Richard Rorty (1931–2007)

A refreshingly clear--and at many times humorous--philosophical statement! I like his framing of philosophy, and all intellectual inquiry actually, as acts of imagination, since any effort to try to understand the world implies thinking of something new, or at least possibly new. I also appreciate the call to stop obsessing about what is "Real" and to focus on what "is" and how to increase our understanding of what "is" and our collective well being.

Rorty hinges pretty much everything on language, and while I agree that language is an important/defining part of being human, I disagree that there is no complex communication without language. I'm guessing he never had children or spent time with young infants, or ever had a close relationship with a pet. To my mind, the extent of our ability to community without language only serves to underscore his point about the ultimate impact of language.… (more)

From this fragment, this article, I learned much about Derrida, while also understanding much about Richard Rorty's pragmatism. Rorty agrees with Derrida on many things, especially about the basis of philosophy and thinking in general.
Rorty says there are two ways to look at "various things":
1. There are natural laws that are unchanging and essential, which form the basis for understanding the world.
2. Groups of people form models and theories, which may be useful in certain circumstances, but which will be supplanted by other models that explain things better, and which will reflect new circumstances.
Rorty and Derrida both use way number two.
.… (more)