Language - Postmodernism and Truth in Postmodernism

Language - Postmodernism and Truth In Postmodernism and Truth, readers immediately understand Dennett's stark analogies to make his points valid. He strongly believes in the entity of he refers to as "the gulf." In a nutshell, "the gulf" is the lull or gap sometimes overlooked and/or ignored by one person in a two person conversation. Dennett uses instances to explain the reality of this gap between people, especially in the world of philosophy.

According to Dennett, people, including both onlookers and participants, don't see this gulf, or actively denies its existence and therein lies the problem." (p.2) "Postmodernism," as indicated in the title, is not easy to define. The term is used in philosophy, literature, social sciences and architecture.

Different post-modern thinkers may have different opinions, (as Dennett points out against his friend and colleague Richard Rorty) and people from different fields may have somewhat different definitions of "postmodernism." Dennett unmistakably points out that if there is one thing postmodernists don't tend to like, it is fixed criteria or tenacity of the term. According to Dennett's article, humans are programmed to be doubtful creatures.

We are constantly seeking a "remedy." Humans are always seeking some sort of truth in everything we say and everything we do no matter what kind of person we are. It is quite interesting the point Dennett explains that humans have decidedly chosen science as a "technology of [obtaining] truth." (p.5) Effective communicators use tools to obtain objective results on a consistent basis. What is interesting about Dennett is the fact that he deems that one of the tools to language is intelligence.

In his excerpt entitled "The Role of Language in Intelligence" (from his book What is Intelligence?) Dennett questions through a "talking out loud to himself" style and explains not only the role of intelligence in communication, but also the reasons why it is of vital importance to humans. In the first section entitled "Does thought depend on Language?" Dennett uses examples to explain the differences between animals and humans and how they decipher information and then communicate it to others.

His separation of animal language and human language is quite clear: humans use thought to communicate and animals do not. Comparing our minds with others, which Dennett calls "Cognitive Disclosure," is the unanswered questions the science and philosophers have yet to explain.

This question coincides with his blunt fortitude of thought with his writings in "Postmodernism and Truth." Dennett proceeds to explain his proposal for "a framework in which we can place various design options for brains to see where the power [of thought] comes from." (p.4) After explaining his Darwinian evolution of species, (which Dennett is strongly in favour of), Dennett asks questions of validity that in his eyes need to be explored. Some that are noted include: 1.

How is...preselection in Popperian agents to be done? (In reference to Sir Karl Popper) 2. Where is the feedback to come from?