our post-postmodern world

kierkagaard would have called himself modern. hegel believed himself to be modern. but was this really true? in fact, we find them very purely postmodern in their thought and their outlook on life.

we think that we are postmodern.

maybe we need to rethink this. are we really postmodern, or like kierkagaard and hegel are we deluding ourselves? certainly, we have many of the same philosophies as postmodernism, but this doesn't by necessity determine that we are postmodern. in fact, you will find that each era in history has had some connection to the past. therefore, it is possible that we too are in an time of change. maybe we are moving into a post-postmodern generation?

what would indicate that this is happening? is this a flashing neon light that needs to pop up? will someone write a book about it? will it hit the frontpage news? what (and also who) determines that we are no longer postmodern?

i think that as we look at the culture of today, we find many themes that are postmodern. we still see a general public that abhors absolute truth. we still find ourselves in a chaotic "everyone-is-right-and-has-there-own-validity" society. however, are these signs enough to label us postmodern?

i would contend that there is a reawakening happening as i write this. look around you. we see a world that is being ravaged by greed and protectionism. we see a world where there is no longer the good cowboy in the white hat. everyone seems to have a hidden motive. but more and more recently, we find our generation is fed up with this. look at the recent film Man of the Year. this movie laughingly pokes at the political process in america, expertly demonstrating there must be another way.

at the same time that we are fed up of such shananigans, i also find a growing sentiment among my peers that indicates a shift from the absolute relativism of postmodernism. instead, we find there is a resurgence of reason. there is no question that faith (whatever that actually meant to us) was the driving force in the postmodern world. no longer could reason prove anything. thus, whatever an individual chose to put there faith in was ok. in fact, the more blind the leap of faith, the more we found that this leap was commended for being faithful.

however, look at Pope Benedicts recent igniting speech at Regensburg. yes, he was misquoted and taken out of context. yes, he did speak of islam. but his primary topic was the combination of faith and reason. although i thought, in my prideful arrogance, i was the first one to bring faith and reason back together. (for my thoughts on this check out my blook http://merehumanity.wordpress.com) there are many others who are coming to exactly the same conclusion.

how will this impact our cultures? how will the world be changing?

i am not sure. but i know that the world may still be postmodern, but we are on the brink of change. there is no room for absolute relativism in a world where people will blow themselves up to kill you. or in a world where an american president is spying on his own people. or in a world where people on all sides of the debate are desirous of wiping each other off of the map. in this ever globalizing world, there can no longer be "whatever floats your boat" mentality. there are conflicts already. there will be more conflicts. relativism will not be the solution. some people are just plain wrong.

we can rid ourselves of reason all that we want, but deep down inside, we all feel that what the terrorists are doing is wrong (we may also feel that the response to terrorism is wrong, as well). we don't need a logical treatise to tell us that there are evil men out there.

i think that this harsh reality will enable us to move from the postmodern extreme relativism into a faith and reason culture, where reason drives faith and faith drives reason. so as to which direction this flow should go, tune in next time for my next thoughts.