Narrating philosophy: Richard Rorty’s liberal hope

Abstract

Behind Richard Rorty’s political thinking, there is a complex understanding
of Philosophy that tries to address the challenges brought by the so-called
“linguistic turn.” By taking the contributions of Analytic philosophy to its
necessary and extreme conclusions, Rorty allows himself to reformulate the
meaning and limits of Philosophy itself in order to make it an ally of liberal
spirit. It seems that Rorty is facing, thanks to the tools he inherited from the
linguistic turn, important critics to the liberal spirit –apparently dominating
western societies during the second half of the twentieth century– for instance,
Carl Schmitt’s criticism of parliamentary democracy. For Rorty, telling
the story of western philosophy is the point of departure for defending liberal
principles in contemporary societies.