The Inside is Bigger Than the Outside
Goodreads describes Explaining Postmodernism as an “intellectual history with a polemical twist, providing fresh insights into the debates underlying the furor over political correctness, multiculturalism, and the future of liberal democracy.”[1] Its author, Stephen Hicks, takes us on another step of our journey in understanding the current context in which we find ourselves.
Themes from previous reading
Previously, we learned from Evangelization and Ideology, that today’s Progressive movement is the product of a series of reactions to the failings of various ideologies.[2] Yascha Mouk takes this idea further in Identity Trap where he outlines a series of what I see as overcompensations setting out to achieve identity synthesis, which I have paraphrased here:
- Standpoint theory: If you and I come from different backgrounds, I can never understand you, and I should always defer to you if I happen to come from a more privileged background.
- Cultural appropriation: I should not use artifacts from your culture if I do not share that culture, even if I derive significant meaning from them.
- Limits on free speech: There should be significant legal and societal consequences for those participating in speech that others will see as offensive.
- Progressive separatism: People should be encouraged to stay in the social and racial groups to which they belong.
- Identity-sensitive public policy: the state should attempt to right historical wrongs by prioritizing members of groups who have been unfairly treated in the past.[3]
And, most recently, we saw this play out in last week’s read of Not So Black and White, with Malik explaining the move away from universalism and towards Critical Race Theory.[4] It feels to me that we have been reviewing the disillusionment of society and, then analyzing society’s reaction to that disillusion.
Moving into Postmodernism
This week, in Explaining Postmodernism, Stephen Hicks tells a story about the disillusionment of the far left. He tells the story that when it became apparent that socialism was not going to be the solution to the World’s problems and that capitalism was proving successful, “left intellectuals retreated into despair.” [5]In other words, when the Enlightenment did not prove to be THE SOLUTION, enter Postmodernism.
Perhaps here is a good place to provide a succinct definition of post-modernism. Wikipedia states:
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourse characterized by skepticism towards elements of the Enlightenment worldview. It questions the “grand narratives” of modernity, rejects the certainty of knowledge and stable meaning, and acknowledges the influence of ideology in maintaining political power.[6]
Reason … or Absurdity?
Like so often with our reactions to problems, we create another set of issues. In this case, with postmodernism, we end up with the inability to put our faith in anything. There seems to have been the creation of a false dichotomy. Kierkegaard’s treatment of Abraham struck me as an example of this:
“Like Abraham, we do not know and we cannot know. What we must do is jump blindly into the unknown. Kierkegaard revered Abraham as a “knight of faith” for his willingness to “crucify reason” and leap into absurdity.”[7]
Am I the only one who reads the story of Abraham differently? Just because Abraham did not fully understand God’s plan did not make his following him absurd. It seems more absurd NOT to follow the instructions of the God who had shown as much of his supremacy to Abraham as he had. Was it difficult? Of course. Was he not sure that Isaac would survive? You bet. But the alternative of not following God was more so. Abraham’s obedience just demonstrates that Abraham had higher esteem for God’s logic than his own.
A Familiar Voice
Who has read CS Lewis’ The Last Battle? Lewis uses an allegory to repaint our imagination of the end times. I found myself thinking about how the characters of Narnia discovered the truth of Aslan’s New Narnia. The way they discover that Aslan’s plan of redemption defied human logic has always resonated with me as an example of how we might feel when we start to learn that God’s logic is entirely different than our own, and that he is not bound to our limits of understanding.
“I see,” she said at last, thoughtfully. “I see now. This garden is like the stable. It is far bigger inside than it was outside.”
“Of course, Daughter of Eve,” said the Faun. “The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside.”
Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden but a whole world, with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains. But they were not strange: she knew them all.“I see,” she said. “This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below, just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the stable door! I see … world within world, Narnia within Narnia…”
“Yes,” said Mr. Tumnus, “like an onion: except that as you continue to go in and in, each circle is larger than the last.”[8]
“The inside is bigger than the outside.”
As humans, with emerging understandings, new ideologies bring opportunities. While I don’t think that our man-made world views will ever be without flaws, they do highlight new insights that can help society along. Just like Enlightenment brought us ideas of liberty and civil rights, post modernism brings some strong benefits: a call to sincerity; calling foul to the systems we have held so sacred while ignoring their limitations. But let’s not be so foolish as to think we can or will have it all figured out in this lifetime.
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[1] Stephen R. C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Expanded edition (Ockham’s Razor, 2013).
[2] Matthew Petrusek and Cardinal Thomas Collins, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture (Word on Fire, 2023).
[3] Yascha Mounk, “The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time” (New York: Penguin Press, 2023), 130–31.
[4] Kenan Malik, Not so Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics, 1st ed. (London: Hurst & Company, 2023).
[5] Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism,164.
[6] “Postmodernism,” in Wikipedia, February 29, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Postmodernism&oldid=1210996247.
[7] Hicks, 66.
[8] C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle. (New York: Harper Collins, 1994) 206-7.
About the Author
Jennifer Vernam
2 responses to “The Inside is Bigger Than the Outside”
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You have masterfully weaved together a number of our readings – and in the process – helped me better understand each of them. Thank you kindly.
It’s so telling how every generation/worldview seeks to find a solution and when it doesn’t it gets disillusioned and subsequently presents another worldview that holds “all the answers.” As people of faith, obviously, we see Jesus as the only hope for all humanity. Anything short of HIM will always, in a great sense, fall short.
Hi Jennifer,
I appreciate how your noted both the opportunity that postmodernism presents and the benefits, “Just like Enlightenment brought us ideas of liberty and civil rights, post modernism brings some strong benefits: a call to sincerity; calling foul to the systems we have held so sacred while ignoring their limitations.” Considering John’s comments, each generation also seems to make some needed contribution or improvement and each generation fails at something or produces something counterproductive. How would you describe the movement of each generation? Are things getting better or worse? Are we making progress?