Liberalismo e pragmatismo in America: Richard Rorty

Liberalism and Pragmatism in America: Richard Rorty

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

Richard Rorty's political thought owes its growing popularity first of all to the current crisis of logical positivism and analytic philosophy. The author explains why this crisis had come about, analysing both the recovery/rediscovery of pragmatism and the renewed success of political philosophy in the United States. He then goes on to show that Rorty's ironic liberalism can be better understood if we trace it back to his basic philosophical views, which are, in turn, indebted to Quine, and to the later Wittgenstein. Rorty's particular interpretation of John Dewey's political ideas is also questioned. The conclusion of the paper is that ironic liberalism is untenable because it leads to irrationalism. In short, it does not help human beings when they need to make rational decisions about political and ethical issues.