Reciprocating Bill
Posts: 4265
Joined: Oct. 2006
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| Quote (Wesley R. Elsberry @ Nov. 29 2007,06:48) | | I've wondered for a while if postmodernism offers significantly more than a social version of solipsism, that is, a view where every social group gets to have their own truth, and nothing from anybody else's truth matters. I had some conversations with a historian about this sort of thing, and have been assured that there is real content and value to at least some postmodernism. We didn't get so far as bringing me up to speed on exactly what that part might be. I confess that I haven't had time to research this myself, so I recognize that in this area at least, it is my opinion that may simply be the result of ignorance. That said, the sort of default distrust I have of postmodernist posturing seems to be shared with a significant fraction of other scientists I talk to. |
I think you'd find the late Richard Rorty a challenging read vis your question in the domain of the philosophy of science. A great resource is Rorty and his Critics (Blackwell, 2000), an edited volume in which one of his recent synoptic essays (Universality and Truth) is presented, then commented upon by Habermas, Putnam, Dennett and others. Rorty responds in turn to each of those critical essays. Rorty's writing is penetrating and clear, and his argument hard to ignore.
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Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be.
"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."
- David Foster Wallace
"Here’s a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down."
- Barry Arrington
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