Abstract
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 97-116 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Analyse und Kritik |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
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Keywords
- metaphilosophy
- pragmatism
- Richard Rorty
- transcendence
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Pragmatist transcendence in Rorty's metaphilosophy. / Smith, Nicholas H.; Llanera, Tracy.
In: Analyse und Kritik, Vol. 41, No. 1, 05.2019, p. 97-116.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pragmatist transcendence in Rorty's metaphilosophy
AU - Smith, Nicholas H.
AU - Llanera, Tracy
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - This article argues that a pragmatist ambition to transcendence undergirds Richard Rorty’s metaphilosophy. That transcendence might play a positive role in Rorty’s work might seem implausible given his well-known rejection of the idea that human practices are accountable to some external, Archimedean standpoint, and his endorsement of the historicist view that standards of rationality are products of time and chance. It is true that Rorty’s contributions to epistemology, philosophy of mind and metaphysics have this anti-transcendentalist character. But in his metaphilosophy, Rorty shows great respect for pre-philosophical impulses aimed at transcendence of some kind, in particular the romantic (and indeed religious) experience of awe at something greater than oneself, and the utopian striving for a radically better world. These impulses do not disappear in Rorty’s metaphilosophy but are reshaped in a pragmatist iteration of transcendence which, we argue, can be characterised as horizontal (rather than vertical) and weak (rather strong). We use this characterization to distinguish Rorty’s metaphilosophy from other accounts that share a postmetaphysical ambition to transcendence.
AB - This article argues that a pragmatist ambition to transcendence undergirds Richard Rorty’s metaphilosophy. That transcendence might play a positive role in Rorty’s work might seem implausible given his well-known rejection of the idea that human practices are accountable to some external, Archimedean standpoint, and his endorsement of the historicist view that standards of rationality are products of time and chance. It is true that Rorty’s contributions to epistemology, philosophy of mind and metaphysics have this anti-transcendentalist character. But in his metaphilosophy, Rorty shows great respect for pre-philosophical impulses aimed at transcendence of some kind, in particular the romantic (and indeed religious) experience of awe at something greater than oneself, and the utopian striving for a radically better world. These impulses do not disappear in Rorty’s metaphilosophy but are reshaped in a pragmatist iteration of transcendence which, we argue, can be characterised as horizontal (rather than vertical) and weak (rather strong). We use this characterization to distinguish Rorty’s metaphilosophy from other accounts that share a postmetaphysical ambition to transcendence.
KW - metaphilosophy
KW - pragmatism
KW - Richard Rorty
KW - transcendence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065845476&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/auk-2019-410107
DO - 10.1515/auk-2019-410107
M3 - Article
VL - 41
SP - 97
EP - 116
JO - Analyse und Kritik
T2 - Analyse und Kritik
JF - Analyse und Kritik
SN - 0171-5860
IS - 1
ER -