Postmodernism: True = False

For about the last 20 years I have heard the term postmodernism tossed around quite loosely. I am certainly not going to attempt to define it here. The fact is, I probably would do a very poor job trying to define postmodernism. Is it a set of ideas? Is it a way of thinking that is critical to foundational assumptions? Is postmodernism a counterculture, a way of life? In postmodernity, is contradictory thinking the new norm? In the context of postmodern thought, is it even possible to rationally communicate with each other?

Rather than try to answer all of these questions, and and others, thus getting into the whole movement known as deconstruction, I'd like to share with you a story that is told by Millard J. Erickson. It's a story I read some 15 years ago, in Erickson's book, Where Is Theology Going? Erickson tells the story in the first person, and this story points out the dangers involved whenever we drift too far from logic. You'll have to decide for yourself whether this simple illustration correctly depicts a rather complicated subject. I think it does. Listen to Erickson's story:

I have a T-shirt which I purchased at an annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association. I sometimes wear it to class when I want to make a particular point about logic. I remove my coat and outer shirt, displaying this T-shirt. On the front are the words, "The sentence on the back of this shirt is false." On the back is the message, "The sentence on the front of this shirt is true." I ask my students whether they like my shirt, and then whether they believe in it. What does one do with statements like that? Or what would you think if I said to you, "The statement I am now uttering is false." Would you believe me or not? And how would you like to take a true-false examination in a course taught by an instructor who makes such statements? (57-58)