Rorty on religion and hope
Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 48 (1):76 – 98 (2005)
Abstract
The article considers how Richard Rorty's writings on religion dovetail with his views on the philosophical significance of hope. It begins with a reconstruction of the central features of Rorty's philosophy of religion, including its critique of theism and its attempt to rehabilitate religion within a pragmatist philosophical framework. It then presents some criticisms of Rorty's proposal. It is argued first that Rorty's "redescription" of the fulfilment of the religious impulse is so radical that it is hard to see what remains of its specifically religious content. This casts doubt on Rorty's claim to have made pragmatism and religion compatible. The article then offers an analysis of Rorty's key notion of "unjustifiable hope". Different senses of unjustifiable hope are distinguished, in the course of which a tension between the "romantic" and "utilitarian" aspects of Rorty's pragmatist philosophy of religion comes into view.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1080/00201740510015365
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Citations of this work
Rorty, religion, and humanism.Serge Grigoriev - 2011 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 70 (3):187-201.
Rorty, religion and the public–private distinction.Lauren Swayne Barthold - 2012 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 38 (8):861-878.
Rethinking nihilism: Rorty vs Taylor, Dreyfus and Kelly.Tracy Llanera - 2016 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 42 (9):937-950.
References found in this work
Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity.Charles Taylor - 1989 - Harvard University Press.
Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture.Clifford Geertz - 1973 - In The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.
Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity.Charles Taylor - 1989 - Cambridge University Press.