Lyotard is a skeptic of modern cultural thought. According to his 1979 The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, the impact of the postmodern condition was to provoke skepticism about universalizing theories. Lyotard argues that we have outgrown our needs for metanarratives () due to the advancement of techniques and technologies since World War II. He argues against the possibility of justifying the narratives that bring together disciplines and social practices, such as science and culture; according to James Williams, for Lyotard "the narratives we tell to justify a single set of laws and stakes are inherently unjust."Williams, James. 2002. "Jean-Francois Lyotard", pp. 210–214, in Key Contemporary Social Theorists by Anthony Elliott and Larry Ray. Oxford, Blackwell |Publishers. Lyotard further claims "even under fascism, politics is a matter of opinions and hence values." A loss of faith in metanarratives has an effect on how we view science, art, and literature. Little narratives have now become the appropriate way for explaining social transformations and political problems. Lyotard argues that this is the driving force behind postmodern science. As metanarratives fade, science suffers a loss of faith in its search for truth, and therefore must find other ways of legitimating its efforts. Connected to this scientific legitimacy is the growing dominance for information machines. Lyotard argues that one day, in order for knowledge to be considered useful, it will have to be converted into computerized data. Years later, this led him into writing his book The Inhuman, published in 1988, in which he illustrates a world where technology has taken over.Parker, Noel, and Stuart Sim. 1997. "Lyotard, Jean Francois (1924–)", pp. 205–208, in The A-Z Guide to Modern Social and Political Theorists, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf.
