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by Veen 2595 days ago
Many who criticize post-modernism (and Foucault) aren't really criticizing the philosophy, but the understanding of that philosophy among groups who have adopted it for political ends.

When people say "post-modernism sucks" they mean, for example, that moral relativism sucks, or that it is stupid to view science as a grand narrative of no more value than other narratives. When they say "Foucault sucks" they are attacking the understanding among the "woke" of how power relations work in society, an understanding that is drawn, however incompetently, from readings of Foucault.

Leading post-modern philosophers didn't embrace those positions in an uncomplicated way, but many influenced by them do, and they massively outnumber the people who have actually bothered to read Derrida or Baudrillard.

Furthermore, many post-modern philosophers were showboaters who enjoyed being provocative, so you don't have to look hard to find justification for the unnuanced understanding of their work.

1 comments

What do you mean by "woke"?
I would guess that meaning : https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woke

A word currently used to describe "consciousness" and being aware of the truth behind things "the man" doesn't want you to know i.e. classism, racism...

A suggested reading that discusses wokeness, to some degree:

A THOUSAND SMALL SANITIES

The Moral Adventure of Liberalism

By Adam Gopnik

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/books/review/adam-gopnik-...