A controversial and often satirical term referring to styles of reasoning associated with postmodern philosophy: rejection of binary oppositions, embrace of paradox, deconstruction of universal
truth, and emphasis on language, power, and discourse. It is not a formal logical system but a label used pejoratively by critics (especially in online science debates) to dismiss arguments that seem to violate classical
logic or rely on “continental” philosophy. In the Urban
Dictionary sense, “postmodernist logic” often means “using self‑referential paradoxes to claim that all logic is arbitrary” or “arguing that because facts are socially constructed, there is no
truth.” Defenders of postmodernism would reject this caricature. The term is frequently weaponized in flamewars: “That’s just postmodernist logic!” to mean “you’re being intentionally obscure and rejecting
reality.”
Example: “He argued that scientific facts are socially constructed. She scoffed: ‘Nice postmodernist
logic – so by your reasoning,
gravity is just a narrative? Try jumping off a building with that belief.’ He clarified that social construction doesn’t
mean non‑real, but the damage was done.”