Postmodernism is a philosophical school that emerged over the course of the 20th century, especially among radical Marxist thinkers like Jacques Derrida. Postmodernism tends to view distinctions in society primarily in terms of power differences and therefore as socially constructed, not simply natural—like gender distinctions, for example. Thus, postmodernism’s moral imperative is to change the structures of society, dismantling socially constructed distinctions, so as to achieve equitable outcomes. At his most radical, Derrida argued that even language is to be understood in terms of power and lacks stable meanings—as Peterson glosses it, “everything is interpretation,” a perspective he denounces as nihilistic and destructive.
Postmodernism Quotes in 12 Rules for Life
The 12 Rules for Life quotes below are all either spoken by Postmodernism or refer to Postmodernism. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Rule 11
Quotes
It is almost impossible to over-estimate the nihilistic and destructive nature of this philosophy. It puts the act of categorization itself in doubt. It negates the idea that distinctions might be drawn between things for any reasons other than that of raw power. […] There is sufficient truth to Derrida’s claims to account, in part, for their insidious nature […] [T]he fact that power plays a role in human motivation does not mean that it plays the only role, or even the primary role.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire 12 Rules for Life LitChart as a printable PDF.
Postmodernism Term Timeline in 12 Rules for Life
The timeline below shows where the term Postmodernism appears in 12 Rules for Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Rule 11: Do not bother children when they are skateboarding
...intellectual understanding. More recently, French philosopher Jacques Derrida was the most prominent of the 1970s postmodernists. Derrida characterized his views as a radicalized form of Marxism. Peterson argues that while Marxist...
(full context)
...power becomes fully justifiable.” If everything is interpretation, then there’s just opinion and force. And postmodernism’s moral imperative is that “society must be altered, or bias eliminated, until all outcomes are...
(full context)
Yet, Peterson says, postmodern and Marxist thinkers don’t address such complexity. Instead, their systems rotate around a fixed ideological...
(full context)
