The Postmodernist Essay Generator

Have you ever heard of this site? Or of the hoax it memorializes? Check out http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo Here's a sample of a randomly generated postmodern essay. Remember, for postmodernism, language is all there is, and it just combines in random ways. It's up to you, the reader, to impose your meaning upon it. Good luck!
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Rationalism and patriarchialist rationalism

Barbara N. Bailey
Department of Sociolinguistics, University of Oregon

1. Neotextual objectivism and dialectic theory

The characteristic theme of the works of Rushdie is the role of the reader as participant. However, the subject is interpolated into a rationalism that includes truth as a reality.“Society is used in the service of archaic perceptions of class,” says Sontag; however, according to Long[1] , it is not so much society that is used in the service of archaic perceptions of class, but rather the economy, and some would say the rubicon, of society. In Vineland, Pynchon denies Foucaultist power relations; in Mason & Dixon, although, he analyses patriarchialist rationalism. But the primary theme of von Ludwig’s[2] critique of rationalism is the bridge between sexual identity and society.“Consciousness is part of the collapse of culture,” says Lacan. Subsemantic capitalism holds that the task of the writer is significant form. Thus, the subject is contextualised into a rationalism that includes language as a paradox.“Society is unattainable,” says Foucault; however, according to Wilson[3] , it is not so much society that is unattainable, but rather the defining characteristic, and hence the stasis, of society. Baudrillard uses the term ‘dialectic materialism’ to denote the role of the poet as participant. However, Derrida suggests the use of patriarchialist rationalism to challenge hierarchy.The characteristic theme of the works of Tarantino is a precultural reality. Thus, Marx uses the term ‘textual postsemioticist theory’ to denote the role of the observer as reader.The subject is interpolated into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes narrativity as a whole. However, McElwaine[4] suggests that we have to choose between rationalism and Sartreist absurdity.The premise of patriarchialist rationalism implies that class, somewhat paradoxically, has objective value, but only if truth is distinct from art. Therefore, the main theme of la Tournier’s[5] analysis of neocultural desemioticism is a mythopoetical totality.Lyotard uses the term ‘dialectic theory’ to denote the collapse, and eventually the fatal flaw, of structural reality. Thus, Marx promotes the use of Derridaist reading to modify society.The subject is contextualised into a rationalism that includes culture as a paradox. However, the primary theme of the works of Tarantino is the role of the artist as writer.

2. Tarantino and dialectic theory

The characteristic theme of Prinn’s[6] model of rationalism is a deconstructivist whole. Foucault’s analysis of patriarchialist rationalism suggests that the raison d’etre of the observer is deconstruction. Thus, Baudrillard uses the term ‘dialectic theory’ to denote not narrative, as Derrida would have it, but postnarrative.Baudrillardist simulation implies that narrativity is capable of intent, given that the premise of rationalism is valid. It could be said that if dialectic theory holds, the works of Tarantino are reminiscent of Eco.Foucault suggests the use of patriarchialist rationalism to deconstruct outdated, colonialist perceptions of reality. In a sense, in Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino examines rationalism; in Pulp Fiction, however, he deconstructs patriarchialist rationalism.The main theme of the works of Tarantino is the common ground between sexual identity and language. Thus, Debord promotes the use of dialectic theory to analyse and read sexual identity.

3. Narratives of failure

“Narrativity is part of the defining characteristic of culture,” says Lacan. The subject is interpolated into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes narrativity as a reality. Therefore, several discourses concerning the role of the poet as participant may be discovered.The characteristic theme of Dietrich’s[7] essay on Batailleist `powerful communication’ is not construction, but preconstruction. The subject is contextualised into a dialectic theory that includes art as a paradox. In a sense, Sontag’s model of patriarchialist rationalism holds that expression comes from communication.“Society is intrinsically a legal fiction,” says Lacan; however, according to Reicher[8] , it is not so much society that is intrinsically a legal fiction, but rather the genre, and subsequent meaninglessness, of society. Marx uses the term ‘dialectic theory’ to denote the dialectic of subtextual sexual identity. Therefore, many dematerialisms concerning rationalism exist.“Narrativity is part of the futility of language,” says Foucault. The primary theme of the works of Burroughs is the difference between sexual identity and sexuality. In a sense, the subject is interpolated into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes culture as a reality.If one examines modernist narrative, one is faced with a choice: either reject rationalism or conclude that the media is capable of social comment. Several sublimations concerning a self-justifying whole may be found. Thus, Debord uses the term ‘patriarchialist rationalism’ to denote the paradigm, and thus the defining characteristic, of neocapitalist sexual identity.Humphrey[9] suggests that we have to choose between rationalism and posttextual dialectic theory. Therefore, the subject is contextualised into a subcultural objectivism that includes consciousness as a paradox.If rationalism holds, the works of Burroughs are postmodern. It could be said that the subject is interpolated into a dialectic theory that includes culture as a reality.A number of deconstructions concerning patriarchialist rationalism exist. In a sense, the absurdity, and some would say the paradigm, of rationalism intrinsic to Burroughs’s The Ticket that Exploded emerges again in Naked Lunch, although in a more materialist sense.Derrida suggests the use of patriarchialist rationalism to challenge the status quo. However, Humphrey[10] states that we have to choose between rationalism and deconstructivist nihilism.The characteristic theme of de Selby’s[11] critique of patriarchialist rationalism is the role of the artist as writer. It could be said that several desublimations concerning the meaninglessness, and eventually the failure, of subcapitalist class may be revealed.The premise of cultural postdialectic theory holds that narrativity is used to marginalize the underprivileged. Therefore, Lyotard uses the term ‘dialectic theory’ to denote not appropriation, as patriarchialist rationalism suggests, but neoappropriation.

