Product Description

Essays, written by thirteen of the most distinguished living philosophers, together with Rorty′s substantial replies to each, and other new material by him, offer by far the most thorough and thoughtful discussion of the work of the thinker who has been called "the most interesting philosopher alive."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #363266 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Review
"More famously than any philosopher writing within the Anglo–American dispensation since William James and John Dewey, Richard Rorty has transported his inherited intellectual preoccupations from, in Kant′s distinction, school philosophy to world philosophy. To assess this progress, the present volume brings together a formidable selection of the most interesting and influential philosophers now at issue in the analytical sphere of philosophy, to each of whom Rorty responds resourcefully and forcefully. The result is that remarkable thing, a book that does superbly everything it promises." Stanley Cavell, Harvard University

From the Back Cover
Thirteen of the most distinguished living philosophers – including Donald Davidson, Jürgen Habermas, Hilary Putnam, John McDowell, Jacques Bouveresse, and Daniel Dennett – assess Richard Rorty′s arguments for revising our philosophical conceptions of truth, reality, objectivity, and justification.

These essays, together with Rorty′s substantial replies to each, and other new material by him, offer by far the most thorough and thoughtful discussion of the work of the thinker who has been called ′the most interesting philosopher alive.′

About the Author
Robert B. Brandom is Distinguished Service Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. His 1977 Princeton PhD thesis on pragmatism and the philosophy of language was supervised by Richard Rorty. He is author of Making it Explicit (1994), an extension of his thesis.

Customer Reviews

Good but sometimes narrow in scope
A very enjoyable book, especially as the criticisms are all from philosophers who share much common ground with Rorty. Despite this, they give his ideas a thorough going-over and clarify many of his theses, some of which he concedes substantial ground on. One criticism though: many of the essays go over the same disputes (eg. whether truth should be a goal of inquiry, whether the 'real world' is a useful concept, etc) and consequently one can predict how Rorty will respond before reading his replies. As a result of this the most successful essays are those on more varied topics, eg. Dennett on AI, Ramberg on philosophy of mind. I found Conant's long essay on Rorty's relation to George Orwell especially interesting as it is far more detailed and contains far more textual analysis than the others, as well as being more political in content. Very thought-provoking; it questions many received liberal truths.
Recommended to anyone interested in how Rorty's often controversial ideas stand up to criticism, and how they fit in with analytic philosophy in general.