> > 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