 “Postmodernism” has come into vogue as

the name for a rather diffuse family of ideas

and trends that is significant respect
rejects, challenges, or aims to supersede
“modernity”;the convictions, aspirations
and pretensions of modern Western
thought and culture since the
Enlightenment.
 Postmodernism is not a philosophy. It is at
best a holding pattern ,perhaps a cry of
despair. It rightly talks about world
philosophy either.
 Richard Rorty
an American philosopher,notably
developing themes from
pragmatism and certain quarters of
analytic philosophy and bringing
these together with Continental
themes, challenged the modern
rationalist presumption that
philosophy or any branch of
knowledge can find secure or
achieve genuine representation of
reality.
 Postmodernists believe that humanity
should come at truth beyond the rational
to the non-rational elements of human
nature, including the spiritual.
 Postmodernists consider that to arrive
at truth, humanity should realize the
limits of reason and objectivism. Beyond
exalting individual analysis of truth,
postmodernists adhere to a relational,
holistic approach.
 Moreover postmodernists value our
existence in the world and in relation to
it.
• Features of a Post-modern society
1. The breakdown of the distinction
between culture and society.
2. An emphasis on style at the expense of
substance and content.
3. The breakdown of a distinction between
high culture (art) and popular culture.
4. Confusions over time and space.
5. The decline of the meta – narrative (i.e
the absolute universal and all embracing
claims to knowledge like science or
religion).
• The breakdown of the distinction
between culture and society
1. Mass culture is now so influential it is no longer
‘holding a mirror up to society’ – it is society.
2. The distinction between media and reality has
collapsed.
3. The distinction between media and reality has
collapsed.
4. New art/media artefacts are influenced by ones
previous to it.
5. Po-Mo theorists reject the notion of originality and
authorship – all new producers can do is re-use and
adapt.
6. Simulacrum – a copy of a copy (of a copy).
7. Intertextuality – Using other texts in a ‘new’ one.
 “Can a language objectively describe truth?"

 For the philosophers of this tradition,

language cannot objectively describe truth.
 Ludwig Wittgestein -an analytic,
philosopher, language is socially conditioned. We
understand the world solely in terms of our
language games-that is, our linguistic, social
constructs. Truth, as we perceive it, is itself
socially constructed.
 Analytic philosophy is the conviction
that some significant degree, philosophical
problems, puzzle, and errors are rooted in
language and can be solve or avoided by a
sound understanding of language and
careful attention to its workings.
 “Analysis” refers to a method: owing a
great deal to the pioneers, Bertrand Russell,
G.E. Moore, Wittgestein, and J.L. Austin.
 Critics are apt to point these concerns-
they might say-this fixation with language
and logic as one aspect of the trivialization
of philosophy with which they change the
analytic movement.
Bertrand Russell
British philosopher, logician,
mathematician, historian, writer,
social critic, political activist
and Nobel laureate.

George Edward "G. E."

Moore OM, FBA was an English
philosopher. He was, with Bertrand
Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and
Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of the
analytic tradition in philosophy.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein
was an Austrian philosopher who
worked primarily in logic, the
philosophy of mathematics, the
philosophy of mind, and the
philosophy of language.

J. L. Austin
a British philosopher of
language and leading proponent
of ordinary language philosophy,
perhaps best known for
developing the theory of speech
acts
 In any case, the last two to three decades
have seen, on the one hand, increased self-
searching as to the limitations of the
analytic approach and more efforts to apply
it to such deeper questions.
(Sheilds 2012)
- Analytic philosophy is based on the idea
that philosophical problems can be
solved through an analysis of their
terms, and pure, systematic logic. Many
traditional philosophical problems are
dismissed because their terms are too
vague, while those that remain are
subjected to a rigorous logical analysis.
For example, a traditional philosophical
problem is “Does God exist?” Various
philosophical schools have proposed
answers to this question, but analytic
philosophy approaches it by saying,
“What do you mean by God?” Different
religions have wildly different ideas about
what the word “God” means, so before
you can approach the question of God’s
existence you have to define your terms
more clearly.
Analytic philosophy is more interested
in conceptual questions—questions
about the meanings of words and
statements and their logical relations–
than it is in spiritual or practical issues
such as morality or the meaning of life.
Because of this focus, it has a
reputation for being dry and technical.
Analytic philosophers rely heavily on
the vocabulary, assumptions, and
equations of symbolic logic in their
arguments.