''The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge'' (french: La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir) is a 1979 book by the philosopher
Jean-François Lyotard
Jean-François Lyotard (; ; ; 10 August 1924 – 21 April 1998) was a French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist. His interdisciplinary discourse spans such topics as epistemology and communication, the human body, modern art and ...
, in which the author analyzes the
notion of knowledge in
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
society as the end of 'grand narratives' or
metanarrative
A metanarrative (also meta-narrative and grand narrative; french: métarécit) is a narrative ''about'' narratives of historical meaning, experience, or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet ...
s, which he considers a quintessential feature of
modernity
Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...
. Lyotard introduced the term 'postmodernism', which was previously only used by art critics, into philosophy and social sciences, with the following observation: "Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity towards metanarratives".
[Lyotard, Jean-François (1979). ''La condition postmoderne: rapport sur le savoir''. Paris: Minuit.][ Anderson, Perry (1998). ''The Origins of Postmodernity''. London/New York: Verso, pp. 24–27.] Originally written as a report on the influence of technology in
exact science
The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...
s, commissioned by the ''Conseil des universités du
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
'', the book was influential.
[Bruneault, Frédérick (Autumn 2004).]
Savoir scientifique et légitimation
, ''Revue PHARES'' vol. 5. Lyotard later admitted that he had a "less than limited" knowledge of the science he was to write about, deeming ''The Postmodern Condition'' his worst book.
Summary
Lyotard criticizes metanarratives such as
reductionism
Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...
and
teleological
Teleology (from and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology" In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Appleton ...
notions of human history such as those of the
Enlightenment and
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
, arguing that they have become untenable because of
technological
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
progress in the areas of
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
,
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
and
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
. Techniques such as
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
and
machine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT (not to be confused with computer-aided translation, machine-aided human translation or interactive translation), is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates t ...
show a shift to
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and symbolic production as central elements of the
postindustrial
In sociology, the post-industrial society is the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy.
The term was originated by Alain Touraine and is closely related to si ...
economy and the related postmodern culture, which had risen at the end of the 1950s after the reconstruction of
western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
. The result is a plurality of
language-game
A language-game (german: Sprachspiel) is a philosophical concept developed by Ludwig Wittgenstein, referring to simple examples of language use and the actions into which the language is woven. Wittgenstein argued that a word or even a sentence h ...
s (a term coined by
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
), of different types of argument. At the same time, the goal of truth in science is replaced by "performativity" and efficiency in the service of capital or the state, and science produces paradoxical results such as
chaos theory
Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of scientific study and branch of mathematics focused on underlying patterns and deterministic laws of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, and were once thought to have co ...
, all of which undermine science's grand narrative.
Lyotard professes a preference for this plurality of small narratives that compete with each other, replacing the
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
of grand narratives.
Reception
''The Postmodern Condition'' was influential.
However, Lyotard later admitted that he had a "less than limited" knowledge of the
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
he wrote about, and to compensate for this knowledge, he "made stories up" and referred to a number of books that he hadn't actually read. In retrospect, he called it "a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
" and "simply the worst of all my books".
The poet
Frederick Turner writes that, like many post-structuralist works, ''The Postmodern Condition'' "has not worn well." However, he sees it more readable than other post-structuralist works, and credits Lyotard with covering "a good deal of ground in a lively and economical fashion."
[Turner, Frederick. ''The Culture of Hope: A New Birth of the Classical Spirit''. The Free Press, 1995, p. 283.]
See also
* ''
The Differend
''The Differend: Phrases in Dispute'' (french: Le Différend) is a 1983 book by the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard.
Summary
In ''The Differend'', based on Immanuel Kant's views on the separation of Understanding, Judgment, and Reason, ...
''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Postmodern Condition, The
1979 non-fiction books
Books by Jean-François Lyotard
Contemporary philosophical literature
Epistemology literature
French non-fiction books
Philosophy books
Works about postmodernism