The Last Conceptual Revolution

A Critique of Richard Rorty's Political Philosophy

By Eric M. Gander

Subjects: Comparative Religion
Series: SUNY series in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, SUNY series in Communication Studies
Paperback : 9780791440100, 235 pages, October 1998
Hardcover : 9780791440094, 235 pages, October 1998

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Table of contents

Preface

Introduction: The Sense of an Ending

1. "Locating" Rorty's Utopia

The End of Philosophy

The Beginning of Irony

2. Liberalism: Above and Below the Surface

Liberalism and Cruelty

Liberalism and Humiliation

Liberalism, Humiliation, and the Ironist Self

3. Sticks and Speech: Is There a Difference?

Liberalism and Reason

Universality, Transparency, and Truth

Critical Coda: Answering Hitler

4. Characters and Citizenship: A Literary Redescription

Philosophy versus Literature

Characters and Their Worldviews

Conclusion: Richard Rorty — Inscrutable to the Last

Index

A critique of Rorty's own provocative political philosophy, as well as an in-depth look at both the issues concerning the relationship between the public and the private, and arguments on the role of reason in liberal political discourse generally.

Description

In 1989, with the publication of Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, and in articles throughout the 1990s, Richard Rorty developed a detailed social and political philosophy that brings together core elements in liberalism, pragmatism, and postmodern, anti-foundationalist philosophy. The Last Conceptual Revolution provides a critique both of Rorty's own provocative political philosophy, as well as an in-depth look at the issues concerning the relationship between the public and the private; between persuasion and force; and arguments about the role of reason in liberal political discourse generally.

Eric M. Gander is Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech at Baruch College, City University of New York, where he teaches classes in persuasion and politics.

Reviews

"Gander writes something about Rorty that has needed saying for quite some time. Most authors simply make quiet obeisance to Rorty. They accept Rorty on his own terms and read Rorty into this discipline's critique of foundationalism. Gander does not fall into this trap. The Last Conceptual Revolution is an essential read for any communication scholar who finds the attack on foundationalism unsatisfying and for anyone who takes seriously the relationship between rhetoric, politics and philosophy." — David Grassmick, Centre College

"Stylistically, Gander engages Rorty in a series of prosopopoeia, often giving voices in the debates to the perspectives of others such as Freud, Bloom, Derrida, Burke, and many more. In almost eristic fashion, invoking images of the Platonic dialectical method, Gander quarrels and, at times, nit-picks his way through Rorty's ironism, his interpretation of liberal democratic theory, and ultimately, liberalism itself. It is an engaging read." — David Cratis Williams, International Center for the Advancement of Political Communication and Argumentation