51 votes

How come nihilism is so popular today?

While I'm not entirely convinced of the premises of the question, in general people seek out philosophies that address conditions of life as they experience it. In the marketplace of ideas, a ...
Chris Sunami's user avatar
41 votes

How come nihilism is so popular today?

I can think of 2 reasons: Naturalism is the philosophy most promoted in public schools. With some exceptions, people tend to stick with what they're taught in school. Believing in a supernatural ...
LCIII's user avatar
  • 511
25 votes
Accepted

Why so much hate for postmodernism?

Here are three reasons (there may be more): The Analytic/Continental divide (some might say feud - see here for example): At the beginning of the 20th Century, two schools (or more accurately, two ...
Alexander S King's user avatar
18 votes

How come nihilism is so popular today?

Jacob Ross, Rejecting Ethical Deflationism,' Ethics 116, 2006: 742–68 defines nihilism as : ▻ NIHILISM - DEFINITION '...the view that the notions of good and bad and of right and wrong are ...
Geoffrey Thomas's user avatar
  • 35.7k
16 votes
Accepted

Can someone identify this school of thought?

The first sentence expresses relativism, and then the rest makes clear that it makes everything relative to the individual subject. That position is called solipsism. Solipsism makes the individual ...
ChristopherE's user avatar
  • 5,518
12 votes
Accepted

What are some theories attacking postmodernism preserving objective truth and morality without assuming a God?

Short Answer How can one argue against postmodernism for objective truth and morality without assuming a God? Post-modernist claims of pure subjectivism are largely hype. It's has been joked that a ...
J D's user avatar
  • 26.6k
11 votes

Why are French postmodern philosophers (like Baudrillard) so hard to read/understand?

John Searle apparently asked Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu, why they wrote so badly. (Apparently they were both much clearer in conversation or when lecturing, and Searle respected them both ...
David Bahry's user avatar
10 votes

Do postmodernists insist that "laws of physics" are "mere social conventions"? Or not anymore?

One of the major dysfunctions of the science wars in the '90s was that people were using terms to yell at each other — social construction, relativism, postmodernism, paradigm, theory, science, fact, ...
Dan Hicks's user avatar
  • 2,507
7 votes

Why so much hate for postmodernism?

I'll try to offer a brief sketch that moves from what I take to be "overarching" (more inclusive) complaints to more specific ones. Please keep in mind that I am, personally, very dissatisfied by most ...
jeffreysbrother's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Why is postmodernism apparently so ill-perceived in philosophy of science?

For many people, Kuhn's notion of the incommensurability of paradigms is a form of postmodernism. So then there is not a conflict, the Philosophy of Science has notable post-modern contributors, who ...
hide_in_plain_sight's user avatar
7 votes

Why is the non-aesthetic position on art not absorbed by society?

In your question, you lay out some qualities someone who accepts the non-aesthetic position on art might have. An artist who is non-aesthetic is not concerned with producing something the majority of ...
TKoL's user avatar
  • 2,989
6 votes
Accepted

Is there a relation between postmodernism and Asian philosophies?

Several thoughts on this (1) It would help a lot if "relation" were defined more clearly. Do you mean "share similar ideas"? Do you mean that one learned from the other? Do you mean they organize the ...
virmaior's user avatar
  • 24.7k
6 votes

What are some theories attacking postmodernism preserving objective truth and morality without assuming a God?

To summarize an answer that became lengthier than I first intended: The woke and the fascists are both trying to bring about societal change away from the status quo as they see it. In that regard, ...
Flater's user avatar
  • 1,320
6 votes
Accepted

Does Foucault's "power-knowledge" contradict the scientific method?

Foucault understood knowledge not merely to be disinterested enquiry but also a way of exerting power. Here, he's not talking about the power to inform or educate but the kind of power that places ...
Mozibur Ullah's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Is it possible to reconcile post-structuralism with the scientific method?

Clearly, we understand the world through language If by this you mean we understand the world only through language, this is not clear at all. In fact, it is false, because it entirely discounts the ...
causative's user avatar
  • 12.8k
5 votes

Postmodernism advocates are Right-wing or just can't see its effects against the Left?

I admittedly lack a solid grounding in philosophy and likely some problems with postmodernist thought escape me. I am however one of those leftists who has no huge, general problem with all of ...
mart's user avatar
  • 557
5 votes

How come nihilism is so popular today?

This answer is just speculation Why it is popular: People enjoy it. They can act how ever they please because immorality is impossible. It also makes them feel intellectually superior with no more ...
PStag's user avatar
  • 203
5 votes

Does postmodernism entail nihilism?

Postmodernism is an abstraction. There are only postmodern theorists; and if we look at the major postmodern theorists we find a definite, non-nihilistic ethical dimension to their work. The following ...
Geoffrey Thomas's user avatar
  • 35.7k
5 votes
Accepted

Does the postmodern rejection of "Grand Narratives" have anything to do with "First Principles" argumentation?

Yes and no, postmodernism certainly embraced the rejection of "first principles" and perhaps elevated it to a new level, but this rejection was neither originated by it nor is specific to it. ...
Conifold's user avatar
  • 43.1k
5 votes

How do structuralism and post-structuralism change the way I read a novel?

Structuralism and post-structuralism is, roughly speaking, a distinction without a difference, so we can look at them together. In your question, you state: From a naive point of view, these ideas ...
virmaior's user avatar
  • 24.7k
5 votes

Does Foucault's "power-knowledge" contradict the scientific method?

Consider for a moment the current Climate Change debate (or the somewhat older debate over the Theory of Evolution). In both cases, both the scientific and non-scientific side are simultaneously ...
Ted Wrigley's user avatar
  • 19.6k
5 votes

What were Jacques Derrida's most important ideas?

Derrida is known for his commentaries on Heidegger, so his one on Being & Time is notable: Heidegger: The Question of Being and History. Also a significant work imo is The Gift of Death, referred ...
Chris Degnen's user avatar
  • 5,855
5 votes

Why is the non-aesthetic position on art not absorbed by society?

It's important to note that there do exist artists doing new and innovative things in art, and theorists are still creating new theories. But in general, your question is in some ways its own answer. ...
Chris Sunami's user avatar
4 votes

Why so much hate for postmodernism?

I think a lot of this "hate" could arise from an intuition about the fundamental incongruity of saying there is no such thing as justified true belief, and ascribing any truth value to that judgement. ...
l_ruth_'s user avatar
  • 783
4 votes

What is the consensus on metaphysical innocence of social construction (2N2C)?

My google search shows that there are no papers discussing 2N2C. The thesis at most was mentioned as a passing interest, never as a focal point. Also, Richard Boyd’ entry on scientific realism in SEP (...
Nanhee Byrnes PhD's user avatar
4 votes

Does Sokal & Bricmont's book offer proof of the vacuity of Post-Modernism? Can any schools of Philosophy be proven to be pure Sophistry?

"Lambasting" is not a proof. English editors obviously have been unwilling to translate French rebukes to S&B's rhetoric. The case is open and one should hear both sides, even if one of them ...
sand1's user avatar
  • 3,704
4 votes
Accepted

Is there a name for gradual dissolution of the boundaries between two objects or identities?

There is a term for such arguments, most commonly the sorites paradox, "also known as little-by-little arguments, which arise as a result of the indeterminacy surrounding limits of application of the ...
Conifold's user avatar
  • 43.1k
4 votes

How come nihilism is so popular today?

I find that most modern quirks can be attributed to globalism yes, but specifically the internet. The internet provides exposure to elements you usually would not see. If you are of the same mind as ...
Ruski's user avatar
  • 49

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