The Self-Refuting Paradox and the Conditions of Sociological Thought

Bibliographic Data

ID3588848
AuthorsT Jordan (0000-0002-0057-291X, University of East London, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume45
Issue3
Pages488-511
Publication date1997-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1467-954x.00074
OpenAlexW2051755642
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

Modernity and postmodernity have formed an important framework for debate in sociological theory. The often confrontational nature of the debate has obscured key conclusions but these can be outlined by considering an argument often used by modernists against postmodernists, called the self-refuting paradox. This argument takes the form 'the claim that there is no such thing as the Rational is itself a rational claim and so refutes itself'. First, the notions of self-refutation and self-reference are separated. It is then noted that the result of the self-refuting paradox is neither the loss of modernity's key categories, as claimed by postmodernists, or the failure of the postmodern project, as claimed by modernists. Instead, both sides are shown to succeed and fail; forms of legitimation that previously underlay modernity's thought fail and the strong forms of postmodern claims, such as there are no universals, also fail. The result of this analysis is that attention should be paid to the nature of universals, truths and norms, rather than disputing their existence. These arguments are pursued first at a general level and then in relation to the three key concepts of difference, truth and universality

Argument (complex analysis) · Epistemology · Legitimation · Modernity · Politics · Postmodernism · Postmodernity · Problem of universals · Relation (database) · Sociology · Universality (dynamical systems) · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis, Philosophy, and Politics

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