$29.95 (Trade paperback / Allen & Unwin / ISBN:9781741755220)
The Trouble With Theory: The Educational Costs Of Postmodernism
Postmodern theory has engaged the hearts and heads of the
brightest students because of its apparent political and social
radicalism. Despite this Professor Gavin Kitching claims that, 'At
the heart of postmodernism is very poor, deeply confused and
misbegotten philosophy. As a result even the very best students who
fall under its sway produce radically incoherent ideas about
language, meaning, truth and reality.'
This is not another conservative attack on postmodernism. Rather,
it is a carefully considered analysis from a dedicated university
teacher who is convinced that we have gone terribly astray. He
shows that postmodern theory is at best irrelevant to, and at worst
undermining of, persuasive political arguments, and reveals the
basic philosophical confusion at its heart which makes this
so.
Essential reading for any student writing a thesis in the
humanities and the social sciences, and for their teachers.
'It is the strongest and best attack on the ravages of routine
post-modernism that I have ever read. I applaud the way he lists
the good causes that students warmly espouse, and then suggests a
simpler way to support them without the self-destructive "it's all
just language" that is implicit in their work.' - Professor Sir
Bernard Crick, Emeritus Professor of Politics, Birkbeck College,
University of London
'Gavin Kitching rattles the cages. Will the inmates hear this? They
should, if only for the reason that there is virtue in learning to
argue against yourself. This is a serious book.' - Professor Peter
Beilharz, Sociology, La Trobe University
'Required reading for anyone who wants to understand how and why
postmodernism has had such disastrous pedagogical consequences.' -
Professor David G. Stern, Philosophy, University of Iowa
September 2008 Cultural Studies
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