Legitimation

One major theme of Lyotard book is legitimation. **Legitimation is where those in society embrace the narrative of the prevailing worldview, when this worldview fits the current cultural and societal attitudes.** That is, if the story is coherent. The narratives of old, for example, emphasize the coming of age of the hero, the emancipator. These narratives emphasized the unfolding of history and taught the triumph of the just in fair society. These narratives serve society well and are legitimized. Because stories are based on a search for truth, in this truth, one can arrive at in the stories' ethical prescriptions. That is, the stories are consistent.

However, science is always going through transformations. A paradigm that is apparent in one age may not apply to a different age. In the past, science was a search for truth; nowadays, the prevailing paradigm emphasizes performativity, which expresses itself as an...