POSTMODERNISM LECTURES

In this post, I will include links to lectures on postmodernism. If you find anything interesting please post a link in the comments section below. Ideally, include a brief description as well.




WHAT IS POSTMODERNISM?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we6cwmzhbBE
This first link is a lecture on Postmodernism that draws a distinction between Modernism and Postmodernism. It contains some really good stuff but does get hard at times because it is aimed at undergraduates. It contains ideas that will help us to answer all the questions. We will watch this in class, but feel free to look at some of the follow on lectures or even some of the ones that came before.

AS YOU WATCH:
Make notes on the central ideas that underpin modernism (he covers this very briefly at the start).
Do the same for postmodernism.

NOTES I MADE:
MODERNISM takes its inspiration from The Enlightenment.
Two Level Theories:
Manifest Image (What we think is real)
Scientific Image (What is actually happening underneath
      Physics (Particles/Waves/Matter/Energy ) 
      Biology (Phenotypes/Extended Phenotypes/Genetics/Evolutionary Theory) 
      Psychology (Subconscious Mind) etc.

MODERNISM is built on four principals...
TRUTH: There are objective absolute truths that are independent of mind and therefore universal.
KNOWLEDGE: It is possible to know these universal truths objectively.
REASON: Reason, logic and scientific enquiry are the method by which we can access these truths.
PROGRESS: If we behave rationally in our response to our knowledge of objective truths then we will have a better chance of achieving our objectives.


POSTMODERN thinkers reject these principals.
RELATIVISM: No truth is absolute. 'Truths' are social constructions based especially on difference in race, gender and class and power status.
SKEPTISISM: Objective knowledge is impossible. We can never really know anything.
LOGOCENTRISM: Reason is a tool of oppression used to maintain hegemony. Feelings trump logic (especially the feelings of the oppressed). 
LIBERATION: We must fight oppression by exposing and criticising hegemony and by valuing authenticity.

CONCLUSION - EVERYTHING IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION