| Chapter Intro: | Introduction |
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origin, one in which it is imperative to understand a problem's origin and depth. To this end, he said,
In examining the current historical moment, it quickly becomes evident that there are many reasons for the need of a guiding metaphor such as dialogue as the labor of care. This explanation reveals the problem facing human communication and the opportunity that is presented. As will be evident through exploring the various elements of the character of postmodernity, such as existential mistrust and the condition of extreme individualism, people living in the 21st century find it difficult if not impossible to trust their fellow human beings. Additionally, issues surrounding the family and the concept of care illuminate the need for a guiding metaphor that bridges the communicative gap between those in caring relationships. In examining the problem, a discussion of the postmodern moment is necessary.
Manifestations of the Postmodern Moment
Postmodernism has bred many labels. Its defining characteristics include the rejection of grand narratives, disdain for authority, skepticism, antifoundationalism, nihilism, subjectivism, and amorality. The postmodern situation is viewed as an age of virtue confusion and contention, heterogeneity, multiplicity, diversity, difference, incommensurability, unadulterated individualism, and the demise of traditional ethics. These characteristics allude to how postmodernity serves as a dialectic of problem and opportunity, a time that seeks to answer our current need for guiding ethical metaphors that give us common communicative ground upon which to stand. There are some scholars who believe the postmodern moment has passed us by and we are already in a new historical moment. Some scholars have described our historical moment as approaching the end of postmodernism (Eagleton, 2003) or as a post-postmodern historical