From Modernism to Postmodernism (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies)

747 Pages·1996·11.26 MB·English

by  Lawrence E. Cahoone

From Modernism
to Postmodernlsm:
An Anthology
LawrenceE . Cahoone
MBLACI(WELL
slz
BLACKWELLP HI L OSOPHYA NTHOLOGEI S
Eachv olumei n this outstandings eriesp rovidesa n authoritativea nd compre-
hensivec ollectiono f the essentiapl rimary readingsf rom philosopl'y'sm ain
fieldso f study.D esignedto complementt he BlackwellC ompaniontso F'hilosophy
seriese, achv olumer epresentas n unparalleledre sourcein its own right, and
will providet he idealp latformf or courseu se.
1 Cottingham: WesternP hilosophyA: n Anthology
2 Cahoone:F romM odernismt o PostmodernismAn: Anthology
3 LaFollette:E thicsin PracticeA: n Anthology
4 Coodin and Pettit: ContemporarPyo/ liticalP hilosophyA: n Anthologl,
5 Eze:A frican PhilosaphyA: n Anthologlr
6 McNeill and Feldman:C ontinentaPl hilosophyA: n Anthollgy
7 Kim and Sosa:M etaphysicsA:n Anthology
8 Lycan:M ind andC ognitionA: n Anthology( seconde dition)
9 Kuhsea nd Singer:B ioethicsA:n Anthology
10 Cumminsa nd Cummins:M inds,B rainsa, ndC ompuferAs:n Anthology
Forthcoming:
1 1 Sosaa nd Kim: EpistentalogAy:n Anthology
12 Patterson Philosophyo f Law:A n Anthology
For my son,
HarrisonB aetenC ahoone
Copyright @ Blackwell PublishersL td, 1996
Selectiona nd editorial matter O Lawrence Cahoone . 1996
The right of Lawrence Cahoonet o be identified as author of this work hLasb een
assertedin accordancew ith the Copyright, Designsa nd PatentsA ct 1988.
First published1 996
Reprinted 1996 (twice), 1997, 1998,2 000
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
From modernismt o postmodernism:a n anthology/[compiledb y] LawrenceE .
Cahoone.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical referencesa nd index.
ISBN l-55786-602-3 - rSBN l-55786-603-l (pbk)
l. Postmodernism.I . Cahoone.L awrenceE .. 1954-.
B83t .2.P.677 1995 95-r I 583
149-dc.20 CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP cataloguer ecord for this book is availablef rom the British Library
Typeseti n 10.5o n 12.5p t Photina
by Pure Tech India Ltd, Pondicherry
Printed and bound in GreatB ritain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
This book is printed on acid-freep aper
Contents
Preface IX
Acknowledgments XI
Introduction
PartI ModernC ivilizationa nd its Critics
From Meditationso n First Philosophy
ReneD escartes
From "Discourseo n the Sciencesa nd the ArtS"
lean-lacquesR ousseau
3 "An Answer to the Question:W hat is Enlightenment?"
ImrnanuelK qnt
From Reflectionos n the Revolutionin France
EdmundB urke
From Sketc h for an HistoricalP icture of the Progresso f the
HumanM ind
Marquisd e Condorcet
"AbsoluteF reedoma nd Terror"
GeorgW iIheIm FriedrichH egel
"Bourgeoisa nd Proletarians"
KarI Marx and FriedrichE ngels
ro2
"The Madman"
ro4
"The Natural HistorYo f Morals"
From The GenealogAof Morals L20
From The Wiil to Power 130
F riedrich L'{ietzsche
Contents
Par t ll Modernit y Realized
From "The Paintero f ModernL ife" 136
CharlesB audelaire
10 From "How to MakeO ur IdeasC lear" r45
CharlesS . Peirce
11 From TheP rotestantE thic and the Spirit of Capitalism r57
From "Sciencea s a Vocation" r69
Max Weber
12 From Coursein GeneraLl inguistics 777
Fe rdinandd e Saususr e
13 "The Founding and Manifestoo f Futurism" 185
Fi lippo TommasoM arinetti
I4 "Lecture on Ethics" 191
From Tr actatusL ogico -Philosophicus 198
Ludwig Wittgenstein
15 From Towardsa l{ew Architecture 20a
Le Corbusier
16 From Civilizationa nd its Disc ontents 212
SigmundF reud
T7 "The Crowd Phenomenon" 2L9
lose Ortegay Gasset
18 From The Crisis of EuropeanS cienceasn d Transcendental
Phenomenology 226
EdmundH usserl
19 From Dialectico f Enlightenment 243
Max Horkheimera nd TheodoAr dorno
20 From "Existentialism" 259
lean-PaulS artre
Partl ll Postmodernisman dt he Revaluatioonf
Modernity
2I "Letter on Humanism" 274
Martin Heidegger
22 "The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions" 309
Thomas Kuhn
23 From Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture 325
Robert Venturi
VI
Contents
24 "The End of the Book and the Beginning of Writing" 336
lacquesD errida
25 "NietzscheG, enealogyH, istory" 360
From "Truth and Power" 379
Michel Fo ucault
26 "POSTmodernISMA: ParacriticalB ibliography" 382
lhab Hassan
27 From Anti-OedipusC: apitalisma nd Schizophrenia 40L
GiIIesD eleuzea nd Fe lix Guattari
28 From The Comingo f Post-IndustrialS ociety 423
DanielB rII
