Rorty’s Liberal Democratic Society and a Postmodern Utopia Based on Cruelty

Year 2012, Issue: 14, 43 - 64, 01.09.2012

Deniz Kundakçı

Abstract

As one of the most creative thinkers of our age, Rorty takes issues with the established ways of discussing the political activity and suggests a contemporary view of “utopia” in a manner precisely the reverse of traditional debates over the concept of utopia. Inasmuch as his novel conception of utopia is concerned, he puts aside all the existing definitions and rather than answering the question “what are we?”out-there, he raises the question “what might we try to become?”. His attempt consists in making a democratic promise to create a Future which is more beautiful than the Past. This study not only explores the scope and significance of Rorty’s account of democratic promise which is grounded fundamentally on cruelty, but it also tries to bring to the fore the role of philosophy in this promise

Keywords

Rorty, Postmodernist Bourgeois Liberalism, Aesthetics, Enlightenment and Democracy, Cruelty.

RORTY’NİN LİBERAL DEMOKRATİK TOPLUMU VE ZULÜM ÜZERİNDEN TEMELLENDİRİLEN POSTMODERN BİR ÜTOPYA

Abstract

Çağımızın en yaratıcı düşünürlerinden birisi olarak Rorty, geleneksel düşünme yolları ve politik etkinlikten farklı çağdaş bir ütopya önerir. Bu ütopya bağlamında, mevcut bütün tanımlamaları bir yana bırakır ve “biz neyiz?” sorusunun cevabını orada-dışarıda bulmanın peşine düşmek yerine; “biz ne olmayı deneyebiliriz sorusunu sorar. Onun çabası sadece, geleceği geçmişten daha güzel yapabilmek için demokratik bir vaatte bulunmaktır. Bu çalışma bir yandan özellikle Rorty’nin zulüm üzerinden temellenen demokrasi vaadi ve onun mahiyetini sorgulamaya çalışırken; diğer taraftan da felsefenin bu vaatteki yerini anlamaya yönelik çaba sarfeder

Keywords

Rorty, Postmodernist Burjuva Liberalizmi, Estetik

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