Wstęp do filozofii Jean-François Lyotarda

There is no doubt that Lyotard’s the most famous achievement is his conception of metanarrative. This concept undermines the credibility of traditional philosophy along with its claim for conceptual clarity, thanks to which we would be able to speak about the world as it “really” appears. Lyotard has pointed out that since the Enlightenment we have lived in an illusion believing in future possibility of coming to fruition of the narrative of the dialectics of Spirit, the emancipation of reason, social progress, etc. While rejecting metanarratives and proposing a limitation to micro-narration instead, Lyotard has established the theoretical foundations of a pluralistic society, seeking solutions of its own problems not by consensus, but by permanent endless disputes. He has presented, in essence, a new image of society as a multiplicity of various subsystems and discourses, none of which can claim to be superior to others. Despite sometimes harsh criticism, there will be only a slight exaggeration in the statement that his concepts have influenced not only the philosophy of the last decades of the 20th century, but indirectly also social reality, since the concept of the pluralistic society is derived directly from the philosophy of modernism. Even if we find that complaints made against Lyotard to be legitimate, we cannot deny that society functioning as Lyotard has desired, would be the society free from the threat of the rebirth of totalitarianism.