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Rorty’s Thesis of the Cultural Specificity of Philosophy

Rorty’s Thesis of the Cultural Specificity of Philosophy James Tartaglia KeeleUniversity j.tartaglia@keele.ac.uk I Onthefaceofit,itiseasytoimagineRichardRortyasanenthusiasticadvocateof cultural exchange with non-Western philosophy, given the potential this offers for expandingintellectualhorizonsandescapingwhatRortyregardedastheparochialismofcontemporaryWesternphilosophy.Afterall,hefamouslyhadlittlerespectfor theboundarybetweentheanalyticandcontinentalphilosophytraditions,withhis freeandunselfconscioususeofHeidegger'sideas,inparticular,beingamajorfactor in helping them gain respectability within Anglo-American philosophy (Guignon 1986,p.401).PerhapsRorty'smostprominentannouncementofhisdisregardfor philosophical boundaries came at the beginning of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature,wherehelistedhismaininfluencesasDewey,Heidegger,andWittgenstein, andthenlumpedthemtogetheras"therapeutic"philosopherswho"setaside"rather than"argueagainst"traditionalepistemologyandmetaphysics(Rorty1979,pp.5­7). Despitetheapparentgulfbetweenthesefigures,then,Rortyhadnoqualmsabout attributingacommonmessagetothem,withhisinstinctiveeclecticismbackedupby themetaphilosophicalclaimthat,"thedifferencebetween`analytic'andothersorts ofphilosophyisrelativelyunimportant matterofstyleandtraditionratherthana --a differenceof`method'oroffirstprinciples"(ibid.,p.8).Youmighthaveexpectedhim tosaythesameofnon-Westernphilosophy. Given that Rorty was renowned for his ecumenical approach, then, and specializedinfindingunlikelyaffinities,piecingideastogetherwithhisself-professed "talentforbricolage"(Knobe1995),heseemsexactlythekindofphilosopherwho wouldwanttoincludenon-Westernphilosophersamongthealreadymyriadpoints of reference within his works. Moreover the philosophical ideas of Zhuangzi, the Samkhyaschool,andDgen,forinstance,allseemrathermorenaturalchoicesthan thenovelistsandpoetswho,fromthemid-1980sonward,didbecomecentraltohis work.ButquiteapartfromthecircumstantialevidenceofRorty'sreputationforopenmindedness and readiness to step outside the analytic fold, the most compelling reasontothinkthatRortywouldembracenon-Westernphilosophyistobefoundat theveryheartofhisthinking. Afterattemptingtohistoricallydeconstructandtherebyunderminetherepresentationalismandfoundationalismofpost-KantianWesternphilosophyinPhilosophy PhilosophyEast&WestVolume64,Number4October20141018­1038 ©2014byUniversityofHawai`iPress and the Mirror of Nature, Rorty ended his book with the positive proposal that e pistemology and the search forknowledge be replaced byhermeneutics andthe searchforedification,whereedificationisconceivedasaprojectofself-creationand unceasingdevelopment,accomplishedbyfindingever-newandmoreusefulwaysto describe ourselves, others, and the world around us.1 Unlike the epistemological searchfortheobjectivetruth,Rortyconceivedtheprojectofedificationashavingno terminatingpoint,beingratheran"infinitestriving "fornewdescriptionsthatincorporatenewpointsofview(Rorty1979,p.377);heaccordedthehighestsignificance to this project, holding that "redescribing ourselves is the most important thing wecando"(ibid.,pp.358­359).Thus,whileepistemology-centeredphilosophy,accordingtoRorty,soughtuniversalcommensurationthroughthedevelopmentofan abstractmatrixofsensationsandconceptswithwhichtorenderalldiscoursescommensurate, thereby allowing their truth to be algorithmically adjudicated, Rorty's alternative of edification, by contrast, requires us actively to seek out and engage withincommensurablevocabularies. Thevalueofedifyingengagementwithincommensurablevocabularies,forRorty, is that it prevents culture from freezing over with intellectual complacency when old vocabularies become so entrenched as to be practically unquestionable; http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Philosophy East and West University of Hawai'I Press

