Postmodern spirit

Author: David Ray Griffin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-17
Features: Postmodernism, one of the most influential cultural trends in contemporary Western thought, has increasingly attracted the attention and interest of scholars in China. As this trend continues to develop overseas, the literature on postmodernism by Chinese scholars is also growing. In the era of reform and opening up, this is actually a very natural thing. Many years after Sartre's death, we began to learn about him. Now, with figures like Gadamer, Derrida, Rorty, Hoy, and Griffin still alive, we have already started studying their thoughts, which cannot be said not to represent an era of progress. Postmodern thinkers are not only "concerned individuals" but also those who confront reality directly. They clearly recognize the "world-destroying problems" of nuclear weapons and the environment that humanity currently faces and attempt to solve these problems. In the process of tracing the roots of these issues, they discover that modernity is largely to blame for today's human misfortunes. Therefore, challenging and critiquing modernity becomes the main task of postmodern thinkers. This is why Griffin says: "We can, and should discard modernity. In fact, we must do so; otherwise, we and most life on Earth will be unable to escape the fate of destruction."