Liberalism and Ironics in Richard Rorty

Abstract

Richard Rorty's propasal of liberal communities is an important theory that enriches the contemporary political debate. Rorty believes that liberal communities are able to conceive themselves as communities aware of their historical contingency as well as capable of joining together around a public project of human solidarity. This paper will analyze Rorty's antifundamentalist conception of democracy and his idea to reconcile the public and the private sphere not through a philosophical theory but through literature. In order to do this, this paper will explain Rorty's notions of individual irony, literary criticism, liberal community and solidarity.