The Communicative Relationship Between Dialogue and Care By Mari ...

moment (Holba, 2007); nevertheless, that discussion has only begun, so our argument will be framed by the postmodern world. Regardless of the perspective taken, the thick description (Geertz, 1973) of our current time consistently resonates across a variety of perspectives.

Loss of Ground Upon Which to Stand

Jean-François Lyotard (1984), one of the leading philosophers on postmodernity, has described the postmodern condition as one in which overarching, guiding metanarratives have become obsolete. Using the term metanarrative to mean a philosophy of history that legitimizes truth, knowledge, and power, Lyotard claimed that metanarratives no longer guide the behavior and/or beliefs of those in society. This loss of a socially accepted standard to guide decision making has arguably led to the attitudes and communicative practices many people engage in today. The skepticism, or loss of faith in guiding stories, has led to the communicative problems of routine cynicism and existential mistrust.

Philosopher Stuart Sim believed that one of the best ways to describe postmodern philosophy is as a form of skepticism. According to Sim (1998), people no longer look to overarching, guiding narratives—metanarratives—because they have lost their faith in those stories. Skepticism is a questioning of or lack of faith in authority, received wisdom, and cultural and political norms. This antifoundational view leads to “fragmented social groups, which too often are solipsistic and narcissistic” (Wood,1999,p. xi). Skepticism or antifoundationalism is a rejection of the idea that there are foundations to our systems of thought that lie beyond question (Sim, 1998). In a postmodern moment, skepticism leads to the ultimate rejection of authority and leaves in its place only the individual self. This turning inward to the self begins to divide men from each other. Skepticism leads to routine cynicism, a pervasive communicative problem for the 21st century.

The loss or rejection of a guiding narrative and the tides of cynicism and skepticism that arise in its wake have significant effects on our communicative era. Arnett and Arneson (1999) described this communicative era as one consumed by routine cynicism. For Arnett and Arneson,