Opinion
Perilous Postmodernism
PHILOSOPHY: Postmodernism and its impediment of society
By Margarita Hovsepyan
March 15, 2018
The dawn of the 20th century brought with it a toxic movement, across various sectors, centered on skepticism, subjectivism, suspicion of reason, truth and ideologies.
Postmodernism has now taken root in philosophy, architecture and art, furthering its agenda that nothing definite exists.
Although understandable at its core, this reasoning is wholly idealistic. Humanity would be incapable of functioning without any structure in place.
Especially prominent is the postmodernist’s criticism of Western philosophy, thought and society. In their terms, the values which guide Western life such as nationalism and capitalism are outdated and in need of through reexamination. That the West is merely a cloak of corruption.
But this argument ignores the varies breakthroughs and positive consequences Western thought has brought. It closes its eyes to the prosperity, freedom and unison that resulted because of nationalism and capitalism. Instead, postmodernism harshly labels the promised prosperity and democracy of the West as empty promises. This label is ignorant of history and the true effects that the West has had.
Arguably, the most dangerous aspect of post modernist thought is the ridding of ethical and moral standards and instead replacing it with relativized values. Ethical codes result in a more civilized and easily functioning society. Without a code, nor a backbone for how to behave, human dignity itself is put under fire.
While individualism has been crucial for promoting creativity, the degree of it promoted by postmodernist worldview, will impede societal functioning. Arduous tasks and obstacles, are more likely to be solved with the collective aid of many. This hyper individualism is detrimental to group cohesion.
The most famous equation in the world of science, E=mc2 is under fire by postmodernist, Luce Irigaray, who discusses the supposed “masculine oppression” in Einstein’s equation. According to Irigaray, the formulation “privileges the speed of light over other speeds that are vitally necessary to us.”
It’s utterly ridiculous to place a “privilege” label on a a mere equation.
Similarly, it’s utterly ridiculous, contradicting, and confusing to put an indefinite value on all thing.
Postmodernism should perish.
Margarita Hovsepyan is the Editor of the Opinion Column for the Mirror publication and website. She’s currently in her second year for the publication, which she joined during her sophomore year.
Her articles and blogs tend to focus on politics, social justice, and feminism with mainly a conservative perspective. She also heads the Your View Column, collecting a weekly account of select students’ viewpoint on various issues.
Outside of school, she partakes in Model United Nations conferences and Armenian Tree Foundation promotions.
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