Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault

Posted by dbhalling 11 years, 3 months ago to Books
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Have you ever wondered why President Obama and fellow travelers do not care if they are caught in a lie, or make contradictory statements? This book will explain to you why these people don’t care about the facts.
What is really impressive about this book is that the author clearly explains the philosophical thoughts of Kant, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Hegel, Logical Positivists, and many others. If you had difficulty understanding the writings of these philosophers, there is a reason. They don’t believe in reason, logic, evidence, or that words in anyway are related to reality, which logically means we should not take their writings seriously since they don’t.
The author suggests that philosophical problems in Enlightenment epistemology were the crack by which Postmodernism gets its hold, but he does not explain what the problems were. This point of view is interesting, because Rand’s argument is that it was a failure of ethics that provided the crack for socialism.


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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 11 years, 3 months ago
    I'm not very knowledgeable about philosophy, but it's shocking to think people like Kant and Rousseau paved the wave for postmodernism.
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  • Posted by straightlinelogic 11 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    It looks like my reading list stretches in 2034, should I live so long, but I'll get your newest in. But again, take your time, haste is the enemy of great writing.
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  • Posted by 11 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    It is taking longer than I hoped. We are still planning on getting it out sometime in 2014.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 11 years, 3 months ago
    Is this along the same lines as Ominous Parallels where Peikoff goes into the mentality of citizens in pre Stalin Russia and pre Hitler Germany and they would just accept whatever they were told by the government even if what they were told today completely conflicted with what they were told yesterday? The whole, "don't judge, don't notice, don't be certain" mind set. Nothing makes sense, but everyone does what they're told as if they believe that someone smarter than them knows what's best and they don't want to make waves.
    Or am I misunderstanding this?
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  • Posted by 11 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    No I would say it is more an examination of the philosophies and philosophers that got us her. I read Ominous Parallels years ago and I think this is much better, but it is also different, it is not about politics per se.
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  • Posted by straightlinelogic 11 years, 3 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I may have to try to squeeze this book in, although I'm swamped with things to read. Take your time on your next book, so I can plough threw my current stack.
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  • Posted by straightlinelogic 11 years, 3 months ago
    It's interesting, because I have the same feeling trying to make sense of those philosophers that I do reading modern "award winning fiction," viewing modern art, watching avante-garde movies, or listening to anything by Igor Stravinsky. It's a tedious, lifeless feeling, and wonder that anyone can take it seriously.
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