{"id":36417,"date":"2024-03-07T09:21:13","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T17:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36417"},"modified":"2024-03-07T10:44:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T18:44:54","slug":"postmodernism-the-cancellation-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/postmodernism-the-cancellation-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Postmodernism: The Cancellation of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

After reading, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, <\/em>by Stephen R. C. Hicks, <\/em>I find this post more challenging to write than usual. I\u2019m tossing around a number of thoughts struggling to find the right words. Thanks to Chapter 5: The Crisis of Socialism<\/em>, I keep getting tripped up by my experiences living in a communist country. I want to discuss those experiences but reluctant to do so on a public platform. Another thought is to look more closely at the article at the back of the book entitled, Free Speech and Postmodernism.<\/em> As noted in a previous blogpost, free speech isn\u2019t actually free and not a basic human right in certain parts of the world. Only to add to my confusion I ordered a copy of The Communist Manifesto<\/em>, since I have never read it and should have long ago. One observation after my quick inspectional read of the manifesto written in 1848 is that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels who proclaimed, \u201cWorkingmen of all countries, unite!\u201d never experienced life in a socialist nation.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

What does postmodernism of today have to do with any of my musings and my experiences? My brain has some sorting out to do. I may not get there, but I will give it my best.<\/p>\n

As I\u2018m working out the connections between these thoughts I wonder if Matthew Petrusek\u2019s words apply here, \u201cMost political conflicts have little to do with politics. They are rooted in more fundamental disputes about moral values, moral knowledge, the definition of the human being, and even metaphysics.\u201d[2]<\/a> These elements are present in Hick\u2019s explanation of postmodernism. A variety of social conflicts play out in the political and economic spheres of life, yet it seems their foundations are more philosophical, existential, and spiritual in nature; and are rooted in concern for mankind in particular the exploited and the oppressed. So, how do good intentions lead so many astray into anger, hatred, revolution, domination, skepticism, cynicism, and potentially nihilism?<\/p>\n

A brief summary helps me grasp at the answer to that question.<\/p>\n

Stephen Hicks defines postmodernism as a \u201ccomprehensive philosophical and cultural movement\u201d that \u201cmounts powerful arguments against all of the essential elements of modernism.\u201d[3]<\/a> He traces the historical progression beginning with pre-modernism, the Enlightenment, modernism, the rise and failure of socialism, and finally postmodernism. By way of explanation Hicks offers this thesis statement, \u201cThe failure of epistemology made postmodernism possible, and the failure of socialism made postmodernism necessary.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Professor Hicks explains the influence of the Enlightenment as bringing about, \u201cconfidence in the power of reason.\u201d However, this confidence in reason was vulnerable and incomplete, producing a Counter-Enlightenment attack upon it.[5]<\/a> The incongruencies of faith and reason were troublesome. By the 20th<\/sup>-century, modernism based on realism, objectivism, tabula rasa<\/em> and autonomy, individualism, and a liberal capitalism developed, even as the principles of reason and logic were challenged.[6]<\/a> Amidst this backdrop, the publication of the Communist Manifesto with an emphasis on collectivism and the likelihood of revolution, gave way to a new theory that would right the perceived socio-economic and political injustices of capitalism. Socialism and its various iterations followed. The failure of which contributed to the emergence and the \u201cnecessity\u201d of postmodernism’s skeptical and cynical worldviews. Of the Counter-Enlightenment attacks on reason Hicks writes, \u201cPostmodernism emerged as a social force among intellectuals\u201d.[7]<\/a> All of this adds another layer to my understanding of the current times and my life experiences.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Jordan Peterson, Hicks explained the metanarrative of postmodernism as one of skepticism and relativism which leads to nihilism, the rejection of religious and moral principles that leads one to believe that life is meaningless. He also shared concerns of how today\u2019s university students are constrained and feel that life is already mapped out for them.[8]<\/a> In his article, Free Speech and Postmodernism<\/em>, Hicks notes that today free speech is being threatened on university campuses with speech codes, something Lukianoff and Schlott highlighted in their book The Canceling of the American Mind<\/em>.[9]<\/a> Students are subjected to a cynical viewpoint from the start. Hicks believes university students of today need the skills to face life\u2019s challenges because they do have the capacity and potential to create change in the world and purposeful lives for themselves.[10]<\/a> Postmodernists apparently want to dash that hope for everyone. Postmodernism suppresses freedom, robs the soul of hope, and destroys true joy. And they do it with the only weapon they have, words.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to my original thoughts and my struggle to find words. In my opinion, the danger of postmodernism is that it seeks to cancel not only free speech and therefore freedom of thought and action, but hope. Observing and experiencing the suppression of the freedoms I took for granted was an eye-opening experience. Yet, hope isn\u2019t found in any political party or socio-economic system. It is found in Jesus. I had this hope going in and still proceed with caution with my words as I write, with good reason. I had hope to sustain me as certain freedoms were challenged or taken away, and I witnessed hope flourish in places where hope had been lost. I wonder along the lines of Petrusek\u2019s central message if the lack of hope and cynicism about our future offers an opportunity to restore hope to a world that desperately needs it. As I finish this post the sweet refrain of \u201cMy Hope is Built<\/em>\u201d by Edward Mote (1797-1874) came to mind.<\/p>\n

My Hope is built on nothing less<\/p>\n

Than Jesus\u2019 blood and righteousness<\/p>\n

I dare not trust the sweetest frame<\/p>\n

But wholly trust in Jesus\u2019 name<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On Christ the solid rock I stand<\/p>\n

All other ground is sinking sand<\/p>\n

All other ground is sinking sand<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Communist Manifesto<\/em>, New York, NY: International Publishers, 1948), 44.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Matthew R. Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture <\/em>(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire, 2023), 40.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Stephen R. C. Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skeptical and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, Expanded Edition, <\/em>(Redland Bay, QLD: Conner Curt Publishing, 2011), 20-21.<\/p>\n

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

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 24.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 15.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 27.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Jordan B. Peterson and Stephen Hicks, “Stephen Hicks: Postmodernism: Reprise,” 2019 in Dialogues with Jordan B. Peterson.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BwW9QV5Ulmw<\/a><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott, The Canceling of the American Mind, <\/em>(New York NY: Simon & Schuster, 2023), 38.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Jordan B. Peterson and Stephen Hicks, “Stephen Hicks: Postmodernism: Reprise,” 2019 in Dialogues with Jordan Peterson.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BwW9QV5Ulmw<\/a><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Stephen Hicks, Postmodernism<\/em>, 194.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After reading, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, by Stephen R. C. Hicks, I find this post more challenging to write than usual. I\u2019m tossing around a number of thoughts struggling to find the right words. Thanks to Chapter 5: The Crisis of Socialism, I keep getting tripped up by my experiences […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"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":[2310],"tags":[2489,1764],"class_list":["post-36417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-hicks","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36417","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\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36417"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36435,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36417\/revisions\/36435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}