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Without doubt Richard Rorty is one of the most honoured, famous and disputed philosophers of our days. All over the world interest in his inspiring and provoking thoughts goes beyond the circles of academic philosophy. The present volume includes 'The Brain as Hardware, Culture as Software' and 'Philosophy-Envy' of Richard Rorty, papers presented by students of the philosophy department at university of Munster and Rorty's responses to and comments on them. Rorty's lecture has been publicly presented at the 8 Munstersche Vorlesungen zur Philosophie on may 26th 2004. The students presented their intensively prepared papers on the following day. The volume gives an overview of the main topics of his philosophy as well as a detailed analysis of central concepts. "The papers are of very high quality indeed, and the level of discussion during the day I spent with the students was equally high. I have never, in any university, encountered students who combined such detailed knowledge of my writings with such penetrating criticisms of my views." (Richard Rorty). ... Read more

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Demonstrating Richard Rorty’s breadth of scholarship and his influence on diverse issues across the social sciences and humanities, this comprehensive bibliography contains 1,165 citations. A unique reference work on neo-pragmatism, this bibliography is essential for anyone researching Rorty’s work and its impact on philosophy, literature, the arts, religion, the social sciences, politics, and education.

Contents: Foreword by Richard J. Bernstein. Introduction. Abbreviations. Bibliography. About the Author. Index. ... Read more

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Important for many researchers and all libraries
Richard Rumana writes in his introduction "If one is known by the enemies one makes, then Richard Rorty is, indeed, a well-known man."With 1,165 citations, Rumana has done the research to sufficiently prove that!
Not only is this book an excellent bibliography, it is also annotated.Rumana does a good job of tracing the main argument in his annotated review (not all of the citations are annotated; Rumana restricted himself to that which he felt qualified to write).
Moreover, this book is sufficiently current (2002).In 2002, Rorty's latest book publication to that date was "Philosophy and Social Hope" (1999).But in January of 2007 the 4th volume of Rorty's Philosophical Papers was published by Cambridge.
Richard J. Bernstein ended his foreword to this book writing, "... this guide to the secondary literature is much more than a critical guide to Rorty.It is also an aid for understanding the philosophical and intellectual issues that have preoccupied thinkers for the past several decades." ... Read more

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This book is a selection from papers presented at a conference sponsored by the Highlands Institute for American Religious Thought in Highlands, North Carolina, in June 1995. The central theme of the conference concerned the religious dimensions of Richard Rorty's neo-pragmatism. Professor Rorty presented the keynote address for this conference, which is included in the present volume, and he responded personally to a series of plenary addresses on his thought. The Highlands Institute emphasizes the interface between theology and philosophy. It is especially concerned with theological efforts utilizing the American philosophical tradition (including pragmatism and religious empiricism), with the history and development of distinctively American religious thought, with themes relevant to the Chicago School of theology, and with naturalism in American religious thought. ... Read more

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Neil Gascoigne provides the first comprehensive introduction Richard Rorty's work. He demonstrates to the general reader and to the student of philosophy alike how the radical views on truth, objectivity and rationality expressed in Rorty's widely-read essays on contemporary culture and politics derive from his earliest work in the philosophy of mind and language. He avoids the partisanship that characterizes much discussion of Rorty's work whilst providing a critical account of some of the dominant concerns of contemporary thought.

Beginning with Rorty's early work on concept-change in the philosophy of mind, the book traces his increasing hostility to the idea that philosophy is cognitively privileged with respect to other disciplines. After the publication of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, this led to a new emphasis on preserving the moral and political inheritance of the enlightenment by detaching it from the traditional search for rational foundations. This emerging project led Rorty to champion 'ironic' thinkers like Foucault and Derrida, and to his attempt to update the liberalism of J. S. Mill by offering a non-universalistic account of the individual's need to balance their own private interests against their commitments to others.

By returning him to his philosophical roots, Gascoigne shows why Rorty's pragmatism is of continuing relevance to anyone interested in ongoing debates about the nature and limits of philosophy, and the implications these debates have for our understanding of what role the intellectual might play in contemporary life. This book serves as both an excellent introduction to Rorty's work and an innovative critique which contributes to ongoing debates in the field. ... Read more

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This volume comprises a number of letters between author Anindita Niyogi Balslev and philosopher Richard Rorty. The letters explore ways to generate a creative and critical crosscultural discourse not only by challenging stereotypes about cultures and subcultures in general and traditions of thought in particular, but by being careful not to abolish the common ground on which stereotypes can be addressed. ... Read more

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This book provides an incisive reading of the problems with Rorty's public/private distinction, his valorization of the figure of the strong poet, and his conception of solidarity. Rothleder argues that Rorty lacks a conception of friendship which would rescue him from the isolation inherent in the life of a strong poet. She draws on ideas in contemporary continental philosophy, education, and feminism to develop a model of friendship that would achieve Rorty's goal of ending humiliation without invoking the problematic figure of the strong poet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Yet another misreading of Rorty
Rothleder's book is yet another book that critiques Rorty for something that he is not guilty of.In this book Rorty is depicted as a philosopher that cannot understand true friendship.I disagree.Rorty's ironistliberal is quite capable of friendship (and yes, even in the Aristotelianway).Most of the book is almost ad hominem, referring to Rorty'schildhood and attempting to show Rorty's philosophy as a vehicle of hispsychoanalysis...oy vey.I liked the title so I read the book only to bedisappointed in its contents.When will anyone write a book on Rorty thatreads him correctly? ... Read more

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This brief text assists students in understanding Rorty's philosophy and thinking so that they can more fully engage in useful, intelligent class dialogue and improve their understanding of course content. Part of the "Wadsworth Philosophers Series," (which will eventually consist of approximately 100 titles, each focusing on a single "thinker" from ancient times to the present), ON RORTY is written by a philosopher deeply versed in the philosophy of this key thinker. Like other books in the series, this concise book offers sufficient insight into the thinking of a notable philosopher better enabling students to engage the reading and to discuss the material in class and on paper. ... Read more

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Get out your red pens
The first thing one wants to know when reading this book is whothe typesetter and the proofreader were. With at least two egregious typos per page, one gets the impression that one of them must have not been a native English speaker and the other must have doubled as a sportscaster in his freetime.

