>
> I wish I could get her in touch with whoever wrote the above, so she
could
> learn from a real master.  Polytheism of values in postmodernist
discourse
> indeed!

To be fair to Lyotard and Ken: The above are not buzzwords, in the sense
that buzzwords, as the term seems to be used in contemporary political
discourse, are intended as a shorthand vocabulary to evoke an emotional
response of either threat or comfort by replacing any serious discussion
with an uncomplex and ill-defined signifier. In the past the term was more
often used to characterize coded, but  understood, surrogates for  direct
identification of threatening (in the mind of the speaker and, he hopes,
his audience) presences; as in "Wall St. interests" or "Eastern Bankers"
for Jews, or "Welfare Queens" for Blacks. The examples you give of your
opponent's usages could, of course, be interestingly  referred back to
Ken's whole argument, as well as mine. But I won't do it, unless someone
begs me to.

You'd have to be a pretty special person for the phrase "Polytheism of
values in postmodern discourse"  to come across to you as an uncomplex and
ill-defined signifier. It is part of a legitimate effort within a
discipline to put into words what are very complex ideas. Of course, within
that discipline, "Polytheism of Values" has taken on a life as jargon, if
not as a buzzword. And what's wrong with jargon.

Try describing the elements of an architectural structure to a lay-person
sometime without using any terms that require a knowledge of the subject.
Good luck.

Bruce