Posted by
TheBean on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 1:40:35 PM
Postmodernism resists definition. The definition that circulates most freely seems to be "the critique of Grand Narratives." Grand Narratives, simply put, are world-defining ideologies (usually cultural or religious).
Taken alone, there is nothing wrong with this idea. Overarching abstract schemes for How Things Work should be treated with great caution and approached only with the strongest of verification. A lot of the generalizations that fit under the Grand Narrative designation are just bad ways to describe and direct human life.
When all narratives are critiqued and condescended to with equal regard, problems arise. Postmodernism can slip into a frame of mind that characterizes all ways of describing the world as coping mechanisms; one person's is equal to another's, and we should live and let live. Ideas should be respected as ideas (they're all sort of wrong and overgeneralized anyway).
When this view holds sway, all ideas become personal. Objective judgment about the world we live in isn't really possible (or, if it is possible, it isn't done) so ideas are an extension of personality and should be treated the way people are treated.
This is the reverse of rational thought. An idea can only reasonably be judged on the basis of (a.) its accuracy, and (b.) the behavior it prescribes. Brutality toward ideas is absolutely necessary to reason, and its practice does not necessitate unkindness to the people who hold them.