What is Postmodern Philosophy?  Postmodernism is what you get when you deconstruct the modern-Cartesian foundation of truth as certainty, free from doubt, to see it is not absolute but receives its privilege from Christianity from Thomas to Luther, because what had to be certain as free from doubt in that context was the salvation of the soul.

This presents a challenge to many ways of thinking, such as metaphysical thinking (e.g., criteria thinking).  Kant wrote about a metaphysics of morals, for instance.  Metaphysics is a Platonic idea based on distinguishing the really real being/primary image from deficient being (me on, not nothing, ouk on, but deficient with respect to the primary image).  What Nietzsche noticed is that there is going to be a logic of mixed opposites, and so the really real is not absolute in its position but the result of what Nietzsche called Will To Power. 

For example, as a cultural physician Nietzsche proposed revaluating the paradigm and criteria of good/evil for evaluating human conduct and replacing it with criteria of health and sickness, because actions can be good out of a place of sickness, just as they can be evil out of a place of health.  For example, a bird of prey is not evil.  Goicoechea notes with Christianity:

As we are being persecuted we feel impotent to do anything about our enemies who are always threatening and besieging us. In our brooding about the cross of suffering we must bear we tell ourselves that the strengths of our enemies are vices: power, pride ,wealth, health, egoism. We tell ourselves that our own weaknesses are virtues: meekness, humility, poverty, chastity, obedience. Then we invent a rewarder-punisher God to enforce this value reversal. This king will reward us in his kingdom throughout eternity and our enemies will be punished in eternal hellfire. Nietzsche shows how modernity began with science to shake off this impotence and to take fate into its own hands. Zlomislic, Marko; DeRoo, Neal. Cross and Khôra: Deconstruction and Christianity in the Work of John D. Caputo (Postmodern Ethics Book 1) (p. 70). Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Jesus is the paradigmatic thinker for postmodernism because he did not just accept the value system he was born into but re-valued it.  We read

Matthew 5:21-48

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Concerning Anger

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister,^[a] you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult^[b] a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell^[c] of fire. ²³ So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court^[d] with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Concerning Adultery

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin,^[e] tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.^[f] 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin,^[g] cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.^[h]

Concerning Divorce

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Concerning Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.^[i]

Concerning Retaliation

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, ⁴⁰ and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, ⁴¹ and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴² Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Postmodern writers focus especially on the idea of loving your enemy, and so Jesus died to save the world, especially his enemies.  This is a new model to help your enemies see their faults, such as the Roman soldier in Luke declaring Jesus was innocent, or Mark and Matthew’s soldier declaring Jesus was the Son of God.  In the series I noted the prayers in Luke-Acts by Jesus and Stephen for God to forgive their enemies for killing them.

With postmodernism we have a new way of interpreting the world, not just the world in itself but how it appears (“as”), an example I like is the mansion may appear as houseness incarnate to a person, houseness merely being present in the average house, and deficient in the dilapidated shack.  In contrast, to the next person the mansion may appear gawdy and the shack may appear quaint.  Similarly, Niagara Falls may appear to the tourists as a wonder of the world, to the commuter as background scenery, and to the local resident as noise pollution.

This provides us a clue for criteria thinking.  We may have criteria for evaluating fine wine, which are objective and repeatable unless you don’t like the taste of wine.  Similarly, we can design a rubric of criteria for assessing fine art, which may exclude modern art in principle (e.g., people who are into scat and scat art, as offensive as I may find it).  Or, social psychologists are going to privilege certain kinds of discourse as the in group and ignore the out group (e.g., objectophilia).

This was my Professor and Friend David Goicoechea, who was a contributor to the Caputo anthology, and who left us too soon: