Q&A: Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Question
Hello, Rabbi,
It seems very likely that the Rabbi has already addressed this question on the site, but I’ll ask anyway since I couldn’t find it.
Is the claim that everything is subjective (morality, truth, etc.) a postmodernist one? If this is postmodernism, I don’t understand why postmodernism necessarily leads to the breakdown of values and to skepticism. Both the postmodernist (according to this definition) and the conservative act according to how they perceive reality through their minds, in a subjective way; the difference between them is that the postmodernist does so openly, while the conservative does so without admitting that he is subjective. I haven’t seen any practical difference between saying that everything is subjective and saying that one can arrive at objectivity. I’d be glad if the Rabbi would share his opinion on the matter. Thank you very much.
Answer
I’m not sure I understood the question. If you are a postmodernist, then you think the modernist is living under an illusion. But that itself is exactly what the debate is about.
Discussion on Answer
And to that I will answer again that a sheep also lives in a very moral way. Is it moral too? A way of life is not a necessary indication of morality. Commitment to a command is the essence of morality, and where there is no command there is no commitment to a command. There is a façade of command and of morality. The difference is not in the conduct.
Let me ask it this way: what is the difference in how a person conducts himself between someone who says everything is subjective and someone who says it is possible to reach objectivity? I think such a postmodernist can be a person with values and morality and faith, and that this kind of postmodernism does not necessarily lead to the breakdown of values, because the above postmodernist lives his truth (with morality, values, faith, and so on) exactly like the person who says there is objectivity lives according to how he perceives reality (and both of them can be moral people in exactly the same way).