Do we still live within a modern society or are we in a post-modern society?
The concept of postmodernism emerged after the Second World War. The devastating devastation of the war had upset the moral and ethical values of the Western world. The worldview and understanding that had been widely accepted in intellectual circles by that time began to lose its validity. Concepts such as social well-being and a meaningful life turned into disappointment. The belief that man and society could be changed and improved had vanished. Thus, postmodernism emerged, the meaning of the term denotes beyond of postmodernism. Postmodernism, which started to be effective in the second half of the 20th century; It is a trend in which modernity is questioned in fields such as architecture, painting, philosophy, and literature.
The description of the features of postmodern society, which can be understood from postmodern sociology, does not seem significantly different from interpretations of contemporary society. Some scholars express this analogy explicitly by affirming that postmodernism is the culture of post-industrial society or late capitalism. But most postmodernists deny this, underlining the novelty of the postmodern situation that is completely different from modernity. Although there are many different definitions for this concept (social, artistic, critical, etc.), there is no definite opinion that the circles reach a consensus. This situation has given postmodernism complex meanings and the concept has become ambiguous.
Postmodernism is actually both the continuation and transcendence of Modernism. Many advocates of postmodernism expose themselves to the same kind of criticism directed at classical modernization theory. While early modernization theorists often place their analysis on a macro-sociological level that examines the structural and cultural characteristics of society, postmodernists (due to their rejection of systematic theories) examine the sociological level of the micro-individual’s situation and its perception of reality. The aim of postmodernism is not to replace modernism with a new utopia. Postmodernism aims to make us realize the angles and horizons that the modernist vision overlooked by introducing new concepts. Understanding postmodernism actually means understanding these new concepts. This is not an easy task either.
Postmodernism generally expresses an ambiguity. The discussions on it are not over yet. As a philosophy, postmodernism gives its followers the right to criticize (or even humiliate) ‘everything’ and ‘everyone’. Nothing in postmodernism can be proven to be ‘morally, legally, aesthetically correct’ or scientifically correct. Therefore, we cannot say clearly yes or no to the question of whether we live in a postmodern society. Perhaps it would be best to support or agree with the view that postmodernism is a problem of life and that this situation will end once this state of life is lifted.