4. Rationalism and Sartreist existentialism

In the works of Fellini, a predominant concept is the distinction between destruction and creation. If patriarchialist rationalism holds, we have to choose between rationalism and capitalist socialism. It could be said that the primary theme of the works of Fellini is the common ground between society and class.Bataille’s model of Sartreist existentialism states that sexuality is fundamentally unattainable, but only if language is interchangeable with reality; otherwise, Sartre’s model of rationalism is one of “subcultural theory”, and therefore part of the defining characteristic of language. But many discourses concerning patriarchialist rationalism exist.The premise of Sartreist existentialism implies that narrativity may be used to reinforce capitalism. In a sense, an abundance of dematerialisms concerning the role of the participant as writer may be discovered.Von Ludwig[12] suggests that we have to choose between rationalism and prepatriarchial semanticist theory. Thus, the main theme of Sargeant’s[13] analysis of patriarchialist rationalism is not, in fact, situationism, but subsituationism.

5. Realities of economy

“Sexuality is intrinsically a legal fiction,” says Debord; however, according to Brophy[14] , it is not so much sexuality that is intrinsically a legal fiction, but rather the futility, and thus the meaninglessness, of sexuality. Dialectic narrative holds that the task of the poet is deconstruction, given that Derrida’s critique of rationalism is invalid. In a sense, if patriarchialist rationalism holds, the works of Fellini are empowering.“Sexual identity is part of the rubicon of art,” says Baudrillard. La Fournier[15] states that we have to choose between rationalism and postcapitalist patriarchial theory. However, the subject is contextualised into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes consciousness as a totality.In the works of Joyce, a predominant concept is the concept of neoconstructivist art. Lyotard uses the term ‘dialectic socialism’ to denote the fatal flaw, and subsequent collapse, of subcapitalist class. But the premise of Sartreist existentialism implies that narrativity has significance.“Class is fundamentally impossible,” says Derrida. If Batailleist `powerful communication’ holds, we have to choose between patriarchialist rationalism and textual discourse. Therefore, a number of narratives concerning rationalism exist.In the works of Joyce, a predominant concept is the distinction between within and without. The primary theme of the works of Joyce is the bridge between sexual identity and class. Thus, several theories concerning the defining characteristic of postcapitalist sexual identity may be found.The main theme of de Selby’s[16] analysis of neopatriarchial objectivism is the difference between class and art. Finnis[17] suggests that we have to choose between patriarchialist rationalism and modernist presemantic theory. But Debord promotes the use of Sartreist existentialism to deconstruct sexual identity.An abundance of dematerialisms concerning Lacanist obscurity exist. However, Derrida uses the term ‘rationalism’ to denote the failure, and therefore the fatal flaw, of textual society.In Natural Born Killers, Stone affirms Sartreist existentialism; in Heaven and Earth he reiterates rationalism. But Debord suggests the use of the postmodern paradigm of reality to attack sexism.If Sartreist existentialism holds, we have to choose between rationalism and textual precapitalist theory. Therefore, the subject is interpolated into a Sartreist existentialism that includes sexuality as a whole.La Tournier[18] implies that the works of Stone are reminiscent of Madonna. However, Lyotard’s critique of rationalism holds that the purpose of the writer is social comment, but only if art is equal to reality.The destruction/creation distinction prevalent in Stone’s JFK is also evident in Platoon. But the subject is contextualised into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes language as a paradox.In Heaven and Earth, Stone deconstructs Sartreist existentialism; in Natural Born Killers, although, he affirms patriarchialist rationalism. However, the characteristic theme of the works of Stone is the bridge between sexual identity and sexuality.Subpatriarchialist semiotic theory suggests that society, surprisingly, has intrinsic meaning. But the subject is interpolated into a patriarchialist rationalism that includes art as a whole.

