The essential offers a systematic guide to a fruitful reading of Rorty. At the same time, it provides a brief introduction to the main features of Richard Rorty’s neopragmatism. The author proposes to read it as a fragile balance of pragmatism and romanticism by which Rorty seeks to change our self-image. Moreover, he elucidates this transformative ambition through a sketch of ‚continence, irony, and solidarity‘ and the utopian figure of the liberal ironist. The essential concludes with a reference to Rorty’s hitherto unrecognized ethico-political motivation and with a methodological suggestion for further reading of his texts: One must apply the pragmatist method to himself.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Table of contents short:
Introduction: Reading Rorty’s work as a balance of pragmatism and romanticism.- Revolutionary language-game pragmatism after the linguistic turn.- The strong romantic dimension of Rorty’s neopragmatism.- The liberal utopia of a combination of public pragmatism and private romanticism in contingency, irony and solidarity.- Final consideration: Democratic anti-authoritarianism – Rorty’s ethico-political motivation.Über den Autor
Dr. Martin Müller is a flight captain and lecturer in philosophy at the Munich Volkshochschule. A long-time Rorty interpreter, he is currently on the board of the Richard Rorty Society.