Probably not one that’s very useful. If you think of it as an artistically-related metatheory construction kit (so, a meta-meta-theory), that would probably describe what the bits that aren’t shit are useful for. Gwern (per comment parallel to yours) probably wouldn’t benefit, having deep cultural knowledge in at least one area, though he might find useful bits to avoid having to reinvent terminology.
(Oh, and it’s not one thing—any area that has something that corresponds to a “modernist” outlook, where progress can occur, is likely to spawn a “postmodernism” which involves questioning every assumption including that the right questions are being asked. Remember that it sprang up after World War II, which was seen by the postmodernists as the horrific reductio ad absurdum failure of several decades-long modernist programmes.)
What I mean is that dismissing this icky squishy cultural “what is meaning?” stuff as a diseased discipline does not somehow mean you, as a bounded human intellect in the world, are immune to the problems the toolkit-constructing toolkit in question can somewhat alleviate. Because the proper study of mankind is man. Squishy and infuriating as humanity is, directed cyclic graphs of preferences and all.
FWIW, don’t read original Derrida unless the wall opposite needs a few more dents in it—stick to commentaries.
I challenge anybody to come up with a higher-density description of postmodernism than ‘Fallacy Of Gray Plus Meta Everything with Leftism’. Remember that it arose out of an enviroment that was far too absolutist and ignored meta-analysis.
Can you give a summary of postmodernism or should I just google it myself?
Probably not one that’s very useful. If you think of it as an artistically-related metatheory construction kit (so, a meta-meta-theory), that would probably describe what the bits that aren’t shit are useful for. Gwern (per comment parallel to yours) probably wouldn’t benefit, having deep cultural knowledge in at least one area, though he might find useful bits to avoid having to reinvent terminology.
(Oh, and it’s not one thing—any area that has something that corresponds to a “modernist” outlook, where progress can occur, is likely to spawn a “postmodernism” which involves questioning every assumption including that the right questions are being asked. Remember that it sprang up after World War II, which was seen by the postmodernists as the horrific reductio ad absurdum failure of several decades-long modernist programmes.)
What I mean is that dismissing this icky squishy cultural “what is meaning?” stuff as a diseased discipline does not somehow mean you, as a bounded human intellect in the world, are immune to the problems the toolkit-constructing toolkit in question can somewhat alleviate. Because the proper study of mankind is man. Squishy and infuriating as humanity is, directed cyclic graphs of preferences and all.
FWIW, don’t read original Derrida unless the wall opposite needs a few more dents in it—stick to commentaries.
I challenge anybody to come up with a higher-density description of postmodernism than ‘Fallacy Of Gray Plus Meta Everything with Leftism’. Remember that it arose out of an enviroment that was far too absolutist and ignored meta-analysis.