The Postmodern Condition

The Postmodern Condition

Cover of the French edition
Author Jean-François Lyotard
Original title La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir
Translator Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi
Country France
Language French
Subject Postmodern culture, technology, epistemology
Published
Media type Print

The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (French: La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir) is a 1979 book by Jean-François Lyotard, in which Lyotard analyzes the notion of knowledge in postmodern society as the end of 'grand narratives' or metanarratives, which he considers a quintessential feature of modernity. Lyotard introduced the term 'postmodernism', which was previously only used by art critics, into philosophy, with the following observation: "Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity towards metanarratives".[1][2][3] Originally written as a report on the influence of technology in exact sciences, commissioned by the Conseil des universités du Québec, The Postmodern Condition was influential.[4][5] Lyotard later admitted that he had a "less than limited" knowledge of the science he was to write about, deeming The Postmodern Condition his worst book.

Summary

Lyotard criticizes metanarratives such as reductionism and teleological notions of human history such as those of the Enlightenment and Marxism, arguing that they have become untenable because of technological progress in the areas of communication, mass media and computer science. Techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine translation show a shift to linguistic and symbolic production as central elements of the postindustrial economy and the related postmodern culture, which had risen at the end of the 1950s after the reconstruction of western Europe. The result is a plurality of language-games (a term coined by Ludwig Wittgenstein[1]:67), of different types of argument. At the same time, the goal of truth in science is replaced by "performativity" and efficiency in the service of capital or the state, and science produces paradoxical results such as chaos theory, all of which undermine science's grand narrative.[2] Lyotard professes a preference for this plurality of small narratives that compete with each other, replacing the totalitarianism of grand narratives.

Reception

The Postmodern Condition was influential.[4] However, Lyotard later admitted that he had a "less than limited" knowledge of the science he was to write about, and to compensate for this knowledge, he "made stories up" and referred to a number of books that he hadn't actually read. In retrospect, he called it "a parody" and "simply the worst of all my books".[2] Poet Frederick Turner writes that, like many post-structuralist works, The Postmodern Condition "has not worn well." However, he sees it more readable than other post-structuralist works, and credits Lyotard with covering "a good deal of ground in a lively and economical fashion."[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Lyotard, Jean-François (1979). La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir. Paris: Minuit.
  2. 1 2 3 Anderson, Perry (1998). The Origins of Postmodernity. London/New York: Verso, pp. 24–27.
  3. ↑ Quotation from the 1984 (reprint 1997); English translation by Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi, University of Minnesota Press.
  4. 1 2 Bruneault, Frédérick (Autumn 2004). "Savoir scientifique et légitimation", Revue PHARES vol. 5.
  5. ↑ Lyotard, Jean-Francois (1979). "Les problèmes du savoir dans les sociétés industrielles les plus développées". Quebec: Conseil des Universités. Original report available online at: http://www.cse.gouv.qc.ca/FR/Publications_CUniv/
  6. ↑ Turner, Frederick. The Culture of Hope: A New Birth of the Classical Spirit. The Free Press, 1995, p. 283.
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