Richard Rorty

The Making of an American Philosopher

Biography & Memoir, Philosophers, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book Richard Rorty by Neil Gross, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Neil Gross ISBN: 9780226309910
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: November 15, 2009
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Neil Gross
ISBN: 9780226309910
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: November 15, 2009
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

On his death in 2007, Richard Rorty was heralded by the New York Times as “one of the world’s most influential contemporary thinkers.” Controversial on the left and the right for his critiques of objectivity and political radicalism, Rorty experienced a renown denied to all but a handful of living philosophers. In this masterly biography, Neil Gross explores the path of Rorty’s thought over the decades in order to trace the intellectual and professional journey that led him to that prominence.

The child of a pair of leftist writers who worried that their precocious son “wasn’t rebellious enough,” Rorty enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of fifteen. There he came under the tutelage of polymath Richard McKeon, whose catholic approach to philosophical systems would profoundly influence Rorty’s own thought. Doctoral work at Yale led to Rorty’s landing a job at Princeton, where his colleagues were primarily analytic philosophers. With a series of publications in the 1960s, Rorty quickly established himself as a strong thinker in that tradition—but by the late 1970s Rorty had eschewed the idea of objective truth altogether, urging philosophers to take a “relaxed attitude” toward the question of logical rigor. Drawing on the pragmatism of John Dewey, he argued that philosophers should instead open themselves up to multiple methods of thought and sources of knowledge—an approach that would culminate in the publication of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, one of the most seminal and controversial philosophical works of our time.

In clear and compelling fashion, Gross sets that surprising shift in Rorty’s thought in the context of his life and social experiences, revealing the many disparate influences that contribute to the making of knowledge. As much a book about the growth of ideas as it is a biography of a philosopher, Richard Rorty will provide readers with a fresh understanding of both the man and the course of twentieth-century thought.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

On his death in 2007, Richard Rorty was heralded by the New York Times as “one of the world’s most influential contemporary thinkers.” Controversial on the left and the right for his critiques of objectivity and political radicalism, Rorty experienced a renown denied to all but a handful of living philosophers. In this masterly biography, Neil Gross explores the path of Rorty’s thought over the decades in order to trace the intellectual and professional journey that led him to that prominence.

The child of a pair of leftist writers who worried that their precocious son “wasn’t rebellious enough,” Rorty enrolled at the University of Chicago at the age of fifteen. There he came under the tutelage of polymath Richard McKeon, whose catholic approach to philosophical systems would profoundly influence Rorty’s own thought. Doctoral work at Yale led to Rorty’s landing a job at Princeton, where his colleagues were primarily analytic philosophers. With a series of publications in the 1960s, Rorty quickly established himself as a strong thinker in that tradition—but by the late 1970s Rorty had eschewed the idea of objective truth altogether, urging philosophers to take a “relaxed attitude” toward the question of logical rigor. Drawing on the pragmatism of John Dewey, he argued that philosophers should instead open themselves up to multiple methods of thought and sources of knowledge—an approach that would culminate in the publication of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, one of the most seminal and controversial philosophical works of our time.

In clear and compelling fashion, Gross sets that surprising shift in Rorty’s thought in the context of his life and social experiences, revealing the many disparate influences that contribute to the making of knowledge. As much a book about the growth of ideas as it is a biography of a philosopher, Richard Rorty will provide readers with a fresh understanding of both the man and the course of twentieth-century thought.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book House Full by Neil Gross
Cover of the book A Little History of Photography Criticism; or, Why Do Photography Critics Hate Photography? by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Capitalism and Freedom by Neil Gross
Cover of the book How to Study by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Guitar Makers by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Animal Intimacies by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Shakespeare's Roman Trilogy by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Wittgenstein and Modernism by Neil Gross
Cover of the book People of Plenty by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Aristotle and Poetic Justice by Neil Gross
Cover of the book The Moral Neoliberal by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Awakening to Race by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Landscapes of Accumulation by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs by Neil Gross
Cover of the book Power in Concert by Neil Gross
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy