This-Is-Whiskey

A dismissive rhetorical move where someone labels an argument or idea as "postmodernism" (or any other dismissive category) as a way of rejecting it without engagement. The name comes from the idea that you could label anything "whiskey" and think that settles it—as if naming something is the same as understanding or refuting it. "This is postmodernism" becomes a magic phrase that makes arguments disappear. The fallacy lies in treating the label as the refutation, the category as the critique.

This-Is-Whiskey (This Is Postmodernism Fallacy) "I presented a complex analysis of power in institutions. Response: 'This is just postmodernism.' That's This-Is-Whiskey—slapping a label on it and walking away. But the analysis stands or falls on its merits, not on what you call it. Labeling isn't arguing; 'postmodern' isn't a refutation. It's just name-calling with academic vocabulary."

by Dumu The Void February 28, 2026