6. Sartreist existentialism and neodialectic Marxism

In the works of Stone, a predominant concept is the concept of conceptualist narrativity. If patriarchialist rationalism holds, we have to choose between rationalism and the precapitalist paradigm of discourse. Thus, the subject is contextualised into a semioticist neodeconstructive theory that includes culture as a paradox.Several narratives concerning a self-falsifying whole may be revealed. It could be said that McElwaine[19] states that the works of Stone are an example of mythopoetical feminism.The subject is interpolated into a rationalism that includes language as a totality. However, the premise of neodialectic Marxism holds that the Constitution is part of the dialectic of consciousness, given that cultural discourse is valid.Lacan promotes the use of neodialectic Marxism to read and analyse narrativity. But if patriarchialist rationalism holds, we have to choose between neodialectic Marxism and postdialectic cultural theory
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1. Long, B. ed. (1977) The Iron House: Patriarchialist rationalism in the works of Pynchon. Harvard University Press
2. von Ludwig, Y. V. C. (1983) Rationalism in the works of Spelling. O’Reilly & Associates
3. Wilson, G. W. ed. (1998) Consensuses of Rubicon: Patriarchialist rationalism in the works of Tarantino. Oxford University Press
4. McElwaine, Q. O. P. (1981) Rationalism in the works of Mapplethorpe. University of Massachusetts Press
5. la Tournier, N. T. ed. (1970) The Circular Door: Patriarchialist rationalism and rationalism. Loompanics
6. Prinn, Q. B. E. (1981) Nationalism, predialectic libertarianism and rationalism. Cambridge University Press
7. Dietrich, O. R. ed. (1977) Deconstructing Realism: Rationalism and patriarchialist rationalism. University of Georgia Press
8. Reicher, Q. T. M. (1991) Patriarchialist rationalism in the works of Burroughs. Loompanics
9. Humphrey, Q. K. ed. (1974) The Economy of Reality: Patriarchialist rationalism and rationalism. Schlangekraft
10. Humphrey, T. K. J. (1983) Rationalism and patriarchialist rationalism. O’Reilly & Associates
11. de Selby, U. ed. (1975) The Defining characteristic of Society: Patriarchialist rationalism in the works of Fellini. Schlangekraft
12. von Ludwig, A. G. (1991) Patriarchialist rationalism and rationalism. Harvard University Press
13. Sargeant, M. ed. (1972) The Context of Fatal flaw: Rationalism in the works of Glass. O’Reilly & Associates
14. Brophy, L. Y. R. (1991) Rationalism and patriarchialist rationalism. University of Illinois Press
15. la Fournier, I. ed. (1988) Reassessing Modernism: Rationalism in the works of Joyce. Schlangekraft
16. de Selby, Z. O. (1993) The textual paradigm of expression, nationalism and rationalism. Loompanics
17. Finnis, U. T. I. ed. (1974) Forgetting Marx: Patriarchialist rationalism in the works of Stone. Cambridge University Press
18. la Tournier, C. (1982) Patriarchialist rationalism and rationalism. And/Or Press
19. McElwaine, P. L. Q. ed. (1991) The Failure of Reality: Rationalism in the works of Joyce. O’Reilly & Associates
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The essay you have just seen is completely meaningless and was randomly generated by the Postmodernism Generator. To generate another essay, follow this link. If you liked this particular essay and would like to return to it, follow this link for a bookmarkable page.The Postmodernism Generator was written by Andrew C. Bulhak using the Dada Engine, a system for generating random text from recursive grammars, and modified very slightly by Josh Larios (this version, anyway. There are others out there).This installation of the Generator has delivered 2022001 essays since 25/Feb/2000 18:43:09 PST, when it became operational. It is being served from a machine in Seattle, Washington, USA.

More detailed technical information may be found in Monash University Department of Computer Science Technical Report 96/264: “On the Simulation of Postmodernism and Mental Debility Using Recursive Transition Networks”. An on-line copy is available from Monash University.

If you enjoy this, you might also enjoy reading about the Social Text Affair, where NYU Physics Professor Alan Sokal’s brilliant ( but totally meaningless) hoax article was accepted by a cultural criticism publication. See http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/

The Big Bang and the Anthropic Principle

Dan alerted me to this fascinating story this afternoon:

New Images Support 'Big Bang' Theory

By Guy GugliottaWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, March 17, 2006;

Scientists said yesterday they have found the best evidence yet supporting the theory that about 13.7 billion years ago, the universe suddenly expanded from the size of a marble to the size of the cosmos in less than a trillionth of a second.

