Post-modernism is just a bit silly when you come across chapters in nursing
books called "Zen and the art of bedmaking". Most post-modern writing
sounds as if its come off the bullshit generator.
Ruth
At 15:36 15/01/01 EST, you wrote:
>"Sontheimer, Daniel MD" <[log in to unmask]> said:
>>http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/313/7072/1568
>>See this article from BMJ. The havoc wrougt is not necessarily a bad thing.
>
>I have seen it. Just a few points in reply to the article.
>
>The article implies that medicine should no longer be viewed as "modern,"
>in that it should no longer be seen "as making statements about an
>objective, verifiable reality." I agree that the reality we deal with is
>often difficult to see clearly, e.g., it is hard to tell what is going on
>in a patient's psyche, what his/her concerns are, etc. But do we really
>want to deny that we deal with an objective, verifiable reality?
>
>The article implies that there are "multiple versions of the truth."
>Certainly, different people have different ideas about the truth (in a
>particular situation.) But do we want to deny that some versions might be
>more accurate than others.
>
>Post-modernists often try to force false dichotomies. Their argument here
>is that no one can perfectly perceive the truth, therefore all perceptions
>of the truth are flawed, therefore all perceptions of the truth are equally
>good. The last statement clearly doesn't follow from the first two.
>
>I quick rejoinder to the notion that there is no objective, verifiable
>reality: Why should you trust anyone who says there is no such thing as
truth?
>
>>I believe posmodernism can be good for medicine and, in partiuclar
>>counseling. Yes, science has always questioned itself, but often forgets
>>that as one refocuses and refines question one can go from real to
>>hyperreal.
>
>Again, I await a convincing argument why postmodernism might be good, much
>less some evidence that it is.
>
>>I have just started reading Lyotard, Derrida and others, and have not made
>>up my mind about postmodernism, but enjoy its spirit of inquiry.
>
>The more postmodernism I read, the less convinced I am that it really has a
>spirit of inquiry. It more often seems to have a spirit of hipper than
>thou self-righteousness.
>
>For some correctives against Lyotard, Derrida, and others I suggest:
>
>Re postmodernism and science -
>
>Gross PR, Levitt N. Higher Superstition: the Academic Left and its Quarrel
>with Science. Baltimore: the Johns Hopkins Press, 1994.
>
>Koertge N, editor. A House Built on Sand: Exposihg Postmodernist Myths
>About Science. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
>
>Sokal A, Bricmont J. Fashionable Nonsensce: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse
>of Science. New York, Picador USA, 1998
>
>Re postmodernism in other situations -
>
>Ellis JM. Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the Corruption of the
>Humanities. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1997.
>
>Farber DA, Sherry S. Beyond All Reason: the Radical Assault on Truth in
>American Law. New York, Oxford University Press, 1997.
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------
>Roy M. Poses MD
>Brown University Center for Primary Care and Prevention
>Memorial Hospital of RI
>111 Brewster St.
>Pawtucket, RI 02860
>USA
>401 729-2383
>fax: 401 729-2494
>[log in to unmask]
>
Ruth Helm
Lecturer in Informatics and Statistics.
The Centre for Health Practice. R&D.
The University of Wolverhampton.
Walsall Campus
Gorway Road.
Walsall WS1 3BD
Tel 01902 322843
|