On Philosophy and Philosophers
Unpublished Papers, 1960–2000

On Philosophy and Philosophers is a volume of unpublished papers by Richard Rorty, a central figure in late-twentieth-century philosophy.

Richard Rorty (Author), W. P. Ma?ecki (Edited by), Chris Voparil (Edited by)

9781108726368, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 October 2020

260 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.44 kg

'… will be of interest to scholars who specialize in Rorty's work, to those invested in the nature and development of neopragmatism, and to any philosophical audience who enjoys bracing, clear, and unique perspectives on a range of philosophical topics-from the interpretation of Kant, to discussions of contemporary metasemantics, to, above all, the nature of philosophy itself.' Matthew Shields, Metascience

On Philosophy and Philosophers is a volume of unpublished philosophical papers by Richard Rorty, a central figure in late-twentieth-century intellectual debates and a primary force behind the resurgence of American pragmatism. The first collection of new work to appear since his death in 2007, these previously unseen papers advance novel views on metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, philosophical semantics and the social role of philosophy, critically engaging canonical and contemporary figures from Plato and Kant to Kripke and Brandom. This book's diverse offerings, which include technical essays written for specialists and popular lectures, refine our understanding of Rorty's perspective and demonstrate the ongoing relevance of the iconoclastic American philosopher's ground-breaking thought. An introduction by the editors highlights the papers' original insights and contributions to contemporary debates.

Introduction. Rorty as a Critical Philosopher Wojciech Ma?ecki and Christopher Voparil
Part I. Early Papers: 1. Philosophy as Ethics
2. Philosophy as Spectatorship and Participation
3. Kant as a Critical Philosopher
4. The Paradox of Definitism
5. Reductionism
6. Phenomenology, Linguistic Analysis, and Cartesianism: Comments on Ricoeur
7. The Incommunicability of 'Felt Qualities'
8. Kripke on Mind-Body Identity
Part II. Later Papers: 9. Philosophy as Epistemology: Reply to Hacking and Kim
10. Naturalized Epistemology and Norms: Replies to Goldman and Fodor
11. The Objectivity of Values
12. What is Dead in Plato
13. The Current State of Philosophy in the U.S.
14. Brandom's Conversationalism: Davidson and Making It Explicit
15. Bald Naturalism and McDowell's Hylomorphism
16. Reductionist vs. Neo-Wittgensteinian Semantics
17. Remarks on Nishida and Nishitani.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ], Western philosophy, from c 1900 - [HPCF]