Contemporary intellectuals in a wide range of different disciplines frequently
proclaim the current "crisis'' of western thought. This crisis is defined in many
different ways, but in recent years it is usually cast in terms of the opposition
between modernism and postmodernism. Although many critics argue that the
debate is unresolvable because the participants cannot agree on precise definitions
of either "modern" or "postmodern," the broad themes of the dispute are
nevertheless clear. Most of the participants agree that the dispute assumed its
current form with the work of Nietzsche. Nietzsche's questioning of the
Enlightenment-humanist legacy that is the hallmark of modernity set the stage
for the contemporary dispute. 1 Following Nietzsche postmoderns question the
foundationalism and absolutism of modernism and propose instead a nondualistic,
non-unitary approach to knowledge. "Postmodern" is not the only
label that describes this critique. "Antifoundational" and "poststructural" are
also used to characterize the attack on modernism. But however it is defined it is
not an exaggeration to say that the entire spectrum of intellectual thought has
been profoundly affected by this fundamental dispute.