{"id":33747,"date":"2023-10-29T17:54:33","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T00:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33747"},"modified":"2023-10-29T18:02:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:02:49","slug":"where-power-and-truth-intersect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/where-power-and-truth-intersect\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Power and Truth Intersect"},"content":{"rendered":"

The search for Truth has been at the center of war, politics, religion, science, technology, art and most of the conflict that our world has experienced over millennia. In this sense, it extends far beyond the philosophical realm into the very fabric of our lives. Stephen Hicks, Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, sets out to provide a history of man\u2019s search for Truth in his book Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault.<\/em> In this work, Hicks traces the development of postmodernism and strives to show how the current postmodern worldview has been highjacked by the liberal left.<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

I am by no means a philosopher, nor do I desire to become one, however the Western world\u2019s development from premodernism to modernism to postmodernism has had a significant impact on all areas of our life. As such, a high-level understanding of these concepts is critical for anyone who seeks to have a leadership role, especially in today’s global world. Of particular interest to me is understanding the impact that these three philosophies have on power. In his book Leading with Nothing to Lose, <\/em>Simon Walker \u201cexplains that power is simply the application of force in a human system.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Through Walker\u2019s lens of power, I will attempt to explore the three philosophical eras mention above and evaluate the sources of power in each. Let\u2019s begin with the definitions in Hick\u2019s chart below.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Forces of Power in Pre-Modernism<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The pre-modern era \u201cwas the dominant philosophy approximately until 1650 [and] was based upon revealed knowledge from authoritative sources.[5]<\/a> Per Hick\u2019s chart, we see that in the pre-modern era, Truth was primarily discovered from God or through the feudal system, i.e. the monarchs or rulers of the day. In this era, front stage power was held by the church and the ruling class, yet backstage power was found in the collective mindset that there was a unified purpose in humanity\u2014that the human being was part of the whole, which is greater than its parts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forces of Power in Modernism<\/strong><\/h1>\n

With the advent of the enlightenment, came modernism and the forces of power in the world shifted from divine will to reason. Humanity separated itself from the world, so that it could examine and manipulate it. Forces of power became centered on science, innovation, technology and man\u2019s ability to reason. No longer was there power or connectedness between man, God and his environment. The power lay in the systems and science that man had created. Those very systems and science would eventually give rise to some of the most devasting situations that mankind had ever experienced.<\/p>\n

Points of Power in Post-Modernism<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Finally, in the middle of the twentieth century, post-modernism entered the picture. Science was beginning to realize that some of its Truths were in fact based on major assumptions. The world had experienced the devasting impact of nuclear war (cost of science) and financial depression (cost of capitalism), so an alternate worldview began to take hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cHicks claims that postmodernism is defined by four features. First, it is a metaphysically anti-realist position, which holds that it is \u201cimpossible to speak meaningfully about an independent reality.\u201d Second, postmodernism is epistemologically skeptical of the possibility of acquiring objective knowledge about the world. Third, it is methodologically collectivist, regarding human nature as primarily defined by group affiliations. And, fourth, postmodernism is politically committed to protecting those groups which postmodernists regard as victims.\u201d\u00a0[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

What does this mean for the forces of power?\u00a0 In postmodernity, we see them moving back to a collectivism now found in identity politics and away from reality or objective Truth.\u00a0 From my perspective, the subjective nature of power in a post-modern world offers some positives and negatives. The positives being a recognition that individuals see the world through their unique lens and that God exists in every human being\u2014therefore they are worthy of respect, dignity, and personal power. The negatives being a dismissal of the good aspects that modernism provided.<\/p>\n

Is it possible to reform capitalism in a way that is more equal for all? Is it possible to utilize technology and science for the collective good? Is it possible to recognize the divine in each individual without smearing \u201cthe other\u201d because they simply don\u2019t understand? If I\u2019m looking to The Way of Jesus for those answers, it is a resounding, \u201cyes!\u201d As the world continues to evolve and a new consciousness takes hold, I choose to put my faith and source of power in the only hands that ultimately matter\u2014those of Jesus.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Stephen R. C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault<\/em>, Expanded edition (Ockham\u2019s Razor, 2013).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose<\/em> (Piquant Publishing, 2010), 9.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Laura Fleetwood, \u201cExploring the Forces of Leadership Power,\u201d accessed October 29, 2023, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/exploring-the-forces-of-leadership-power\/.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism<\/em>, 25.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cParadigmatic Approaches: Premodernism \u2013 iNtgrty,\u201d September 5, 2016, https:\/\/www.intgrty.co.za\/2016\/09\/05\/paradigmatic-approaches-premodernism\/.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cA Review of Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks,\u201d Areo, October 17, 2018, https:\/\/areomagazine.com\/2018\/10\/17\/a-review-of-explaining-postmodernism-by-stephen-hicks\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The search for Truth has been at the center of war, politics, religion, science, technology, art and most of the conflict that our world has experienced over millennia. In this sense, it extends far beyond the philosophical realm into the very fabric of our lives. Stephen Hicks, Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University, sets out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"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":[1764],"class_list":["post-33747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hicks","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33747","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\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33747"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33753,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33747\/revisions\/33753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}