Q&A: The Source of Postmodernism
The Source of Postmodernism
Question
Hello, honored Rabbi.
I once heard that postmodernist philosophers like Jacques Derrida were heavily influenced by the later Wittgenstein, for example ideas like language games in metaphysics or the way language is constructed by society. Does the Rabbi think that is correct? (Unfortunately, I don’t have much understanding of the history of postmodernism or of it itself.)
Answer
Why does it matter? I’m also not sufficiently knowledgeable about it (because in my opinion there isn’t much there to be knowledgeable about). It’s quite clear that Wittgenstein had an influence there. In Two Carts I already pointed out that positivism is the forerunner of postmodernism, even though they are seemingly opposites. Both of these approaches see logic as the be-all and end-all, and in that way they empty thought of content.