Second big sigh

I turned in my last term paper today. Here's an excerpt:

Central to Lyotard's argument for the development of a new postmodern condition is the existence in modernism of a "metanarrative." He states that, "In the first place, scientific knowledge does not represent the totality of knowledge; it has always existed in addition to, and in competition and conflict with, another kind of knowledge, which I call narrative in the interest of simplicity" (Lyotard 1984:7). In Lyotard's view, modernist science and its quest for universal truth have replaced the narrative knowledge of premodernity. However, this development in modernity is problematic, as this scientific understanding requires an external source of legitimation, one which is based on metanarratives. Therefore, scientific knowledge is subject to the same legitimization dilemma as narrative knowledge, and all assumptions concerning the accumulation of knowledge are fallacious.

I have undermined the godfather of postmodernism in a mere six pages. Go me! And I'm done with this semester. Only three more to go!

Flown by mariposa at 09:14 PM on July 24, 2004