ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which one exemplary postmodernist, Jean-Franois Lyotard, has sought to derive new paradigms of social criticism from a critique of the institution of philosophy. It argues that the conception of social criticism so derived is too restricted to permit an adequate critical grasp of gender dominance and subordination. The chapter identifies some internal tensions in Lyotard's arguments; and it suggests some alternative formulations which could allow for more robust forms of criticism without sacrificing the commitment to anti-foundationalism. It explores some representative genres of feminist social criticism. The chapter also argues that, in many cases, feminist critics continue tacitly to rely on the sorts of philosophical underpinnings which their own commitments, like those of postmodernists, ought, in principle, to rule out. It identifies some points at which such underpinnings could be abandoned without any sacrifice of social-critical force. Finally, the chapter considers the prospects for a postmodernist feminism.
