Sep 12
1
ChristianGovernance eletter – September 1, 2012
A review of Flight from the Absolute, by Paul Gosselin, published by Samizdat.
I was sent a review copy of Flight from the Absolute a few months ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I don’t read too much in the way of pure philosophy. I spend most of my time in material involving on-the-ground worldview application of first principles and philosophy. I found Flight from the Absolute to be a very enjoyable and helpful mix of both. The author Paul Gosselin appears to have an excellent grasp of philosophy and worldview application – and a rather creative and eclectic way of presenting his subject-matter, which serves his cynical purpose well. The sub-title of his book is Cynical Observations on the Postmodern West.
It’s a 300-page book with 70 pages of footnotes, so it’s not light reading, but it’s not something you have to labour through either if you have a measure of familiarity with the subject matter. And Mr. Gosselin continually demonstrates the relevant nature of the philosophical principles of postmodernism, so even where it might be a difficult read, you don’t feel as though you are wasting your time on an academic treatise that’s of no value beyond the ivory towers. The implications of postmodernism hit us from every side, seven days a week, so it’s very important to have some understanding of that worldview or religious system. Gosselin is not a one-note instrument, as are so many of today’s culturally-engaged Christians, with their singular focus on abortion or homosexuality. He looks at the implications of post-modernism on science, environmentalism, marriage, civil government jurisdiction, the media, the definition and nature of humanity, abortion, sexuality, and more. He indeed has a worldview perspective, an outlook on life that is gaining more and more traction these days, but which is appreciated still by only a minority of Christians.
The weakness and impossibility of postmodernism
Since I don’t do much reading in pure philosophy, I have never examined the philosophical nature of postmodernism – a failing on my part – so this book was very helpful to me in giving me a new level of understanding of this primary ideology at work among the younger generations of today in Canada and the West. As one who expresses great confidence in the uniqueness and superiority of the Christian message, not just in terms of the Gospel as narrowly understood, but in its implications for every area of life, I nevertheless always find my confidence and resource-base of arguments bolstered from reading more about the nature of competing belief systems. When one looks into the nature of postmodernism, you are struck by how weak and shallow and empty a system it is. Your Christian conviction that it is unsustainable is reinforced. Without knowledge, that conviction may first exist as an expression of faith or confidence in Christianity, but when you consider the particular premises on which postmodernism is based, when you examine the inherent incoherence of the worldview, your confidence in its weakness is strengthened.
In other words, to make one of my regular applications of this type of observation, there is no need for Christians to feel the need to make peace with postmodernism at any level. We don’t make peace with it in terms of our understanding of fundamental good and evil, truth and error. Likewise, we need not make peace with it in terms of public life or government policy. Trying to find common ground with postmodernists amounts to an attempt to mix oil and water, to find a common frame of reference for rationality and irrationality. Postmodernists never move. If we find common ground with them, then it’s because we, and we alone, have moved. In doing so, we have conceded vital ground and demonstrate that we are weaker, and feel weaker, than they do.
They are often loud, militant and fierce and, because of the nature of their worldview, which places low priority on rationality and argumentation, they believe in the use of force to achieve their ends. They will seek to gain control of government levers to impose their will on everyone else, but they will also use force outside of governmental levers. As ChristianGovernance has noted in past commentary, a growing level of vigilante behavior is being seen by leftist activists, especially in the battles over abortion, homosexuality and animal rights. The implications of postmodernism are real, so a book like Gosselin’s is vital reading.
There is no such thing as neutrality
Another aspect of his argumentation that I appreciated – and I think this is an inescapable concept when dealing with worldview – is the fact that there is no neutrality. He repeatedly made the point that postmodernism is effectively a competing religious system. He immediately moved the reader beyond the false paradigm of a religion like Christianity tackling a non-religious system. Postmodernism articulates its own cosmology, epistemology (way of thinking) and ethics, so it’s a religion or worldview as much as Christianity or any other religion is. One of the most interesting points he makes, though, is the way postmodernism has used a method of non-confrontation to move into a dominant position in Western society.
Though postmodernists hold to very specific beliefs and ethics, and despite the fact that they can be very hostile to their opponents, they have moved into Western society without directly confronting Christianity or even modernistic assumptions. Postmodernism moved surreptitiously through the cultural influencers, such as the media and the arts, essentially operating as though it was the natural way of thinking, the natural way of life. With this posture of assumed normalcy and superiority, in the face of an insecure, weak and unprepared opposition, it gained dominance with scarcely a shot being fired. And Christians, having been caught flat-footed, are operating in a state of panic and disorder, not quite sure how to get out of this mess. Well, Gosselin doesn’t quite say that, but the implications are obvious.
Perhaps the reason why Christians were caught off-guard so easily was because the Christianity being advocated in the public squares throughout the West was different, not in kind, but only in degree. I consider the debate over the theory of neutrality to be one of the most important philosophical and practical questions of our day. As Mr. Gosselin repeatedly notes, postmodernism pretends that it embodies neutrality and, therefore, that by doing so, it represents reality, and so should be the governing paradigm for life. Yet Christianity has also been advocating the myth of public neutrality long before postmodernism became a matter of concern. Even today, most Christians are not abandoning that false perspective. Instead, we’re involved in complex and confusing theological gymnastics in an attempt to clarify distinctions that mean nothing to ordinary people. As I write this, the ongoing battle over “religion” in Ontario schools has raised its head again with controversy over a human rights complaint filed by an atheist couple. We’re also in the closing days of Quebec’s provincial election, in which Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois generated much controversy over talk about strengthening Secularism. Mr. Gosselin lives in Quebec, the centre of Canadian myth-making about a supposedly neutral postmodernism, neutral secularism and neutral political order, so he is personally very familiar with the real-world implications of this kind of thinking.
Another aspect of the book I greatly appreciated was the way it showed how broadly postmodern ideas are being discussed – and challenged and refuted – and at a much higher intellectual level than I normally deal with them. As I noted earlier, there are 70 pages of end notes. He cites all sorts of other people throughout the book, and people from a wide range of disciplines – philosophers, historians, academics from various disciplines, cultural observers, etc. When one is constantly facing the dogmatism, intolerance and utter hostility to debate and competing views by the ground-troops of postmodernism – even in places where you used to expect debate to be fostered, such as on university campuses and in legislatures – it’s encouraging to see the evidence that, in many areas of life, postmodernism is not being given a free ride. Even among non-Christian thinkers, postmodernism is not the only worldview being advanced. Postmodernism hasn’t sewn up the non-Christian world as tightly as one might expect if you defined reality based on political allegiances, church politics, government school curriculum, labour union press releases or Hollyweird.
I would like to say so much more about how I appreciated this book, but I will leave it at that. I underlined so much in the book that I found helpful, but here I only want to touch on some broad-based observations. Even in what I’ve written, I fear I am taking away from the book, but not putting these ideas in the same poignant, creative and eye-opening fashion that Gosselin does. You need to read the book yourself.