nity, that can be used to examine social phenomenon. The third perspective, I think, proves to be the most useful. There are many things that modern theories explain better than postmodern theories can. On the other hand, there are some things that can be explained only by postmodern theory. For instance, look at the Internet, it is a collection of millions of individual computer users who communicate with each other and each has defined his or her situation differently. In other words, a social scientist would have a difficult time attempting to study the Internet using modern social tools (at least in their present form). However, using theories of theorists such as Lyotard, or Baudrillard, we can develop a better theoretical framework for the Internet. However, bear in mind that useful does not equate with accuracy. To make the most informed judgments about postmodern theory. This paper is an attempt to do something that is probably not a good idea. I am going to try and take the ideas of some of the most prominent postmodern Sociological thinkers and mesh them together in some sort of coherent format. The purpose of this paper is to provide a starting place for people interested in postmodern Sociological thought. There really is no one all-encompassing postmodern theory, or a group of like-minded postmodern theorists. In fact this notion is antithetical to much of what postmodern literature maintains. At the same time, there has to be similar themes that run through postmodern theories, or it wouldnt have the label it does. So, lets take a look at some of the similarities as a starting point. One of the most startling similarities of some of the most prominent postmodern Sociological theorists is their reliance on modern Sociological theorists, specifically, Karl Marx. At first this may seem strange, after all Marx is the ultimate modern theorist. How can theory that is often so radically opposed ...
