Terms of Pragmatism, Liberalism and Criticism

Philosophy is perhaps unique amongst contemporary forms of human enquiry in still having widespread controversy over its role and limits. What is the function of philosophy in our social and political lives? How does it relate to these other areas? What can it think and what is beyond it comprehension? Does it merely reflect (on) the present? Or can it ground or unveil it? Can philosophy prescribe? A plethora of such questions arise in this very basic issue in philosophical thought. While he engaged in discussions of many specific philosophical, the enduring value of Richard Rorty’s work is exactly on this meta-level. Rorty thought philosophy as a project on the whole; he considered its general form and function and the historical development therein. Further, he pursued this task in response to a crisis in the foundations of philosophical thought which is still compromising the status of its enquiry.2 Finally, while the critical object of this thesis, Rorty theorized a novel response to this situation that re-envisioned the philosophical project outside of its traditional boundaries. It is thus without overstatement that he has been referred to as ’the most influential contemporary American philosopher