ABSTRACT
The term 'postmodernism' exerts an instant fascination. This chapter looks at some recent examples of anti-Enlightenment polemic and considers their meaning from a feminist point of view. It explores as source material the writings of three well-known philosophers Jean-Franois Lyotard, Alasdair MacIntyre and Richard Rorty. Postmodernism rejects this picture: that is to say, it rejects the doctrine of the unity of reason. It refuses to conceive of humanity as a unitary subject striving towards the goal of perfect coherence or of perfect cohesion and stability. One of the first thoughts likely to occur in the course of any historical reflection on feminism is that it is a typically modern movement. Feminism has always given a central importance to the politics of personal choice and taste, and it is therefore significant that over the last few years the movement has made large concessions, in its treatment of these matters, to the anti-rationalist mood of the times.