Rorty’s Thesis of the Cultural Specificity of Philosophy

Philosophy East and West , Volume 64 (4) – Nov 5, 2014

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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1529-1898
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Abstract

James Tartaglia KeeleUniversity j.tartaglia@keele.ac.uk I Onthefaceofit,itiseasytoimagineRichardRortyasanenthusiasticadvocateof cultural exchange with non-Western philosophy, given the potential this offers for expandingintellectualhorizonsandescapingwhatRortyregardedastheparochialismofcontemporaryWesternphilosophy.Afterall,hefamouslyhadlittlerespectfor theboundarybetweentheanalyticandcontinentalphilosophytraditions,withhis freeandunselfconscioususeofHeidegger'sideas,inparticular,beingamajorfactor in helping them gain respectability within Anglo-American philosophy (Guignon 1986,p.401).PerhapsRorty'smostprominentannouncementofhisdisregardfor philosophical boundaries came at the beginning of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature,wherehelistedhismaininfluencesasDewey,Heidegger,andWittgenstein, andthenlumpedthemtogetheras"therapeutic"philosopherswho"setaside"rather than"argueagainst"traditionalepistemologyandmetaphysics(Rorty1979,pp.5­7). Despitetheapparentgulfbetweenthesefigures,then,Rortyhadnoqualmsabout attributingacommonmessagetothem,withhisinstinctiveeclecticismbackedupby themetaphilosophicalclaimthat,"thedifferencebetween`analytic'andothersorts ofphilosophyisrelativelyunimportant matterofstyleandtraditionratherthana --a differenceof`method'oroffirstprinciples"(ibid.,p.8).Youmighthaveexpectedhim tosaythesameofnon-Westernphilosophy. Given that Rorty was renowned for his ecumenical approach, then, and specializedinfindingunlikelyaffinities,piecingideastogetherwithhisself-professed "talentforbricolage"(Knobe1995),heseemsexactlythekindofphilosopherwho wouldwanttoincludenon-Westernphilosophersamongthealreadymyriadpoints of reference within his works. Moreover the philosophical ideas of Zhuangzi, the Samkhyaschool,andDgen,forinstance,allseemrathermorenaturalchoicesthan thenovelistsandpoetswho,fromthemid-1980sonward,didbecomecentraltohis work.ButquiteapartfromthecircumstantialevidenceofRorty'sreputationforopenmindedness and readiness to step outside the analytic fold, the most compelling reasontothinkthatRortywouldembracenon-Westernphilosophyistobefoundat theveryheartofhisthinking. Afterattemptingtohistoricallydeconstructandtherebyunderminetherepresentationalismandfoundationalismofpost-KantianWesternphilosophyinPhilosophy PhilosophyEast&WestVolume64,Number4October20141018­1038 ©2014byUniversityofHawai`iPress and the Mirror of Nature, Rorty ended his book with the positive proposal that e pistemology and the search forknowledge be replaced byhermeneutics andthe searchforedification,whereedificationisconceivedasaprojectofself-creationand unceasingdevelopment,accomplishedbyfindingever-newandmoreusefulwaysto describe ourselves, others, and the world around us.1 Unlike the epistemological searchfortheobjectivetruth,Rortyconceivedtheprojectofedificationashavingno terminatingpoint,beingratheran"infinitestriving "fornewdescriptionsthatincorporatenewpointsofview(Rorty1979,p.377);heaccordedthehighestsignificance to this project, holding that "redescribing ourselves is the most important thing wecando"(ibid.,pp.358­359).Thus,whileepistemology-centeredphilosophy,accordingtoRorty,soughtuniversalcommensurationthroughthedevelopmentofan abstractmatrixofsensationsandconceptswithwhichtorenderalldiscoursescommensurate, thereby allowing their truth to be algorithmically adjudicated, Rorty's alternative of edification, by contrast, requires us actively to seek out and engage withincommensurablevocabularies. Thevalueofedifyingengagementwithincommensurablevocabularies,forRorty, is that it prevents culture from freezing over with intellectual complacency when old vocabularies become so entrenched as to be practically unquestionable;

Journal

Philosophy East and WestUniversity of Hawai'I Press

Published: Nov 5, 2014

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