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THE VACUITY OF POSTMODERNIST METHODOLOGY
Article first published online: 8 APR 2005
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9973.2005.00370.x
Additional Information
How to Cite
Shackel, N. (2005), THE VACUITY OF POSTMODERNIST METHODOLOGY. Metaphilosophy, 36: 295–320. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9973.2005.00370.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 8 APR 2005
- Article first published online: 8 APR 2005
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- postmodernism;
- rationality;
- alogosia;
- fallacy;
- rhetoric;
- methodology;
- Troll's Truisms;
- Motte and Bailey Doctrines;
- Equivocating Fulcra;
- the Postmodernist Fox Trot;
- Rankly Relativising Fields
Abstract: Many of the philosophical doctrines purveyed by postmodernists have been roundly refuted, yet people continue to be taken in by the dishonest devices used in proselytizing for postmodernism. I exhibit, name, and analyse five favourite rhetorical manoeuvres: Troll's Truisms, Motte and Bailey Doctrines, Equivocating Fulcra, the Postmodernist Fox Trot, and Rankly Relativising Fields. Anyone familiar with postmodernist writing will recognise their pervasive hold on the dialectic of postmodernism and come to judge that dialectic as it ought to be judged.