Walter wrote
Apart from that one inexcusable foible, I believe RP accurately portrays the basic gist of the views of the early Rorty. (Though later than *The linguistic turn* of course.)
The Linguistic Turn, as Walter know, although some others may not, is a book of important philosophical essays which Rorty edited in 1967. The title comes from a remark of Gustav Bergmann's which quickly passed into the philosophical lexicon. Rorty's introduction is the best critical introduction to the movement often called 'linguistic philosophy,' that I know of. I see that the current edition has two retrospective essays by Rorty that are not in my old copy. Here's the table of contents (1992):
Introduction Richard M. Rorty - Metaphysical Difficulties of Linguistic PhilosophyPart I - Classic Statements of the Thesis That Philosophical Questions Are Questions of Language
1. Moritz Schlick - The Future of Philosophy 2. Rudolf Carnap - On the Character of Philosophical Problems3. Gustav Bergmann - Logical Positivism, Language, and the Reconstruction of Metaphysics (in part)
4. Rudolf Carnap - Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology 5. Gilbert Ryle - Systematically Misleading Expressions 6. John Wisdom - Philosophical Perplexity 7. Normal Malcolm - Moore and Ordinary Language Part II - Metaphilosophical Problems of Ideal-Language Philosophy 8a. Irving Copi - Language Analysis and Metaphysical Inquiry 8b. Gustav Bergmann - Two Criteria for an Ideal Language 8c. Irving Copi - Reply to Bergmann 9. Max Black - Russell's Philosophy of Language (in part) 10a. Alice Ambrose - Linguistic Approaches to Philosophical Problems 10b. Roderick Chisholm Comments on the "Proposal Theory" of Philosophy 11. James W. Cornman - Language and Ontology 12. Willard v. O. Quine - Semantic Ascent (from Word and Object) Part III - Metaphilosophical Problems of Ordinary-Language Philosophy 13. Roderick Chisholm - Philosophers and Ordinary Language14. John Passmore - Arguments to Meaninglessness: Excluded Opposites and Paradigm Cases (from Philosophical Reasoning) 15a. Grover Maxwell and Herbert Feigl - Why Ordinary Language Needs Reforming
15b. Manley Thompson - When Is Ordinary Language Reformed? 16a. Richard Hare - Philosophical Discoveries 16b. Paul Henle - Do We Discover Our Uses of Words? 17. Peter Geach - Ascriptivism 18. James W. Cornman - Uses of Language and Philosophical Problems 19. J. O. Urmson - J. L. Austin 20a. Stuart Hampshire - J. L. Austin 20b. J. O. Urmson and G. Warnock - J. L. Austin 20c. Stanley Cavell - Austin at Criticism 21. Stuart Hampshire - The Interpretation of Language; Words and Concepts Part IV - Recapitulations, Reconsiderations, and Future Prospects 22. Dudley Shapere - Philosophy and the Analysis of Language23. Stuart Hampshire - Are All Philosophical Questions Questions of Language?
24a. J. O. Urmson - The History of Analysis24b. Discussion of Urmson's "The History of Analysis" (by the participants in the 1961 Royaumont Colloquium)
25a. P. F. Strawson - Analysis, Science, and Metaphysics25b. Discussion of Strawson's "Analysis, Science and Metaphysics" (by the participants in the 1961 Royaumont Colloquium)
26. Max Black - Language and Reality 27. Jerrold J. Katz - The Philosophical Relevance of Linguistic Theory28. Yehoshua Bar-Hillel - A Pre-Requisite for Rational Philosophical Discussion
Two Retrospective Essays by Richard M. Rorty Ten Years After Twenty-five Years After ----------------------- Robert Paul ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html