Assignment: Dominant Storylines Or Paradigms

Assignment: Dominant Storylines Or Paradigms

Permalink: 

Postmodernism is a response to modernism, the idea that our reasoning abilities provide us access to the Truth about reality. For modernists, it is through our reasoning abilities that we can best develop our moral and social characters. In contrast, postmodernists challenge the notion that there is any kind of universal truth. Indeed, what we perceive as truth is socially constructed. Accordingly, meaningful ethical action is often the result of challenging and subverting these dominant storylines or paradigms we create about our world. This activity aligns with module outcomes 1 and 3.

Discussion Question

Prepare for your discussion by studying the Module 4 readings and viewings. Then respond to the following:

• To what extent do you believe our opportunity for creating meaningful, ethical action in the world lies more with the modernist perspective, such as Descartes and Kant (i.e. divine command theory, deontology, etc.), or the postmodern philosophies of Michel Foucault, Mike Ventimiglia and bell hooks? Please offer a specific example of how your chosen approach can serve to create a more ethically ideal world.
• Please describe the ways in which some of today’s music reflects each of the three philosophies: ethical egoism, nihilism, and postmodernism. Please share links to music videos to illustrate your point. Be sure to reference specific lyrics in your posts.

Evaluation Critea

Initial Discussion Post

Your initial post should be at least 250 words and must substantively integrate the assigned readings from the module with proper style formatting. You may use additional sources and materials as long as they are relevant to the discussion and cited properly