Postmodernism is a counter-intuitive theory, a philosophical thought that emerged in the mid to late twentieth century in response to Modernism and the practice of knowledge, logic and reason during the Enlightenment period. Historically influential and still prevalent today, it embraces many humanistic endeavours, philosophy, literature, linguistics, culture as well as art. Postmodernism is practically an indefinable term that is characterized by diverse sets of beliefs without unifying ideals and values on issues yet some theorists and philosophers seem to be more distinguished than others as they are paved the way for the postmodern movement.
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher and cultural critic, Friedrich Nietzsche writings on culture, language, aesthetics have not only been associated with many major movements that impacted the Western intellectual history but also succeeded in influencing an array of ensuing thinkers such as Derrida, Foucault and Danto. The Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy are theme Nietzsche's derived of Greek mythology are used extensively in his discussion of art. While Apollonian reflects the "principle of individuation", Dionysian corresponds to the conception of "will". Nietzsche's theory on the "the will to power" suggests the self realization within an individual is essential in crafting one's identity. He stressed the appreciation of life through the aesthetics of art, opposing the idealistic and logical terms of politics. "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder", as for Nietzsche, art is a metaphysical complement and embraces the cognitive importance of aestheticism perception.
Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand Saussure established a reputation by introducing Structuralism to linguistics. Saussure introduced the term "Langue" and "Parole" in the Course in General Linguistics (1915) where the the former indicates the systematic principles of a language whereas latter designates the individual expression, utterance of a language. The bifurcation is based on the system of signs, a mental phenomena. A sign comprise of a binary opposition, the "signifier", a mental image or word and the "signified", the idea associated with it. The relationship between the signifier and the signified is described to be both conventional and arbitrary, it is the concurrence of two values which is entirely psychological and discerns one culture or language from the other. The theory of structuralism and semiotics suggests that there is a system of rudimentary law that constitute every language, and that the system emerges contigently.
Roland Barthes
French philosopher and literary critic Roland Gerald Barthes, renowned for the impression he left on structuralism and post-structuralism. Barthes built on the structure of language and the concept of semiotics pioneered by Saussure. Through his examination of the arbitrariness and construct of language, Barthes suggest that behind popular cultural phenomenon is a set of man-made perspectives and ideology, which he called, "myths". "The Death of the Author", Barthes rejected the authorial intent which could potentially limit the apprehension of readers and argued that the author and his work are separate entities. He then conjoined the term with the "Birth of Reader", a reader-critical theory. According to Barthes, "text" is metonymic, a composition that is symbolic unlike "work" which is signified with definite interpretation. In Camera Lucida, Barthes explored the medium of photography which he speaks of as " a message without a code", a photograph is a more sophisticated compared to other forms of media in terms of aesthetic, culture and ideology.
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault rose to become one of France's most notable intellectual. He forensically criticized the power of the bourgeois capitalism and sought to understand the structure of the present through his philosophically orientated historical research. The term "discourse" denoted by Foucault as knowledge and meanings constructed by institutionalized social structure dependent on historical context. Foucault focused on power and knowledge which he deemed inextricably related as knowledge, understanding of science and truth exercises power while power is the consequence of knowledge. In Madness and Civilization, Foucault focused on the concept of "madness"which he sees as the idea of madness as a child of social construction more so than one of precise psychiatric truth ( Hunton, 2011 ). Instead of an innovative view of history, Foucault sought to understand the historical ideas that shaped our present and also to uncover the changes of their function through history.
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida, known as one of the most prolific and influential philosophers alongside Foucault and Althusser in the twentieth century, was credited as the founder of "deconstruction" which primarily criticize the institutionalization of Western philosophical and literal text. Deconstruction emerged from three main attribute that is literary or philosophical. Firstly, the innate desire to having a center, to structure understanding ( logocentrism ); second, the reduction of meaning to set definitions that are committed to writing (nothing beyond the text); and finally, how the reduction of meaning to writing captures opposition within that concept itself (différance) ( Turner, 2016 ). Derrida rejected the claim that deconstruction is an act or an operation, instead it is interested in excavating and divulging the basis of logic and meaning. Deconstruction indicates that meaning is beyond that of the text, it is concerned with the construction of ideas, not its application as it aims to overthrow the hierarchy of dualism that is irrevocably present in philosophy.
Jean Francois Lyotard
It is believed that The Postmodern Condition published by Jean Francois Lyotard was what introduced postmodernism to the philosophical lexicon. The majority of Lyotard's works revolved around the major theme that suggest reality consists of singularity which cannot be accounted for by discourse. The book Discourse, Figure ( 1971 ) by Lyotard could be classified into two opposing terms; "discourse", the structuralism of linguistic signs and "figure", the meaningfulness of visual arts. He proclaimed that rationality and discernment is digressive while art is congenitally allegorial in certain aspects of artistic sense. The term, "Grand narratives" was introduced as a metaphysical idea criticizing the institutional ideological knowledge which the postmodern era lost faith in. Lyotard raised the question of power of reason, stressed the significance of sensations and emotions, rejects humanism and philosophical notion of human as the core of knowledge ( Woodward, no date ).
Jean Baudrillard
Proclaimed as the "high priest of postmodernism", the key theoretical ideas of Jean Baudrillard that influenced the field of philosophy were the concepts of "hyperreality" and "simulation". Baudrillard's declared that in the age of mass communication, culture, sensation and emotions are artificially stimulated and suggested that technology generated images have come to exceed physical reality in terms of realism, a phenomenon which he refers to as "The Precession of Simulacra". Baudrillard stated that culture of modern society is at the stage of disintegration, leaving behind nothingness, an empty space between the masses, their translucent reality as the masses no longer have a distinct status of their own ( Famous Philosophers, no date ). Baudrillard's philosophy of culture questions the distinction between reality and representations as he assess the impact of technology on modern society through the theory of signs (semiotics) embedded in the structure of consumption.
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