School of thought
Postmodernism
Intellectual current
Classification
- Period
- c. 1979 CE onward
- Regions
- Europe (origin), North America
- Domains
- Epistemology, Philosophy of Language
Overview
Postmodernism is a contested umbrella for diverse critical, strategic, and rhetorical practices rather than a unified movement with one doctrine. Authors grouped under the term have challenged fixed identity, linear historical progress, epistemic certainty, and unified meaning, although their projects differ and some resisted the label. Lyotard defined the postmodern as "incredulity toward metanarratives," while Baudrillard developed a distinct account of simulacra and hyperreality.
Key ideas
- Incredulity toward Metanarratives: Lyotard used this formulation for skepticism toward the large narratives that legitimate knowledge and institutions, including stories of progress and emancipation.
- Simulacra and Hyperreality: Baudrillard: in consumer society, copies without originals (simulacra) replace reality. Disneyland, media, advertising — the simulation becomes more real than the real.
- High and Popular Culture: In postmodern aesthetics, distinctions between high art and popular culture, original and copy, or depth and surface are often blurred or critically reworked.
Key figures
Jean-François Lyotard · Jean Baudrillard · Linda Hutcheon · Gianni Vattimo
Influenced by
- Post-Structuralism
Extended the post-structuralist attack on totalizing systems and on stable reference: Lyotard turned it against the grand narratives that legitimate knowledge, Baudrillard against the sign that no longer refers to any original.
References
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Postmodernism
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Jean-François Lyotard, introduction and §§1–2; Postmodernism, §2 — Formation: Lyotard's 1979 intervention, developed in the French setting of his teaching at Vincennes.
- The Postmodern Condition — Jean-François Lyotard
- Simulacra and Simulation — Jean Baudrillard