Solidarity, objectivity, and the human form of life: Wittgenstein vs. Rorty

Journal/Book: Crit Rev. 1997; 11: PO Box 10, Newtown, CT 06470-0010. Critical Review Foundation. 555-580.

Abstract: Reason, objectivity, and human nature are note suspect ideas. Among postmodern thinkers, Richard Rorty has advanced an especially for forceful critique of these notions. Drawing partly on Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, Rorty contends that objectivity is no more than a metaphysical name for intersubjective agreement, and that ''human nature'' is; an empty category, there being nothing beneath history and culture. Wittgenstein himself; however, recognized within the world's many civilizations ''the common behavior of mankind,'' without which Rorty's ethnocentric ''solidarity'' would be inconceivable. This common form of life-the life of those who speak-encompasses countless human activities that presuppose and are interwoven with the concepts of reason and objectivity.

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