Take Care of Freedom And Truth Will Take Care of Itself

by Rorty, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780804746182
• ISBN10: 0804746184
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-28
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This volume collects a number of important and revealing interviews with Richard Rorty, spanning more than two decades of his public intellectual commentary, engagement, and criticism. In colloquial language, Rorty discusses the relevance and nonrelevance of philosophy to American political and public life. The collection also provides a candid set of insights into Rorty's political beliefs and his commitment to the labor and union traditions in this country. Finally, the interviews reveal Rorty to be a deeply engaged social thinker and observer.

Author Biography

Richard Rorty is Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He is the author of three volumes of Philosophical Papers (1991-1998), and Philosophy and Social Hope (1999). Eduardo Mendieta is Associate Professor of Philosophy at SUNY, Stony Brook. He is the author of Adventures of Transcendental Philosophy: Karl-Otto Apel’s Semiotics and Discourse Ethics (2002).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: ``Take Care of Freedom and Truth Will Take Care of Itself'': Toward a Postphilosophical Politics	xi
Eduardo Mendieta
The Quest for Uncertainty: Richard Rorty's Pilgrimage	1	(17)
From Philosophy to Postphilosophy	18	(10)
Postphilosophical Politics	28	(6)
After Philosophy, Democracy	34	(12)
Toward a Postmetaphysical Culture	46	(10)
There Is a Crisis Coming	56	(10)
Persuasion Is a Good Thing	66	(23)
On Philosophy and Politics	89	(15)
The Best Can Be an Enemy of the Better	104	(10)
On September 11, 2001	114	(6)
Worlds or Words Apart? The Consequences of Pragmatism for Literary Studies	120	(28)
Biography and Philosophy	148	(13)
Bibliography of Richard Rorty's Writings	161	(46)
Sources	207	(2)
Index	209