1 and 2 Samuel Quotes

“But most agree that postmodern America is committed to at least three principles.13 (1) Postmodernism is postrationalistic. It rejects the idea that truth is absolute and purely rational. By dethroning the human intellect, postmoderns accept other paths to truth besides reason, such as the emotions and intuition. (2) Postmodernism is postindividualistic. Rejecting modernism’s paradigm of the self-determining, autonomous individual, who stands outside any community, postmoderns prefer to think of the individual within community. (3) Postmodernism is postnoeticentric, which means it desires more than knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Our world today is full of data and information. But postmoderns want more than purely intellectual apprehension. They want to know how to live well. Knowledge is of no value unless it works, unless it helps the postmoderns get along in life. In this sense, the fiercely pragmatic postmodern will consider something “true” if it works. If it does not work, then it is not true regardless of how much empirical data seems to support it. Of course, much of this philosophy is not bad. American culture has needed more emphasis on the community and social responsibility. But one of the consequences of this combination of ideas is the assumption that there is no absolute truth governing the universe. Since truth has to be defined for each context, it is up to each community to determine truth in the sense of finding what works for it and its individuals. Truth, then, is communally defined. The community accepts as truth the laws and ideals agreed upon by the majority. Truth is determined by a sort of collective knowledge (or ignorance, as the case may be).”
― Zondervan, 1 and 2 Samuel