29 From SymbolicE xchangea nd Death 437
lean Baudrillard
30 "The Sex Which is Not One" 46L
Lucel rigaray
31 "The Death of Modern Architecture" 469
From What Is Post -Modernism? 47r
Charlesl encks
32 From The PostmodernC ondition:A Reporto n Knowledge 481
lean-FranqoiLs yotard
33 From Erring: A PostmodernA ltheologA 5L4
Mark C. Taylor
34 "The Virtues, the Unity of a Human Life and the Concept
of a Tradition" 534
AlasdairM aclntyre
35 From "The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" 556
Fredricl ameson
36 "solidarity or Objectivity?" 573
RichardR orty
37 "An Alternative Way out of the Philosophyo f the
Subject:C ommunicativev ersus Subject-CentereRd eason" 589
Itirgen Habermas
38 From "From Feminist Empiricismt o Feminist Standpoint
Epistemologies" 6L7
Sandra Harding
39 "The Cartesian Masculinization of Thought" 638
Susan Bordo
40 From The Reenchantmento f Science 665
David RaA Griffin
vLr
Contents
4L "Towards a PostmodernP edagogy" 687
Henry A. Giroux
42 From "Modern China and the PostmodernW est" 698
David HaII
SelectB ibliography 7TL
lndex 719
vlll
Preface
The problem with introducing students to any discussion of postmodernism
is not merely the notorious difficulties of the meaning of the term. It is that
most students do not adequately understand what is "modern," what it is
whose obsolescenceth e term "postmodern" presumably announces. Any
discussion of postmodernism assumes a great deal of knowledge about
modernism, or modernity, or the modern world, and how it has been
interpreted. It is senselesst o try to teach students about the sophisticated
methods of contemporary postmodernists without lirst teaching them the
tradition from which these methods are a departure. Yet current antho-
logies of postmodernism generally ignore history and collect only contem-
porary essays;i ndeed, usually essays representing only a narrow range of
philosophical perspectives.T he purpose of the present volume is to examine
both modernism and postmodernism by presenting prominent philosophical
components of, and sociological theories about, modernity as background
for the various writers involved in the debate over postmodernism. Its aim
is, in short, to put postmodernism in context. Certainly this is a task to
which no anthology can be'adequate,y et some attempt in that direction is,
I believe,b etter than none.
In making the selections I have tried to balance a number of preferences
for: writers who formulate positions, rather than comment on them;
substantive,r ather than minimal, selections;s electionst hat are historically
connected to each other; and pieces that engender a deeper understanding
of the philosophical basis for postmodernism,r ather than those that are
more superlicially relevant to postmodern themes. The last of these has led
me to omit some well-known essayst hat explicitly express or comment on
postmodernism, but remain inscrutable unless the reader already has a
deeper familiarity with the author's perspective, a familiarity I hope my
selections will better provide. So the volume aims at philosophical under-
standing rather than a hit parade of recent cultural politics. The selections
are arranged chronologically.
Every step has been taken to make the volume user-friendly. Author's
notes appear at the end of each selection.E ditor's annotations to historical
IX
Preface
references and technical terms appear at the foot of the page. Headnotes
introduce each selecteda uthor. Referencesto the selectedw orks on the first
page of each selection indicate whether the relevant textual subdivision
(book, essay, chapter, section) appears whole or in part. A select biblio-
graphy is included.
This volume would not exist but for the vision and encouragement of
stephan chambers of Blackwell. Steven smith of Blackwell has ushered the
book admirably into print. Judy Marshall's careful copy-editing has saved
me from numerous embarrassments.A semesters abbatical from Boston
university gave me the time to turn a skeletall ist of selectionsi nto a flesh
and blood book. Margaret Rosew as helpful and encouraging in my search
for early uses of the term "postmodern." The staff of the Department of
Philosophy at Boston university, carolyn Evans and Sara Martin, have
helped to make my professional life these past years not onry more
productive, but more human. During the planning and composition of the
volume, Jeffrey Jampel and especially Deborah Hirschland have been of
invaluable help to me.