Topic > Why Postmodernism Appeals to Contemporary Audiences

Postmodernism can be broadly defined as a late 20th century philosophy that rejects Western philosophies adopted by society primarily during the Enlightenment (18th century). Therefore, while modernism preaches the existence of reality, absolute truth, individuality, objectivity and the free market; postmodernism preaches relativism, collectivism, and the belief that human nature is a social construct that can be deconstructed and rearranged because it is subjective in nature. This allows people to lazily avoid the harshness of reality while continuing to live in their comfortable bubbles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the words of Michel Foucault, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century commonly associated with his work in structuralism, “It makes no sense to speak for – or against – Reason, Truth or Knowledge.” However, if there are no absolute truths and objective knowledge, then postmodernism immediately contradicts itself at the fundamental level it stands on because the statement “there are no absolute truths and objective knowledge” is a statement of absolute truth in itself. Historically speaking, many 20th century social thinkers such as Irving Howe (Mass Society and Postmodern Fiction, 1959), CR Mills (The Sociological Imagination, 1959), Leslie Fiedler (The New Mutants, 1965) and Jurgen Habermas (Modernity versus Postmodernity, 1981), have continually described the dawn of postmodernism as the beginning of a dark age in which the principles of the Enlightenment fall and a nihilistic society ultimately arises. Which is why postmodernism appeals to many, especially younger generations it's because it removes objectivity and places feelings above logic and reason. All feelings, no matter how ridiculous, must be respected and taken seriously. As a result, a toxic atmosphere of relativism is created which diminishes the need to make a distinction between right and wrong; and the moral and the immoral. For example, saying "all culture and human beings do not deserve to be respected" or "there is no 'your truth' or 'my truth', there is only one truth" gets you labeled a sexist, racist and bigot. Islamophobic. The reason the scary idea of ​​placing more importance on someone's feelings than rationality seems appealing to many is because it's the easiest way to end conversations. Since no one can be wrong and everyone's ideas and opinions must be given the same amount of importance and respect, discussions and debates can always be ended by saying things like "I don't agree with you but I don't judge you because you don't respect and appreciate your opinion. This way there are no winners or losers, no one's feelings get hurt, people don't need to use their brains to think and we all live in a constant state of utopia of laziness, ignorance and narrow mindedness while our society grows. stagnant and our policies continually fail. Postmodernism persistently rejects meta-narratives and also poses a great threat to morality and absolute truths meta-narratives, indicates that morality is a fluid and subjective concept. It instead favors moral relativism which contributes to the increase of sociological deviances by destroying moral boundaries. This is because the flexible structure of postmodernism revolves around the idea that absolute truth and principles are constructed as a result of the power struggle between different identity groups and exist to control human beings on the basis.