Postmodernism Foucault & Derrida from "summary" of The Oxford Companion to Philosophy by Ted Honderich
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement which draws attention to the power dynamics at play in society, as explored by thinkers such as Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. It focuses on the ways in which social structures shape our understanding of the world, and how to challenge them.- Postmodernism is a term used to refer to a philosophical movement particularly in the late 20th century that reacted against, amongst other things, the modernist absolutism of science and neo-Hegelian idealism put forward by rationalists such as Habermas. Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida are two of the best known theorists who identified with this movement.
- Foucault and Derrida both reject traditional truth claims and embrace open discourse among people from different backgrounds and beliefs thus helping create new possibilities for understanding and relating to one another.
- Foucault's writings focus on the power and systems that control our lives. He was critical of fixed ideas of identity and truth yet his view didn't succumb to complete relativism; instead, he favoured multi-perspective approaches to understanding reality.
- In closing, it could be said that postmodernism, especially as championed by Foucault and Derrida, has helped to expand the horizons of what can be considered valid knowledge and truth in helping us understand ourselves and the societies in which we live.
- Derrida believed that the law of structure operates as a kind of limit on thought, so that some truth always remains beyond reach. Like Foucault, he believed that knowledge of the world is always partial and provisional, challenging fundamental Western presumptions about the nature of truth and certainty.
- One main shared idea between these two thinkers is that one should be aware of how language shapes our life, which can lead us into assumptions about a unitary, homogeneous society without noticing difference or diversity.
