Postmodernism is the daughter of Darwin and Rousseau.
Darwin: "man is just a smart ape." This eliminates the grounding of natural rights. No Creator? Who gave you those rights? Smart apes don't have natural rights.
Rousseau: "man is a blank slate." Make a better human by making a better environment. (Of course, defining "better" sans a Creator is also is a little hard, but details...) And since man has no natural rights, we may mold and shape him as we see fit.
The postmodernists and the communists despised each other in the 60's, but it's amazing how both seem to have ended up in the same place.
I am old at this point, but as a Physcist turned Engineer and startup / tech grey beard I have tried very hard to keep myself grounded in reality. But I have never seen the progressive assumptions / leftist beliefs as all that well grounded. In the 60's / 70's I was referred to as 'Spock' or 'Strangelove'. Much more recently, as 'Vader the merciful'. I used to view myself as a realist progressive. Now I view myself as realist center right, although my more progressive relatives probably view me as realist hard right. I don't think I have changed that much. I have fewer illusions about people and the effect of education than I did 50 years ago. The progressive world view has drifted over the past half century - badly.
My youngest kids took my Kipling collection as well as my SF and fantasy collection when they moved out. So some of my teaching may have stuck on them.
You have outdone yourself again. This should be spread to everyone with an open mind and a spark of intelligence.
Postmodernism is the daughter of Darwin and Rousseau.
Darwin: "man is just a smart ape." This eliminates the grounding of natural rights. No Creator? Who gave you those rights? Smart apes don't have natural rights.
Rousseau: "man is a blank slate." Make a better human by making a better environment. (Of course, defining "better" sans a Creator is also is a little hard, but details...) And since man has no natural rights, we may mold and shape him as we see fit.
The postmodernists and the communists despised each other in the 60's, but it's amazing how both seem to have ended up in the same place.
Good article!
I would suggest that the left and left of center are more susceptible to blackmail and leverage due to their diffuse moral boundaries (degenerate).
I am old at this point, but as a Physcist turned Engineer and startup / tech grey beard I have tried very hard to keep myself grounded in reality. But I have never seen the progressive assumptions / leftist beliefs as all that well grounded. In the 60's / 70's I was referred to as 'Spock' or 'Strangelove'. Much more recently, as 'Vader the merciful'. I used to view myself as a realist progressive. Now I view myself as realist center right, although my more progressive relatives probably view me as realist hard right. I don't think I have changed that much. I have fewer illusions about people and the effect of education than I did 50 years ago. The progressive world view has drifted over the past half century - badly.
My youngest kids took my Kipling collection as well as my SF and fantasy collection when they moved out. So some of my teaching may have stuck on them.