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Postmodernism: What is it, and What is Wrong With It?

by Andreas Saugstad

The period in which we now live is often called “postmodernism”. According to Nancy Murphy, author of Anglo-American Postmodernity, postmodernism in the Anglo-American world started sometime around 1950. Others would perhaps say that postmodernism is something which evolved after 1968. But anyway, in 1979 Jean-Francois Lyotard published a book called The Postmodern Condition. At this point someone had defined postmodernism, and during the last 20 years the ideas of postmodernism have been much debated in the Western world.

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Reflections on Social Justice

by Andreas Saugstad

When I started my academic journey I was a pretty self-centered young man. Not that I did much evil, I started to study because I loved academics and wanted to pursue philosophy – the search for truth and wisdom. I come from an academic background, and have for many years enjoyed the university world. When I, after three semesters, entered the philosophical community in Oslo, I was thrilled. We had many discussions, we read some of the greatest texts in the history of thinking, and I was captured by questions relating to the nature of knowledge, language and metaphysics.

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Postmodernism and the Media

by Andreas Saugstad

The media are dominating our culture. We live in the information age, not only because of the internet, but because of TV channels, radio-channels, newspapers, magazines and books. As the CNN ad says: “you are what you know” – information is essential to our times. In my country of Norway, Reality TV is now dominating, shows with random people placed in a bar together, or some Norwegians placed in a house in Greece, or some other setting where very normal people (nothing bad in being normal) are filmed in every thinkable (and unthinkable) situation.

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The New Christian Philosophy

by Andreas Saugstad

A new religious kind of thinking has received respect and recognition. The analytical philosophers of religion have done much innovative and creative work, and may challenge many in the academic world today.

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Cognitive Hedonism

by Andreas Saugstad

The word “hedonism” comes from the Greek word “hedone,” which means pleasure. In antiquity, a group of philosophers were called hedonists, because they believed that the highest principle of morality is pleasure and that the meaning of life is to reach a state of pleasure or happiness. Some people believe that the highest goal in life is to follow rules, and some believe it is to demonstrate one’s superiority over others (elitism, fascism). Some ancient philosophers – the stoics – believed that the guiding principle of life should be connected to controlling one’s passions and any kind of circumstances.

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Philosophy & The Good Life

by Andreas Saugstad

How can philosophy make your life better? And what relevance does philosophy have to life? My view is that by engaging in the questions and situations we are confronted with in ordinary life, philosophy may give us a higher quality of life. Philosophy is relevant to life in the sense that it discusses the basic questions of human existence, and because philosophy is a creative activity carried out by individuals constructing meaning, philosophy is constitutive, i.e. it gives us meaning to life and gives reality a new dimension.

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Britney Spears & Utilitarianism

by Andreas Saugstad

Some believe Britney Spears is one of the greatest teen heroes in the world today. She is famous for her records “…Baby one more time” (1999) and “Oops…I Did It Again” (2000). Britney is only a teenager, but is already, rich, famous, and no doubt she is very beautiful.

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