science and logic are relative. There are no universal truths. All theories are therefore equally valid. In other words the cosmos is not something out there to be discovered. It is the way we view it and we all view it differently.

Postmodernism surrounds us. It is the philosophy behind gender choice. If everything is relative why can’t we choose our sex? Why does art have to follow any rules at all? Why should design follow any principals? The list goes on.

And since Postmodernism asserts to explain everything it claims to explain religion. In postmodernism religion no longer revolves around a true and objective God. Religion becomes a social construct that cannot be correctly and factually known. The search for truth becomes meaningless because, according to postmodernism, there is no universal truth. We see then that Postmodernism is only one step away from atheism.

But does Postmodernism really explain the way things are? I think not. If I place a straw in a glass of water and suck on it a vacuum is formed. Liquid replaces the vacuum and I am able to drink. No social construct can change this. I am not able to change it because I wish or feel differently. What happens is an objective truth. How does postmodernism explain this?

If we believe in an objective reality, as Modernism says, than Postmodernism becomes a form of social psychosis. If everything is relative, as Postmodernism says, maybe tomorrow I will identify as a tree. After all, reality is subjective and my viewpoint of myself is as equally valid as any other. Of course this is preposterous but acceptable under Postmodernist thought.  

Logic and reason have served us for centuries. Modernism has given us the technological wonders that we enjoy and provided us with a way to understand the cosmos. Why dispose of it now? To do so would be tragic.

Ben Frasca