Rorty, Richard (1931–2007)

Abstract

A key intellectual figure of the late twentieth century and primary force behind the resurgence of American pragmatism, Richard Rorty gained notoriety for his sweeping critique of the western philosophical tradition in Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. As he developed the consequences of his pragmatic philosophy over the next three decades in works like Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, Truth and Progress, Achieving Our Country, Philosophy and Social Hope, and Philosophy as Cultural Politics, a deep set of democratic commitments and a vision for realizing them emerged. Rorty's thought depicts a mode of political theorizing that aims to move beyond “the entire cultural tradition which made truth a central virtue” of which political theorists have only begun to take full stock. Hope replaces transcendental knowledge, a lightly sketched possible future takes the place of appeals to an independent reality, stories supplant rational arguments, and abstract notions of humanity and rights are abandoned for felt, emotional identifications with particular communities. His work offers a large-scale program for self-criticism and reform of western societies by modifying their “self-image” to make them more responsive to suffering and injustice, both at home and abroad.