Once you've gone through this book, pen in hand, adding omitted letters and apostrophes and striking the maddeningly inconsistent double spacing after each period, you'll find a fine example of C-grade scholarship. It's about what you'd expect an above-average undergraduate senior to turn in as his final thesis. It gives an occasionally clear and lucid explanation of Rorty and the context in which he is writing. More often, though, Rumana seems quite simply confused. If Rumana is, in fact, an undergraduate, he can be quite proud of his philosophical ability. As it is, he's probably not, and (...)(at least for me), this book is a scam. ... Read more

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Richard Rorty is one of the world's most influential living thinkers. He is notorious for contending that the traditional, foundation-building and truth-seeking ambitions of systematic philosophy should be set aside in favor of a more pragmatic, conversational, hermeneutically guided project. This challenge has not only struck at the heart of philosophy but has ricocheted across other disciplines, both contesting their received self-images and opening up new avenues of inquiry in the process.

Alan Malachowski provides an authoritative overview of Rorty's considerable body of work and a general assessment of his impact both within philosophy and in the humanities more broadly. He begins by explaining the genesis of Rorty's central ideas, tracking their development from suggestions in his early papers through their crystallization in his groundbreaking book, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Malachowski evaluates in detail some of the common criticisms of Rorty's position and his ensuing pragmatism. The book goes on to examine the subsequent evolution of his ideas, focusing particularly on the main themes of his second major work, Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. The political and cultural impact of Rorty's writings on such diverse fields as feminism, cultural and literary theory, and international relations are also considered, and the author explores why Rorty's work has generally found its warmest reception in these areas rather than among mainstream philosophers.

As the best available introduction to Rorty's thought, this is the ideal entry point for anyone seeking to learn what he has said and why it has been and continues to be so influential. ... Read more

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So-So Intro to Interesting Thinker
Richard Rorty by Alan Malachowski is an instalment in the Philosophy Now series published by Princeton University Press. This recent series is focused on introducing contemporary philosophers.

My experience has been that reader reaction to these types of introductions is in large part influenced by two factors, one's view of the "philosopher" under consideration and the quality of the author's presentation of the "philosopher"

With regard to Rorty, although I disagree with him on many points, he is an important commentator with interesting and provocative views. He is particularly effective in highlighting the assumptions and limitations of analytic philosophy - the assessment of his ideas varies amongst readers.Malachowski's exposition of Rorty, and his ideas, is on the weak side.Clearly Malachowski is well versed in Rorty's work, however, his writing style can be irritating.Though Malachowski is lucid at times, in general he comes off like the overly chatty waiter - intruding on a pleasant experience.He appears to be trying too hard to emulate Rorty's conversational writing style. Additionally, for an introduction the book is a bit too ambitious in attempting to put forward Rorty's views as well as those of his critics (difficult in under 200 pages).

This is not a terrible book, however, it misses the mark as an entry point to Rorty.

Good introduction to Rorty. Malachowski has a handle on what Rorty thinks and how he's developed
"His [Rorty's] controversial work has generally been more influential than understood - a fate that justifies an `introduction'" (pg. 2).People like Malachowski are rare to find in philosophy departments.Rorty has more critics than supporters.Malachowski's "Richard Rorty" is a sympathetic and chronological approach to Rorty's intellectual development.Malachowski's more important contribution is the book he edited, Reading Rorty: Critical Responses to Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature and Beyond.

Rorty, himself, can be very accessible and fun to read.The best example is his collection of popular essays in the book Philosophy and Social Hope.If you've never read Rorty before and are looking for one entrance point: buy that book written by Rorty and not this one by Malachowski.

Malachowski creates sections within chapters with headings like "Heidegger" and "Wittgenstein."These sections represent brackets where some of Rorty's influences and themes are placed.Some of these sections are too small to be a contribution to the literature on Rorty but they are sufficiently long and substantive for an introduction to Rorty.For example, the section on "Wittgenstein" would be considered outdated or insufficient considering Rorty's recent publication of his 4th volume of Philosophical Papers where Rorty makes another distinction in his reading on Wittgenstein in the essay "Wittgenstein and the Linguistic Turn."

Malachowski justifies his writing an introduction to Rorty by including a chapter on how he thinks Rorty has been misunderstood and abused by critics (the chapter is titled "Some critics").In that chapter, Malachowski defends Rorty against Simon Blackburn, Alasdiar MacInytre, Thomas Nagel, John Searle, and Bernard Williams.

For recommendations of other books on/about Rorty see my near-comprehensive Amazon listmania titled "Richard Rorty" ... Read more

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In "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" Richard Rorty presented his vision of post-philosophical culture, calling upon professional philosophers to accept that epistemology is dead, that the analytic method is a myth, and that philosophy and science are merely forms of literature. This volume is an examination of the conclusions drawn by Richard Rorty. Discussions, by philosophers such as W.V. Cline, Donald Davidson, Bernard Williams, Charles Taylor, John Yolton and Martin Hollis, cover Rorty's views on truth, language, knowledge and the self, together with his pragmatism, his "continental turn" and his regard for the literary potential of philosophical writing. ... Read more

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