three perspectives that attempt to define the phenomenon of post modernity in relation to modernity. That is a next stage, one that has replaced modernity. That it is the only stage, and modernity was just an attempt to force history into a pattern that didnt exist. That it is a theoretical perspective, like modernity, 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 p...