A team of researchers used data collected by a NASA satellite measuring microwave radiation to offer direct, experimental support for the theory of "inflation" put forth 25 years ago -- that the expansion of the universe, commonly known as the "big bang," began with a single burst of repulsive energy acting in a tiny fraction of time. The expansion continues today but at a much slower rate.

This new image of the universe indicates "warmer" (red) and "cooler" (blue) spots. The white bars show the "polarization" direction of the oldest light. ,,"We can measure the sky to tell what powered this expansion," said Goddard Space Flight Center astrophysicist Gary Hinshaw. "It's really amazing, actually. I was in graduate school when the theory was first proposed, and I've been working on it ever since. It's gratifying to see the idea hold up now.
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Hinshaw is a member of a team monitoring data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, a satellite launched in 2001. The findings were announced yesterday at a Princeton University news conference and will appear in the Astrophysical Journal.

The theory, developed by Alan H. Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds that during the universe's first moments, inflation produced a sudden burst of heat and light that left an afterglow about 400,000 years after the event. The first stars were formed about 400 million years after the big bang.

The original afterglow has been cooled by the universe's expansion until all that is left is a faint microwave "signature.""You're looking out to the edge of space and time," Hinshaw said in a telephone interview. "It's like trying to see a car's headlights through the fog."

It reminded me of an article in First Things by Stephen Barr, entitled "Anthropic Coincidences." Copyright (c) 2001 First Things 114 (June/July 2001): 17-23.

Barr writes,
"Hydrogen has been around since very soon after the Big Bang. But almost all of the other elements were forged later, either in the deep interiors of stars, or in the violent explosions called supernovas with which some stars end their lives. These supernova explosions are also important for life because they spew the elements made within stars out into space where they can form new stars, or planets, or people. Indeed, most of the elements in our bodies were made inside stars that exploded before the sun was born. We are quite literally made of stardust.

For our purposes, it is crucial to note that the elements are formed in a sequential manner by nuclear reactions in which the nuclei of smaller atoms fuse together to make the nuclei of larger atoms. These same “nuclear fusion” reactions also produce the energy radiated by stars (including, of course, the sun), energy that is essential to support life. The first step in the process of forging the elements is the fusing together of pairs of hydrogen nuclei to make something called “deuterium.” Deuterium is the first and vital link in the whole chain. If deuterium had been prevented from forming, none of the later steps could have taken place, and the universe would have contained no elements other than hydrogen. This would have been a disaster, for it is scarcely conceivable that a living thing could be made of hydrogen alone. Moreover, had the deuterium link been cut, the nuclear processes by which stars burn would have been prevented.

Everything thus depends on hydrogen being able to fuse to make deuterium. Here is where the first remarkable anthropic coincidence comes in. The force of nature that cements nuclei together is called the “strong nuclear force.” Had the strong nuclear force been weaker by even as little as 10 percent, it would not have been able to fuse two hydrogens together to make deuterium, and the prospects of life would have been dim indeed. But this is only the half of it. Had the strong nuclear force been only a few percent stronger than it is, an opposite disaster would have occurred. It would have been too easy for hydrogen nuclei to fuse together. The nuclear burning in stars would have gone much too fast. Stars would have burned themselves out in millions of years or less, rather than the several billion years that stars like the sun last. However, the history of life on earth suggests that billions of years are required for the evolution of complex life such as ourselves. The upshot of all these considerations is that the strong nuclear force has just the right strength: a little stronger or weaker and we would not have been here.
Once deuterium is made, deuterium nuclei can combine by fusion processes to make helium nuclei. These steps happen very readily. At this point, however, another critical juncture is reached: somehow, helium nuclei must fuse to make yet larger elements. But all the obvious ways this could happen are forbidden by the laws of physics. In particular, two helium nuclei cannot fuse together. This was quite a puzzle for nuclear theorists and astrophysicists. How did all the elements larger than helium come to be made?

The answer was found by Fred Hoyle, who suggested that nature in effect did a large double step to get past the missing rung in the ladder. When two helium nuclei collide in the interior of a star they cannot fuse permanently, but they do remain stuck together momentarily—for about a hundredth of a millionth of a billionth of a second. In that tiny sliver of time a third helium nucleus comes along and hits the other two in a three–way collision. Three heliums, as it happens, do have enough sticking power to fuse together permanently. When they do so they form a nucleus called “carbon–12.” This highly unusual triple collision process is called the “three–alpha process,” and it is the way that almost all of the carbon in the universe is made. Without it, the only elements around would be hydrogen and helium, leading to an almost certainly lifeless universe...."

