A gem from ironist Richard Rorty:
The question, “Do you believe in truth or are you one of those frivolous postmodernists?” is often the first one that journalists ask intellectuals whom they are assigned to interview. That question now plays the role previously played by the question “Do you believe in God, or are you one of those dangerous atheists?” [Intellectuals] are often told that they do not love truth sufficiently. Such admonitions are delivered in the same tones in which their predecessors were reminded that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Also, an intellectual is someone who yearns for autonomy and authenticity and “is lucky enough to have the money and leisure to do something about it.” And Redemptive Truth™? “A set of beliefs which would end, once and for all, the process of reflection on what to do with ourselves.”
Can anyone say Jeebus?
A better question is probably, “Are you an intellectual or are you one of those curiously deluded tremendously passe postmoderns?”
Followed by, “Now that it’s well understood that the postmodern impulse was over, finis, thirty years ago, how long do you think it will take the academy to digest whatever came next?”