Home > Postmodern philosophy
Postmodern philosophy is an eclectic and elusive movement characterized by the postmodern criticism and analysis of Western philosophy. Beginning as a critique of Continental philosophy, it was heavily influenced by phenomenology, structuralism and existentialism, and by the philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger. It was also influenced to some degree by Ludwig Wittgenstein's later criticisms of analytic philosophy. Within postmodern philosophy, there are numerous interrelated fields, including deconstruction and several fields beginning with the prefix "post-", such as post-structuralism, post-Marxism , and post-feminism. In particular postmodern philosophy has spawned a huge literature of critical theory.Postmodern philosophy is generally characterized by a skepticism toward the simple binary oppositions predominant in Western metaphysics and humanismHumanism is a neologism that defines a socio-political doctrine (" -ism") whose bounds exceed those of locally developed cultures, to include all of humanity and all issues common to human beings. Because doctrines of cultural distinction and exclusivity, such as the expectation that the philosopher may cleanly isolate knowledge from ignorance, social progress from reversion, dominance from submission, or presence from absence. This is anti-foundationalismAnti-foundationalism is a term applied to any philosophy which rejects a foundationalist approach; i. an anti-foundationalist is one who does not believe that there is some fundamental belief or principle which is the basic ground or foundation of inquiry. To some critics, this skepticism appears similar to relativismRelativism is the view that the meaning and value of human beliefs and behaviors have no absolute reference. Relativists claim that humans understand and evaluate beliefs and behaviors only in terms of, for example, their historical and cultural context. or even nihilismNihilism as a philosophical position is the view that the world, and especially human existence, is without meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. It was also a historically significant political movement in 19th-century Russia. Etymo. Defenders of post-modernism would argue that there is a distinct difference, however: while relativism and nihilism are generally viewed as an abandonment of meaning and authority, postmodern philosophy is generally viewed as an openness to meaning and authority from unexpected places, and that the ultimate source of authority is the "play" of the discourse itself. In addition, many view postmodern philosophy not as a purely abstract or logical argument, but as a historical occurrence.
1 History of postmodern philosophy
