Primer on Postmodernism

by Stanley J. Grenz

Book Overview

From the academy to pop culture, our society is in the throes of change rivaling the birth of modernity out of the decay of the Middle Ages. We are now moving from the modern to the postmodern era.

But what is postmodernism? How did it arise? What characterizes the postmodern ethos? What is the postmodern mind and how does it differ from the modern mind? Who are its leading advocates? Most important of all, what challenges does...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802808646
• ISBN13: 9780802808646
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent history and analysis

This was an excellent study in the philosophical foundations of the actual movement of postmodernity, contrasted with the pop images of that movement which don't represent the shift in the history of human thought. Grenz cleverly takes us into the movement (c. 1) by contrasting images of the old Star Trek, in which Mr. Spock represented the peak of intelligence, pure logic. He is presented as an image of modernity. In the newer Star Trek(s), there is ethnic diversity, a diversity of skills and stories, and a new emphasis on emotion. This is a taste of postmodernity. Chapter 2 gives an account of the rise of postmodernity into the public eye and the U.S. culture, but this largely reflects the art and architecture of the post-1960's cultural revolution. The real foundations of postmodernity consist of a more sophisticated critique of earlier philosophy. Chapter 3 gives a more detailed look at a shifting worldview or vantage point, away from the monolithic empiricist view of the Enlightenment. As Descartes split the subjective self from the objective world, Bacon's creation of empirical method to bridge the two, and Newton's mechanistic description of an ordered universe created the pursuit of a universal worldview, the God's eye perspective. Modernity sought that one perspective and believed that humanity could attain an objective, rational grasp on it. Unfortunately, reasonable people in power seem to find ways to rationalize their use of it. This cast doubt on reason and objectivity themselves. This culminated (c. 4) in the Kantian analysis of reason. Reason creates categories through which the world is filtered. It is thus limited by its filter (leaving room for the noumenous or the metaphysical), but it is still rational and objective. Chapters 5 and 6 are worth their weight in gold. This is a beginner's survey of the philosophical influences leading up to the present day. Without summarizing them all here, it suffices to say that Nietzsche announced the conclusion of modernity (both descriptively and prophetically). Godamer attempted a last grab at modernity by positing "a fusion of horizons" (Robert Nozik has more recently called it "invariances"). Schleiermacher and Wittgenstien turned modern philosophy from strict epistemology to linguistics, grounding meaning (if it can be had) in shared vocabulary. Foucault then accused language itself of bearing Nietzche's will-to-power, particularly language concerning sexuality; Derrida deconstructed the correspondence theory of knowledge and suggested that meaning coheres only within the context of a given vocabulary; Rorty affirms a coherence theory as well, denying there is a fundamental essence in anything. Grenz fails to make note of the consequent shift of philosophy towards cognitive science after the perceived failure of epistemology. The contemporaries: Searle, Putman, and Nozik, are now operating under an assumed pragmatic realism and talking about whether or not compute

Excellent Introduction

Stanley Grenz's A primer on Postmodernism provides an overview of the socio-cultural phenomenon known as postmodernism. Although as a professor of theology and ethics Grenz has a particular interest in the religious implications of the postmodern movement, his work is an excellent well-rounded introduction to this important cultural and intellectual movement As with other broad terms, the expression "postmodernism" is somewhat ill-defined and can be variously interpreted. Postmodernism, as the term implies, is fundamentally a move, or an attempt to move, beyond the views of modernism. The roots of what we refer to as modernism can be traced to the European Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Enlightenment is often viewed as a turning point in Western civilization where revelation was supplanted by reason as the means to knowledge and truth. The pre-modern approach to knowledge is represented by the sentiment that belief is required for understanding. Modernism's focus on verifiable truth transposes this argument and makes belief contingent upon understanding. Modernism holds several key assumptions. It postulates that epistemological and ethical truths exist, and that these truths are available to man. Postmodernism has challenged this modern faith in reason and raised questions about man's ability to understand the universe. Grenz provides an excellent and succinct overview of modernism and postmodernism that, in my opinion, is useful to both new and advanced students of this subject. I found his discussion of the scientific and philosophical roots of postmodernism particularly clear and insightful. A primer on Postmodernism is the best book I have read in this area. I highly recommend it to readers interested in this topic

Best of 6 I read on the topic

This is the most lucid and complete introductory discussion of postmodernism that I have read. His discussion is helpful and accesable. He deals with individual thinkers and cultural trends enough to be complete but not enough to overwhelm someone getting started on the 20th century. He has an excellant grasp of the scollarly and cultural aspects of the trends corperately referred to as postmodernism.There was some nearly verbatum repetition which could have been avoided. However, on the whole this was one of the most enjoyable and helpful books I have read in some time...the first A+ I've given this year.

A must read for interpreting our culture and theology

Dr. Grenz always seems to write in an enjoyable, clear fashion. He has done this again in "A Primer On Postmodernism". This book discusses the worldview that our society is has left (modernism) and then relates this to our present worldview (post-modernism). Dr. Grenz helps the reader to see how Christian thought can not only survey within this post-modern world, but actually thrive. By beinging to understand what post-modernism is we can relate the truth of the gospel to it, we merely need to consider what parts of the gospel best relate to post-modern thought and then points our good news out to the post-modern world. Dr. Grenz helps to make this possible but explaining why we should not fear post-modern thought and displaying how we can use it in benefical manners.

Helpfully traces the development of postmodern thought

A Primer on Postmodernism is a helpful introduction to postmo culture and some of its leading thinkers (Rorty, Derrida and Foucault). In addition, Grenz traces the development of the seeds of postmodernism from the Renaissance to its full modern flower. The author - writing for a Christian audience - neither embraces postmodernism wholesale nor shys away from incorporating any of its helpful insights into a Christian paradigm. Grenz writes so that the Christian can more thoughtfully and intelligently engage postmoderns. Worth reading.