The Philosophy Book

299

See also: Immanuel Kant 164–71 ■ Georg Hegel 178–85 ■ Friedrich Nietzsche 214–21 ■ Ludwig Wittgenstein 246–51 ■
Martin Heidegger 252–55 ■ Gilles Deleuze 338

CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY

but Lyotard’s definition is very
clear. Postmodernism, he writes,
is a matter of “incredulity towards
meta-narratives.” Meta-narratives
are overarching, single stories that
attempt to sum up the whole of
human history, or that attempt to
put all of our knowledge into a
single framework. Marxism (the
view that history can be seen as a
series of struggles between social
classes) is an example of a meta-
narrative. Another is the idea that
humanity’s story is one of progress
toward deeper knowledge and
social justice, brought about by
greater scientific understanding.

Externalized knowledge
Our incredulity toward these meta-
narratives implies a new scepticism.
Lyotard suggests that this is due to
a shift in the way we have related
to knowledge since World War II,
and to the huge change in the

technologies we use to deal with

it. Computers have fundamentally

transformed our attitudes, as

knowledge has become information

that can be stored in databases,

moved to and fro, and bought and

sold. This is what Lyotard calls the

“mercantilization” of knowledge.

This has several implications.

The first, Lyotard points out, is that

knowledge is becoming externalized.

It is no longer something that helps

toward the development of minds;

something that might be able to

transform us. Knowledge is also

When knowledge becomes data it is
no longer the indefinable matter of
minds, but a commodity that can be
transferred, stored, bought, or sold.

Jean-François Lyotard Jean-François Lyotard was born

in Versailles, France in 1924. He

studied philosophy and literature

at the Sorbonne, Paris, becoming

friends with Gilles Deleuze. After

graduating, he taught philosophy

in schools for several years in

France and Algeria.

Lyotard became involved

in radical left-wing politics in the

1950s, and was a well-known

defender of the 1954–62 Algerian

revolution, but his philosophical

development ultimately led him

to become disillusioned with the

meta-narratives of Marxism. In

the 1970s he began working as

a university professor, teaching

philosophy first at the Sorbonne

and then in many other

countries around the world,

including the US, Canada,

Brazil, and France. Lyotard

retired as Professor Emeritus at

the University of Paris VIII, and

died of leukemia in 1998.

Key works

1971 Discourse, Figure

1974 Libidinal Economy

1979 The Postmodern Condition:

A Report on Knowledge

1983 The Differend

becoming disconnected from

questions of truth. It is being judged

not in terms of how true it is, but in

terms of how well it serves certain

ends. When we cease to ask

questions about knowledge such

as “is it true?” and start asking

questions such as “how can this

be sold?”, knowledge becomes a

commodity. Lyotard is concerned

that once this happens, private

corporations may begin to seek to

control the flow of knowledge, and

decide who can access what types

of knowledge, and when. ■