Postmodern Views on Truth: Debating the Absolutism vs. Relativism
The terms 'postmodernity' and 'post-truth' are often used interchangeably in contemporary discourse, each carrying a similar connotation of a shift away from traditional notions of truth. The adage, 'Truth in the postmodern era is the baby that has gotten thrown out with the bathwater,' encapsulates the sentiment that in the postmodern context, the very essence of truth is controversial and subjective.
A Debate Over Truth's Debatability
Some scholars argue that the post-modern perspective on truth remains inherently flawed and subject to overly relative interpretations. However, a closer examination of the literature reveals a plethora of speculative theories that conceptualize truth as a commodity, ideology, narrative, and a product of power structures. These perspectives, while divergent, all converge on the notion that truth is a deeply contextual and malleable concept, reflecting the cultural and historical circumstances of its creation.
The Absolutist Logical Sense and Logocentric Metaphysics
The classical view of truth often rests on an absolutist logical sense, which assumes a perfect relationship between signifiers and signifieds. This aligns with a logocentric metaphysics, where reality is seen as isomorphic to a specific arrangement of signifiers. In this system, the truth is believed to exist independently of human interpretation, reflecting an external reality. Postmodernists, however, reject this notion, arguing that the very signifiers and their relationships are shaped by sociocultural power structures.
Relativism in Scientific Truth
Even within the realm of science, postmodernist thinkers critique the assumption of an absolute truth. Instead, they posit that 'scientific truths' emerge relative to empirical standards of predictive success. However, these truths are not seen as absolute or independent of cultural assumptions. For instance, a postmodernist might argue that the claim that scientific theories represent an objective reality is flawed because these theories are themselves products of a particular historical and cultural context.
Cultural Assumptions and Intuition
Postmodernists also challenge the idea that there is a superior or intuitive standard of truth. They assert that different systems of cultural assumptions are inherently incomparable, as each is biased in its own way. The notion that one system might be more intuitive than another is deemed meaningless, as intuition itself is seen as a culturally inflected concept. This perspective aligns with views in some strands of analytic philosophy, such as W.V.O. Quine's holism and Imre Lakatos' pluralism of research programs. However, these philosophers often introduce a mechanism to break the tie, like Quine's fictionalist scientific realism or Lakatos' emphasis on scientific discourse, thereby sidestepping the issue of independently justifying a scientific standard.
Conclusion
The postmodernist view on truth presents a complex tapestry of ideas, challenging the absolutist and relativist notions of truth. It emphasizes the importance of understanding truth within the context of cultural and historical constraints. In doing so, it highlights the need for a more nuanced and contextually aware approach to truth, one that recognizes its malleability and subjectivity.