A Primer on Postmodernism (Paperback)

by Stanley J. Grenz (Author) "The camera focuses on a futuristic spacecraft against the background of distant galaxies..." (more)
Key Phrases: transcendental pretense, emerging postmodern world, postmodern articulation, New York, Michel Foucault, Star Trek (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Grenz's book is well-written in an engaging style that enables the reader to navigate through the ambiguous and disconcerting waters of postmodernism.... This book is also well documented and provides a number of important sources benefiting anyone wishing to further pursue the ideas and figures discussed. -- Westminster Theological Journal --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Description
Grenz examines the topography of postmodernism, a phenomenon everyone acknowledges, but has difficulty describing with precision. Of particular significance is his discussion of the challenges this cultural shift presents to the church.

Product Details

• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802808646
• ISBN-13: 978-0802808646
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,826 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history and analysis, October 1, 2005

By	J. Miller (LA, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was an excellent study in the philosophical foundations of the actual movement of postmodernity, contrasted with the pop images of that movement which don't represent the shift in the history of human thought.

Grenz cleverly takes us into the movement (c. 1) by contrasting images of the old Star Trek, in which Mr. Spock represented the peak of intelligence, pure logic. He is presented as an image of modernity. In the newer Star Trek(s), there is ethnic diversity, a diversity of skills and stories, and a new emphasis on emotion. This is a taste of postmodernity.

Chapter 2 gives an account of the rise of postmodernity into the public eye and the U.S. culture, but this largely reflects the art and architecture of the post-1960's cultural revolution. The real foundations of postmodernity consist of a more sophisticated critique of earlier philosophy. Chapter 3 gives a more detailed look at a shifting worldview or vantage point, away from the monolithic empiricist view of the Enlightenment. As Descartes split the subjective self from the objective world, Bacon's creation of empirical method to bridge the two, and Newton's mechanistic description of an ordered universe created the pursuit of a universal worldview, the God's eye perspective. Modernity sought that one perspective and believed that humanity could attain an objective, rational grasp on it. Unfortunately, reasonable people in power seem to find ways to rationalize their use of it. This cast doubt on reason and objectivity themselves. This culminated (c. 4) in the Kantian analysis of reason. Reason creates categories through which the world is filtered. It is thus limited by its filter (leaving room for the noumenous or the metaphysical), but it is still rational and objective.

Chapters 5 and 6 are worth their weight in gold. This is a beginner's survey of the philosophical influences leading up to the present day. Without summarizing them all here, it suffices to say that Nietzsche announced the conclusion of modernity (both descriptively and prophetically). Godamer attempted a last grab at modernity by positing "a fusion of horizons" (Robert Nozik has more recently called it "invariances"). Schleiermacher and Wittgenstien turned modern philosophy from strict epistemology to linguistics, grounding meaning (if it can be had) in shared vocabulary. Foucault then accused language itself of bearing Nietzche's will-to-power, particularly language concerning sexuality; Derrida deconstructed the correspondence theory of knowledge and suggested that meaning coheres only within the context of a given vocabulary; Rorty affirms a coherence theory as well, denying there is a fundamental essence in anything.

Grenz fails to make note of the consequent shift of philosophy towards cognitive science after the perceived failure of epistemology. The contemporaries: Searle, Putman, and Nozik, are now operating under an assumed pragmatic realism and talking about whether or not computers can create minds.

I like that Grenz leaves us with very little prescriptions in the end. He closes on a fairly mild assertion that we need neither fully reject or embrace postmodernity, but we have to deal with it. Excellent book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Postmodernism without the weird stuff, February 19, 2001

By	Jeffrey B Robinson (Toowoomba, Qld Australia) - See all my reviews

This is one of the most accessible books on postmodernism (PM) available. While other authors become almost unintelligible when discussing PM, this fellow remains clear and fairly concise. For those that are new to the concepts of PM or are especially interested the philosophies and philosophers of modernism and PM, this is an excellent book. The early chapters lay down the groundwork for some well-considered conclusions towards the middle and end of the book.

The features of the book that I thought could have been better were the rather slow build-up of the story, and lack of connections to PM art, film and architecture. Nevertheless, a great book on a tricky subject.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction, September 30, 2004

By	Reader From Aurora - See all my reviews

Stanley Grenz's A primer on Postmodernism provides an overview of the socio-cultural phenomenon known as postmodernism. Although as a professor of theology and ethics Grenz has a particular interest in the religious implications of the postmodern movement, his work is an excellent well-rounded introduction to this important cultural and intellectual movement

As with other broad terms, the expression "postmodernism" is somewhat ill-defined and can be variously interpreted. Postmodernism, as the term implies, is fundamentally a move, or an attempt to move, beyond the views of modernism. The roots of what we refer to as modernism can be traced to the European Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Enlightenment is often viewed as a turning point in Western civilization where revelation was supplanted by reason as the means to knowledge and truth. The pre-modern approach to knowledge is represented by the sentiment that belief is required for understanding. Modernism's focus on verifiable truth transposes this argument and makes belief contingent upon understanding. Modernism holds several key assumptions. It postulates that epistemological and ethical truths exist, and that these truths are available to man. Postmodernism has challenged this modern faith in reason and raised questions about man's ability to understand the universe.

Grenz provides an excellent and succinct overview of modernism and postmodernism that, in my opinion, is useful to both new and advanced students of this subject. I found his discussion of the scientific and philosophical roots of postmodernism particularly clear and insightful.

A primer on Postmodernism is the best book I have read in this area. I highly recommend it to readers interested in this topic