ABSTRACT
French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard ([1979]/1984), reviewing the state of knowledge in highly developed societies, maintained the influence of post-structuralism had changed the nature of knowledge, requiring it to adapt. Scientific knowledge appears initially to have supplanted all other forms of knowledge (‘narrative knowledge’), because scientific knowledge embraced a ‘metanarrative’ reflecting the values of humanism, which legitimized modern society. These perceived humanist truths include the view of history as progress, universal reason and the universality of the capacity for free individual action. However, in Lyotard’s view, the spread of secularism and the diminution of political authority, are challenging the dominance of scientific knowledge and fostering suspicion of grand narratives.
