The Cambridge Companion to Rorty

Offers a comprehensive introduction to one of the most interesting and controversial philosophers of recent times.

David Rondel (Edited by)

9781108733953, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 April 2021

384 pages
15 x 23 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

This Companion provides a systematic introductory overview of Richard Rorty's philosophy. With chapters from an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars, the volume addresses virtually every aspect of Rorty's thought, from his philosophical views on truth and representation and his youthful obsession with wild orchids to his ruminations on the contemporary American Left and his prescient warning about the election of Donald Trump. Other topics covered include his various assessments of classical American pragmatism, feminism, liberalism, religion, literature, and philosophy itself. Sympathetic in some cases, in others sharply critical, the essays will provide readers with a deep and illuminating portrait of Rorty's exciting brand of neopragmatism.

Introduction: The Unity of Richard Rorty's Philosophy David Rondel
1. Rorty's Metaphilosophy: A Pluralistic Corridor Colin Koopman
2. After Metaphysics: Eliminativism and the Protreptic Dilemma Neil Gascoigne
3. Rorty and Classical Pragmatism Christopher Voparil
4. A Pragmatism More Ironic Than Pragmatic Barry Allen
5. Rorty and Semantic Minimalism Simon Blackburn
6. Returning to the Particular: Morality and the Self after Rorty Alan Malachowski
7. Rorty's Political Philosophy Michael Bacon and Alexis Dianda
8. Tinkering with Truth, Tinkering with Difference: Rorty and (Liberal) Feminism Susan Dieleman
9. Rorty's Insouciant Social Thought James T. Kloppenberg
10. Rorty and National Pride Georgia Warnke
11. Rorty on Religion Stephen S. Bush
12. Rorty: Reading Continental Philosophy Paul Patton
13. Rorty's Literary Culture: Reading, Redemption, and the Heart's Invisible Furies Aine Mahon and Elizabeth O'Brien
14. Wild Orchids Robert Westbrook.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy, from c 1900 - [HPCF], Philosophy [HP], Literature & literary studies [D]