Friday, February 25, 2005

Rorty on Derrida

I just read Richard Rorty's essay "Philosophy as a Kind of Writing: An Essay on Derrida." I don't pretend to know (or understand) much about Derrida, but I thought Rorty's analysis of the rift between analytical and continental philosophy (or as he calls them, Kantian and Hegelian) was absolutely brilliant. His main point--in my limited understanding after a brief reading--is that the difference between the two types is not that they hold opposing viewpoints on a set of fundamental questions--it's just that the Hegelians don't want to approach the issue in those terms. It's not Catholics vs. Atheists; its Catholics vs. Secularists who don't want to address God at all. Both are simply "kinds of writing;" but the Kantians don't enjoy writing as such, as they find it an inadequate representation of "truth." Hegelians don't see the issue in those terms, and thus they enjoy writing. Rorty seems to think the two types can and must coexist, which seems to be reasonable--I've long been dissatisfied with the animosity between the two sides, and an approach that avoids that seems great. I'll have to read more Rorty to see if I really like him, but I approve of what I read so far.

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