Read the rest of this at http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0106/articles/barr.html

Possible Topics for Paper #3

Due: March 24

Choose one, and write 2-3 pages. (Please refer to your handout, “How to Write Philosophy Papers”)

1) In The Republic, Plato’s Socrates proposes a model of the soul which places reason above “high spirited” passion. Evaluate this model, and give your own model of the soul, if necessary.

2) Do you believe the cardinal virtues (justice, wisdom, moderation, courage) are enough to make us good? Enough to make us happy?

3) What do you make of the contradictions that seem to pop up throughout The Republic? Are they real or apparent? If real, do they invalidate Plato's entire project? If apparent, how do you explain them away?

4) Compare, in detail, our own American republic with Plato’s Republic. What are the differences? Are there any similarities? Assess our society from a Platonic perspective.

5) In your opinion, what is Plato’s greatest philosophical insight? Explain in detail.

6) In your opinion, what is Plato’s greatest philosophical weakness? Explain in detail.

7) How do Aristotelian and Platonic characterizations of essence differ?

8) Why does Aristotle think that primary substances are ontologically prior to secondary substances? What do you think of his argument?

Aristotle: Online and Print Sources

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As we begin the second half of our course, we turn to Aristotle and will be reading selections from several of his works. One good place to find them is online at

Online Works of Aristotle http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/browse-Aristotle.html

You may prefer to invest in either Richard McKeon's The Basic Works of Aristotle , $31.47 from Amazon, or if you're really feeling flush the two-volume set, Complete Works of Aristotle, edited by Jonathan Barnes, at about $40 a volume.

Select Secondary Sources

1) Reliable Online Sources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Aristotle’s Logic :
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-logic/

Aristotle on Causality: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-causality/

Aristotle and Mathematics http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-mathematics/

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Aristotle: General Introduction: http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm

Motion and its place in nature
http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-mot.htm

Biology http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-bio.htm

Ethics http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-eth.htm

Metaphysics http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-met.htm

Poetics http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-poe.htm

Politics http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aris-poe.htm

Garth Kemerling’s Philosophy Pages: Aristotle
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aris.htm

Chris Howard’s Aristotle and Aristotelianism
http://www.non-contradiction.com/

Radical Academy: Aristotle
http://www.radicalacademy.com/philaristotle1.htm

2) Reliable Print Sources:

Barnes J Aristotle (Past Masters Series: Oxford University Press, 1981):
This volume also appeared along with R.M.Hare’s volume on Plato and Henry Chadwick’s volume on Augustine under the title Founders of Thought (Oxford University Press, 1991)


Ackrill J.L., Aristotle the Philosopher (Oxford University Press, 1981)

Allen D.J., The Philosophy of Aristotle (Oxford University Press, 1952)

Lear J., Aristotle: the Desire to Understand (Cambridge University Press, 1988)

Lloyd G.E.R., Aristotle: the Growth and Structure of his Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1968)

Ross W.D., Aristotle (Methuen, London, 5th Edition 1949)

J. Owens, The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics, 3rd ec. Toronto, 1978
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You might also want to check out Garth Kemerling’s Online Bibliography:

Richard Hooker's excellent treatment.
a thorough article in * The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Gordon L. Ziniewicz on the physics and metaphysics and the ethics of Aristotle.
William Turner's full treatment in The Catholic Encyclopedia.
articles in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on:
Aristotle's rhetoric by Christof Rapp.
Aristotle's logic by Robin Smith.
Aristotle and mathematics by Henry Mendell.
Aristotle's metaphysics by S. Marc Cohen.
Aristotle's psychology by Christopher Shields.
Aristotle's ethics by Richard Kraut.
Aristotle's political theory by Fred D. Miller, Jr.
The thorough collection of resources at EpistemeLinks.com.
the excellent treatment of virtue ethics from Lawrence Hinman.
The article in the Columbia Encyclopedia at Bartleby.com.
A bibliography of recent articles from S. Marc Cohen.
Björn Christensson's guide to Aristotle studies.
Eric Weisstein's entry in World of Scientific Biography.
Aristotle and the morally excellent brain, from David DeMoss.
A paper on Aristotle's treatment of homosexuality by Guy Bouchard.
an article by D. K. House on whether Aristotle understood Plato.
A literary analysis in The Perseus Encyclopedia.
an account of Aristotle's contribution to mathematics from Mathematical MacTutor
The entry at Biography.com.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: New Classroom Locations

PHL 407 will permanently meet in
M112 on Mondays and Wednesdays and in
L203A on Fridays.