From Dawn to Decadence

1. From Dawn to Decadence An Introduction to Modernism and Postmodernism by Kevin Davis

2. recap • Early Enlightenment (1600’s to mid-1700’s) • Deist “natural religion” • Rationalism and Moralism • The Scientific Revolution • Late Enlightenment (mid-1700’s to early 1800’s) • Hume’s radical skepticism • Kant’s God of “practical reason,” not “pure reason” • Hegel’s “God” that becomes in history

3. recap 19th century Atheism • Feuerbach • Hegelianism without God • Theology is anthropology • Religion is psychology • Nietzsche • “God is dead…We have killed him.” • The “slave morality” of Christianity • The “will to power”

4. recap • Jean-Paul Sartre and Existentialism • Existence precedes essence • Truth is not “out there” to be discovered. • We are free to create the truth (essence) of ourselves and the world.

5. Michel Foucault 1926-1984 French philosopher Historian Philologist Literary Critic

6. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) • Born in Poitier, France • Lived and died (from AIDS) in Paris • Gay intellectual and advocate for GLBT normalization • Perhaps the most important and influential postmodern philosopher

7. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) What is postmodernism? • The “self” is created by society. • Society creates the “norms” by which we identify ourselves and others. • Yet, we are society, so we create the norms. • Therefore, we are free to change the norms.

8. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) What is postmodernism? • How does society create norms? • Through power (recalling Nietzsche) • Schools, churches, political parties, prisons, businesses, etc. are the “structures of power” that create human identity. • The normal = good • The abnormal = bad

9. The Panopticon prison Maximize discipline Internalize disciplinary measures

10. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) Discipline and Punish (1975) • Discipline is internalized as “norms” • except for the deviant (abnormal) who do not internalize the norms • Societal structures create the “soul” or “self” • parents, ministers, politicians, teachers, doctors, etc. • “Rituals of truth” create identity

11. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) • “The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body.” (Discipline and Punish, p. 30) • Summary • Norms are reduced to power • Truth is reduced to power • Hegel  Feuerbach  Nietzsche  Sartre • Foucault is the logical end of philosophy!

12. From Hegel to Foucault • “God” is historicized for Hegel. • Spirit (of Man) = God “coming into being” in history • If truth is historically dependent (contingent upon place and time), then is truth relative? • Yes, for Foucault, truth is relative to the societies that create truth through “techniques of power.” • There is no universal culture or history. Therefore, there is no universal truth.

13. Moral Relativism • If truth is relative, then on what basis are “truth claims” criticized? • “Since what are being criticized are social practices, and since the ground of criticism is also a social practice (the social practice of moral discourse), and since all social practices are products (at least in part) of power relations, what is it about the social practice of moral discourse that renders it capable of passing judgment on other practices?” (Todd May)

14. Postmodernism Today • Feminism is the quintessential postmodern movement • Gender is a social construct • “Sex” (anatomy) is distinct from gender • Gender is fluid and/or interchangeable • GLBT is the postmodern movement of today • a logical extension of feminism

15. Postmodernism Today • Identity, identity, identity!! • Our generation is obsessed with personal identity: gender identity, sexual identity, spiritual identity, political identity, artistic identity, et cetera. • Identity is not “essential” to our humanity (including sexual anatomy). • Identity is “constructed” – freedom / authenticity

16. “I am mine” • Garden of Eden • “Has God really said?” • We create (construct) the meaning of a text. • Authority is within us.