{"id":25828,"date":"2020-02-10T18:04:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T02:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=25828"},"modified":"2020-02-10T18:04:51","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T02:04:51","slug":"seeking-to-understand-postmodernists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/seeking-to-understand-postmodernists\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking to Understand Postmodernists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks\u00a0(born August 19, 1960) is a\u00a0Canadian-American<\/a>\u00a0philosopher<\/a>. He is a Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois. Hicks is the author of four books and a documentary.\u00a0His Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/em>\u00a0argues that\u00a0postmodernism<\/a>\u00a0is best understood as a rhetorical strategy of intellectuals and academics on the far-left of the political spectrum developed in reaction to the failure of\u00a0socialism<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0communism<\/a>.[1]<\/a> Matt McManus, in his review of Hicks\u2019 subject work, is extremely critical of Hicks’ efforts in writing about the association of postmodern thinking with identity politics, growing skepticism about free speech, and other social trends. McManus goes on to praise Hicks for raising some valuable criticisms of left-wing activism and its strategic appeals to postmodern rhetoric. Regrettably,\u00a0Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>\u00a0is full of misreadings, suppositions, rhetorical hyperbole, and even factual errors. Not surprisingly, McManus flat out declares that Hicks scholarship is unacceptably sloppy. Therefore, McManus contends that Hick’s work is insufficient as an intellectual guide to the development of postmodernism or a primer on contemporary left-wing thought.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

I am a bit undecided about how to proceed as my chosen reviewer (McManus) is so critical of Hicks\u2019 scholarship in approaching this subject work. I am also saddled with the propensity to view philosophy as something that only intellectuals and academics care about, so what is the point of consideration from a global leadership perspective? However, in striving to learn from Nick Spencer\u2019s methodological tenet, (\u201chear the past in its own key, rather than instinctively transposing it into one with which we are more familiar, and comfortable, today.[3]<\/a>), I am choosing to see what I can observe and learn from this alien subject set in this alien landscape.<\/p>\n

Hicks declares that language functions as the center of postmodern epistemology. Modern realists (perhaps like me) utilize consciousness (a subset of language) to become aware of reality and how to use this newfound awareness of reality as a guide to new actions. That is, consciousness is both cognitive and functional.[4]<\/a> This alleged modern construct sounds like the premise of coaching, active listening, and powerful questions to aid the client in finding a new perspective of their current reality to move forward into their preferred future. According to Hicks, postmodern anti-realists never intend to connect with a non-linguistic reality; therefore, language only connects with more language (I honestly fail to see the point of this).[5]<\/a> Therefore, most postmodernist language is simply a weapon for the cause. Hicks contends that postmodern rhetoric can not only be described as harsh but as a form of verbal weaponry and therefore needs to be explosive.[6]<\/a> The intent of language as a weapon and not for communication to cultivate understanding leading to resolution is exceptionally problematic for me. While I am not confident that postmoderns have cornered the market for this approach, the \u201cverbal weapons of mass destruction\u201d approach typify our society’s communication (or lack thereof) of all significant social and cultural issues on all platforms.<\/p>\n

Stephen Richards Covey\u00a0(October 24, 1932\u00a0\u2013 July 16, 2012) was an\u00a0American<\/a>\u00a0educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is\u00a0The 7 Habits\u00a0of Highly Effective People<\/em><\/a>.[7]<\/a> His materials were utilized as a corporate quality improvement program at the engineering and construction company, where I was employed from 1989 to 1991. Habit 5 is Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.[8]<\/a> That is, we are all informed by and form our perspective based on our experiences. Understanding (and therefore, actions leading to resolution) will never progress until we first strive to listen and seek to understand the other\u2019s experience. This has been my \u201cguiding light\u201d since beginning seminary in 2017 at the age of 61. Since then, I have continually been made uncomfortable (as an older white male) listening to and learning from the experiences of others. More importantly, when I examine why I am uncomfortable, it is because the experiences and understanding of others have challenged my preconceived opinions and views. Have I always responded with grace and kindness? No, but I am fortunate to have had professors who challenged me to continue to walk this well-worn path for learning and growing. I am not sure I have learned anymore about postmodernism, but I know I want to listen and learn from postmodernists.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Wikipedia, accessed 02\/06\/2020, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stephen_Hicks<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Matt McManus, “A Review of Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks” Aero Magazine<\/em> October 17, 2018. https:\/\/areomagazine.com\/2018\/10\/17\/a-review-of-explaining-postmodernism-by-stephen-hicks\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Nick Spencer, The Evolution of the West: How Christianity Has Shaped Our Values <\/em>(London, Great Britain: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2016) 4.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Stephen R. C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rosseau to Foucalt <\/em>Rev.ed. (Roscoe, IL: Ocham\u2019s Razor Publishing, 2011) 174.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>, 175.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>, 178.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>Wikipedia, accessed February 6, 2020, https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stephen_Covey<\/a><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Habit 5 https:\/\/www.franklincovey.com\/the-7-habits\/habit-5.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks\u00a0(born August 19, 1960) is a\u00a0Canadian-American\u00a0philosopher. He is a Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, Illinois. Hicks is the author of four books and a documentary.\u00a0His Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault\u00a0argues that\u00a0postmodernism\u00a0is best understood as a rhetorical strategy of intellectuals and academics on the far-left of the political […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1321,1770,1766],"class_list":["post-25828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp9","tag-explaining-postmodernism","tag-stephen-hicks","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25829,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828\/revisions\/25829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}