French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), who was born in Vincennes, France, on August 10, was an originator of what became known as postmodernism. After teaching philosophy in secondary schools in France and Algeria, Lyotard was awarded a position at the University of Paris VII, where he also served as a council member of the Collège international de philosophie. Toward the end of his life he also held visiting professorships in the United States. Lyotard died of leukemia in Paris on April 21.

Lyotard's work is marked by a persistent interest in the relations between science, technology, ethics, and politics, as can be seen in the work for which he is most well known, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (1984), which focuses on the state of knowledge in highly developed countries. According to Lyotard, the sciences and late twentieth-century societies were...