The Postmodern Predicament : Existential Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

One of our most influential political theorists offers a boundary-breaking-and liberating-perspective on the meaning of life in the internet age � Human beings have taken one thing for granted since our earliest days: we are bodily creatures dealing with one another on a face-to-face basis. The internet has shattered this fundamental feature of human existence. We are suddenly living our lives in two worlds at once-shifting endlessly from virtual to physical reality as we reach out to others. � Worse yet, we are developing different personal identities in our two worlds. We say and do things in virtual reality that flatly contradict our face-to-face commitments to family, friends, and fellow-workers-and vice versa. The Postmodern Predicament explores these dilemmas at each phase of the life cycle, beginning at the moment a young child picks up a cell phone. � The existentialist tradition of the twentieth century provides a precious perspective on our postmodern dilemmas. Thinkers and doers like Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre considered the fragmentation of modern life as a central source of contemporary anxieties. Like them, Ackerman views the challenges of the internet age as a political, no less than personal, problem-and proposes concrete reforms that that could mobilize broad-based support for democracy against demagogic assaults on its very foundations.