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Peter, you beat me to it. I've almost finished reading Stephen Hicks' "Explaining Postmodernism" and I had already begun a review for Solo!
It is indeed a mesmerizing and important book. Since you have so well reviewed it, I will not finish my own review -- but (waste not, want not, to coin a phrase) I'll post what I'd written below:
"I'm just now reading a book that, more than anything else I've read, explains the anti-Enlightenment, anti-reason trend in our world. It is "Explaining Postmodernism" by Stephen Hicks. (It's available at Amazon.com -- and yes, this is a plug.) It's an enormously impressive work. Hicks' description of postmodernism is spine-chilling; it encompasses the very worst that Ayn Rand ever said about the modern age. First and foremost, postmodern philosophers deny the validity of reason; they do not, however, say that postmodernism is true -- because nothing is true or false. "Reason," writes postmodernist Michel Foucault, 'is the language of madness.' From its beginning in the attack on reason, Hicks demonstrates that the rest of postmodernism inevitably follows: the denial that there is an independent reality, the attack on individualism, a blistering contempt for liberal democracy, the rejection of capitalism, the hatred of Western civilization, the hostility toward science and technology -- all of which have been adopted by a leading segment of the political Left. Hicks traces the roots of postmodernism in the ideas of Rousseau, Hegel, Kant, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Marx, and others, he explains its popularity today, and he discusses the strategies of postmodernism.
"I strongly recommend that every Soloist read this book. It provides us with a greater understanding of our world -- and valuable intellectual ammunition in the fight against some of its worst aspects. Apart from its ideological importance, "Explaining Postmodernism" is written with brilliant clarity. One does not have to be a philosopher to profit greatly from it.
"I want to see this book succeed in the marketplace, and when you read it, I think you will feel the same way. One way to ensure its success is to talk about it to one's friends, one's acquaintances, one's classmates, in letters to editors, in articles, in theses, everywhere you think there may be a receptive audience."
Barbara
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