Transcript File

Report on the
Post Modern Orientation
The “Woody Allen” of
Philosophic Schools of
Thought in Adult Education
Why Woody Allen?
“ They [postmodernists] can at
once be nihilist in their despair
or self-critical to the point of
compulsive fragmentation and
incoherent diversity.”
Lange: [p. 103, Fenwick]
When I read that,
Woody Allen came to mind …
Main Features
• Absolute TRUTH can NOT be
determined
• Knowledge is ambiguous
• Multiple world views possible
Post Modernism …
“ … deconstructs all the
knowledge from the modern
period through a ‘critique of
critiques’.”
Lange [p. 102, Fenwick]
Key Figures
• MICHEL FOUCAULT (1984)
• Enlightenment is an attitude, not a
period in history
• Role of scholarship is to analyze
ourselves as “beings who are
historically determined … by the
Enlightenment.”
[Lange, p. 102, Fenwick]
Key Figures
• Derek Briton (1996)
• 3 Variants of Post Modernism:
• Reaction: maintains existing
power structure and teaches
traditional virtues
[Lange, p. 102, Fenwick]
Key Figures
• Derek Briton (1996)
• 3 Variants of Post Modernism:
• Resistance: resists deeper levels
of oppression
[Lange, p. 102, Fenwick]
Key Figures
• Derek Briton (1996)
• 3 Variants of Post Modernism:
• Engagement: assisting people in
ethical thinking, maintain intent of
the Enlightenment - emancipation
[Lange, p. 102, Fenwick]
Critiques
• Too fragmented to guide action
• Lacks firm ground for
knowledge–making
• Extreme moral relativism
• Opposes formation of new
integrated world view
[Lange, p. 103, Fenwick]
So Why, Woody, Why?
• To what purpose all this
pondering?
• Are we just turning in circles,
criticizing ourselves for
criticism’s sake?
• Major contribution: a headache?
In This Reporter’s View
… Post Modernism may
serve a purpose in the
analysis of ADED, but
seems to offer little of
use to its practice
A Brief Summary