On the Achievements and Limits of Rorty’s Understanding of Solidarity

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Keywords:

contingency, national pride, solidarity, traditional philosophy, we-group

Abstract

This paper deals with Richard Rorty’s notion of solidarity and its limits. I contend that although Rorty makes an earnest attempt to expand on what is to be understood from being part of a “we-group,” he still perceives solidarity as a phenomenon confined principally within national borders. After presenting the theoretical shortcomings of Rorty’s idea of “national pride” in the aforementioned context, I critically investigate the possibility of a broader sense of solidarity without disregarding Rorty’s mostly cogent criticism of traditional philosophy.

References

Bernstein, R. J. 2003. “Rorty’s Inspirational Liberalism.” In Richard Rorty, edited by C. Guignon and D. R. Hiley, 224. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Derpmann, S., G. M. Kleemann, A. Kösters, S. Laukötter, and D. Schweikard. 2005. “The Liberal Ironist between National Pride and Global Solidarity.” In Richard Rorty: His Philosphy Under Discussion, edited by A. Vieth, 147. Piscataway: Transaction Books.

Malachowski, Alan. 2002. Richard Rorty. New York: Routledge.

Rorty, Richard. 1988. “Solidarity or Objectivity.” In Relativism: Intrerpretation and Confrontation, edited by Michael Krausz, 600. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

Rorty, Richard. 1989. Contingency, Irony and Solidarity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Rorty, Richard. 1999. Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth-Century America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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Published

2020-02-02

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Papers