{"id":33626,"date":"2023-10-25T22:36:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T05:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33626"},"modified":"2023-10-25T22:36:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T05:36:51","slug":"close-to-insanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/close-to-insanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Close to Insanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steven Hicks in<\/span> Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/span><\/i>, takes his readers on a philosophical journey. The following is a conclusion the author makes about postmodernism:<\/span><\/p>\n

In postmodernism we find metaphysical antirealism, epistemological subjectivity, the placing of feeling at the root of all value issues, the consequent relativism of both knowledge and values, and the consequent devaluing or disvaluing of the scientific enterprise. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

The author makes efforts to explain how philosophy got to this place and how we might go forward in understanding metaphysics and epistemology. This mental work might be compared to walking through thick mud wearing boots that get sucked down with each step. I would much rather be barefoot running through a grassy field!\u00a0 To break free from the sucking mud and to run with ease, I thought I would call my daughter\u2019s boyfriend who is a Philosophy professor at San Luis Obispo. Brian Looper is adept at making a way through this difficult terrain. What qualifies him to speak in this philosophical discussion?\u00a0 Brian has a BA in Philosophy from Taylor University, an MA in philosophy at Syracuse, New York, and a PhD. from UC Santa Barbara. Talking with Brian helped me gain firm ground as we dialogued about postmodernism. In this blog, I will share notes from our conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our conversation began with discussing an American value- Egalitarianism:<\/b><\/p>\n

Egalitarianism is a good thing. People want the goodness of equality but they are devoid of any foundation for this. As an example, people will assert that murder is wrong; this belief comes from somewhere. In postmodernism people want the truth but have lost explanation for where it comes from. There are two options with postmodernism: 1) Abandon any moral truth or 2) Embrace metaphysical theories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone is made in the image of God and each person has infinite worth. But let’s look at the \u00a0 example of a parent telling their child that they can be whatever they want to be. I wanted to be a professional basketball player but this wasn’t in the cards. There is an equality that doesn\u2019t have to do with capacity. I am an egalitarian, but I would say that not everyone is equally gifted. We are free to not have to believe that everyone has equal capacities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christian Philosophers\/ Secular Philosophers<\/b><\/p>\n

Thomas Aquinas was a monk. He assumed the Scriptural background while doing philosophy. John Locke was a serious Christian. He wanted to find common ground by having faith in God. Philosophy went outside the Christian Church and became a public practice. Oswald Chamber states in his book: <\/span>Biblical Psychology,<\/span><\/i> \u201cWe are inscrutable, but we are also built that we must introspect. Introspection without God leads to insanity.\u201d [2]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hume did not believe in God, he was skeptical about what could be known about the future and the nature of cause and effect. We do not observe what is going on with cause and effect. We assume what is going to happen and we project an inner feeling of necessity. This has no rational grounding. After Hume came a bunch of bizarre theories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Philosophers began to think- I can learn apart from Scripture. They gained too much confidence in their own faculties. Descartes thought it was important to talk with atheists. He wrote a book called <\/span>Meditations<\/span><\/i> and the dedication of the book is to a faculty of a school in Paris. The dedication of this book appealed to readers to make common ground with others by reasoning apart from a basis on Scripture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Challenge to postmodernists<\/b><\/p>\n

I would start by challenging them to be consistent with their views. I would pose the question: How do you consistently hold to truths? Postmodernists do not have a source or something that is grounding their work. Postmodernists do not want to have God as their source so they may point to human nature which applies to everyone. They are silly to deny an objective basis.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does good philosophy look like?<\/b><\/p>\n

There are two schools of philosophy. 1) Analytic Philosophy or 2) Continental Philosophy (popular culture). Brian says that he aligns himself with Analytic philosophy as this is concerned with truth and absolute reality. Continental philosophy has a pretense for being intellectual; they try to get around God by not specializing in ethics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian described Plato as having a pre-Christian view. Plato lived in the 4<\/span>th<\/span> century, 350 years before Christ. Plato did not believe in the Greek pantheon of gods. He would argue that God does not have to take on human form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n

I am grateful that Brian and I can share a Biblical perspective and find joy in going to Scripture for truth. One of the conclusions we made after our conversation comes from Ecclesiastes 8:17, \u201cNo one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.\u201d Many philosophers have gone to great lengths to find meaning and provide explanations for life, these attempts fall short of knowing what there is to know. 1 Corinthians 13:12 states, \u201cFor now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.\u201d There will be a day when things will be fully known.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Stephen R.C. Hicks, <\/span>Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/span><\/i>, 2011, p.81<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Oswald Chambers, <\/span>Biblical Psychology: Christ Centered Solutions for Daily Problems<\/span><\/i>, 1995, p.152<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven Hicks in Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, takes his readers on a philosophical journey. The following is a conclusion the author makes about postmodernism: In postmodernism we find metaphysical antirealism, epistemological subjectivity, the placing of feeling at the root of all value issues, the consequent relativism of both knowledge and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"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":[1770,1766],"class_list":["post-33626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-explaining-postmodernism","tag-stephen-hicks","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33626","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\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33627,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33626\/revisions\/33627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}