Some of your lecturers use the term “postmodernism” to describe themselves or their intellectual orientation. What exactly do they mean by the term? There is no single, straightforward and universally accepted definition of postmodernism. For our purposes here, let’s define postmodernism by what it affirms.

Postmodernism is a worldview that claims to distrust all authorities, certainties and absolute standards. It believes that there is no absolute truth that serves as the final arbiter of knowledge and morality. In its view, truth is relative to cultural, linguistic and power systems. Postmodernism insists that people should construct their own truth subjectively from a blank mind that experiences the world as it is. It encourages people to replace absolutes with points of view, opinions and impressions.

Postmodernism places an emphasis on relativism in intellectual and practical life, suggesting that people should value personal  experience more than objective reason.  It contends that people should not pass judgement on others. Instead,  each individual should pursue non-domineering self-determination—following and obeying his or her feelings, and being tolerant of what other people consider truth and meaning in life.

Intellectual Inconsistencies of Postmodernism
Intellectual inconsistencies in this worldview are clear when you carefully consider its stance on concepts such as absolutes, relativism and tolerance.

Rejection of absolutes
Postmodernism rejects absolutes in the form of truth or any standard. By all indications, this rejection of absolutes in the way that is argued by postmodernism is an intellectual spiral into a bottomless pit of confusion. The truth is that people are made by God to live on the basis of absolutes that are stamped in our nature as human beings. That is why some human behaviour such as lies, deceit, pride and cruelty are wrong in every culture and at all times irrespective of philosophy or ideology. In denying all forms of absolutes, postmodernism destroys its credibility as a serious worldview.  From such a position, it can no longer account for the epistemic status of its own concepts and principles. In effect, postmodernism has no instruments for establishing intellectual rules and communication apart from the very ones it denies.

Stretching relativism
Having rejected absolutes, postmodernism tries to rescue itself from an epistemic chaos by placing an indefensible emphasis on  relativism. This is simply a denial of the world the way God made it. Many students are deceived by the promise of freedom and relativism as presented by postmodernism and its allies. This is until  they step back from the realm of theorizing into practical realities. When they fail their courses on Faulcau and Derrida under a postmodern lecturer, they wake up to the fact that there are good and bad answers to exam question after all.

Absolute tolerance?
Postmodernism projects tolerance as its favoured intellectual and lifestyle principle. It is not at all clear how post-modernism invents the concept of tolerance as one which shouldn’t be relative but universally adopted. Since postmodernism denies all absolutes, on what ground does it place tolerance over and above all other principles? Isn’t postmodernism trying to smuggle an absolute of tolerance through the back door? No straight thinking and honest scholar overlooks this glaring inconsistency in postmodernism.

Conclusion
The brand of postmodernism that you are likely to encounter in your courses claims to debunk all paradigms without offering any credible replacement. It builds on infantile self-centeredness and fails to recognize any objectivity outside what the individual feels and recognizes as such. It sees order in chaos, finesse in crudity and rationality in nonsense.

Tom Th.

Related posts: Encountering non-Christian worldviews: Part 1: Naturalism. Studying from the Christian Worldview. Understanding the Beginning of Knowledge.