Richard Rorty (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus)

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Wonderful
Review: This is by far the best book ever to appear on Richard Rorty. It gets right to the point--unlike the interminable, but very good, Rorty and His Critics--is extremely well-written by all of the contributors, and is not meant to be a dogma or "tinkering" with Rorty's pragmatism. In fact, this last is what I found particularly delightful, which I suppose should warrant a forewarning that most of these essays are more or less opposed to the various aspects of Rorty they examine---most of them "more"--while still managing, in my opinion, to present the ins and outs of his vision cogently and thoroughly for the layman. I strongly admire the critical bent of this volume (I wonder if all of these new Cambridge editions will be the same?). Most of the contributors have had long-standing debates with Rorty--"this is the nth round," as Charles Taylor says in his contribution--and are powerful thinkers in their own right: they include Gary Gutting, Taylor, Charles Guignol, Michael Williams, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Richard Bernstein (among others). In particular, the last three essays by Bernstein, Elshstain, and Taylor are simply miracles of critical engagement. These alone are worth the price of the book.
All or (at least) most of the great questions and problems raised by Rorty are dealt with here, and none of the authors are prepared to simply bow down before Rorty's immensely powerful rhetoric.
Simply a beautiful little book.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Wonderful
Review: This is by far the best book ever to appear on Richard Rorty. It gets right to the point--unlike the interminable, but very good, Rorty and His Critics--is extremely well-written by all of the contributors, and is not meant to be a dogma or "tinkering" with Rorty's pragmatism. In fact, this last is what I found particularly delightful, which I suppose should warrant a forewarning that most of these essays are more or less opposed to the various aspects of Rorty they examine---most of them "more"--while still managing, in my opinion, to present the ins and outs of his vision cogently and thoroughly for the layman. I strongly admire the critical bent of this volume (I wonder if all of these new Cambridge editions will be the same?). Most of the contributors have had long-standing debates with Rorty--"this is the nth round," as Charles Taylor says in his contribution--and are powerful thinkers in their own right: they include Gary Gutting, Taylor, Charles Guignol, Michael Williams, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Richard Bernstein (among others). In particular, the last three essays by Bernstein, Elshstain, and Taylor are simply miracles of critical engagement. These alone are worth the price of the book.
All or (at least) most of the great questions and problems raised by Rorty are dealt with here, and none of the authors are prepared to simply bow down before Rorty's immensely powerful rhetoric.
Simply a beautiful little book.