Postmodernists seem to hold that (a) it is impossible to absolutely understand reality and (b) objective truth does not exist. It seems that these two assertions are conflated but distinct. (a) is reasonable but mundane, whereas (b) is quite extreme. It is almost as if we assert that, because it is impossible to absolutely understand reality, then it makes little sense to do so. Do postmodernists give much thought to this distinction, or is it simply a type of Motte-and-Bailey fallacy? Thank you very much.

To tell the truth, this summary of the postmodernists' position sounds to me more like someone's claim about what people are saying than a synopsis of a philosopher's actual view. For many years, for instance, I heard claims about Derrida's denial of the existence of objects before I finally read him and found how different his actual writings were from what people said about his writings. So, if I may, I'd like to start by asking which postmodernists you have in mind, and which claims by them.