Rorty-Habermas Debate

Marcin Kilanowski is Professor of Law at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland.

• From the AuthorAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Opening: First Comes Dewey2. On Rorty's Sociopolitical Thought3. On Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action4. On the Convergence of the Perspectives of Rorty and Habermas5. Postscript: From Dewey to Rorty and HabermasConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

"It is a delightful oddity to see lines of agreement sketched out in a time of increasing polarization. That is why philosophers will find Marcin Kilanowski's fresh study reconsidering Richard Rorty and Jurgen Habermas' two-decades long debate a welcoming and timely endeavor. The Rorty-Habermas Debate presents the exchange between Habermas and Rorty by challenging us to rethink their differences as points of convergence and pragmatic merging, especially in attempting to regain trust and confidence in democracy." — Dewey Studies"Kilanowski's study admirably meets its three-fold goal of presenting the thought of Rorty and Habermas during their long debate, showing its convergence while recognizing important areas of continued disagreement, and suggesting the continued importance of their thought for both non-philosophers and philosophers." — Eidos. A Journal for Philosophy of Culture"Marcin Kilanowski's book offers an insightful discussion of the most important heroes of pragmatism. Dewey, Rorty, and Habermas's theses are presented and discussed exceptionally pedagogically. While full justice is done to the complexities of each author's writings, they are confronted innovatively, thus underlining unsuspected proximities. Kilanowski's important study testifies to the relevance of pragmatism in social theory and offers a thought-provoking guide to the debates it prompts." — Guillaume Tusseau, Professor at Sciences Po Law School, Member of the Institut universitaire de France"For both Habermas and Rorty philosophy was a practice in the service of freedom and democracy. Their disagreements were to a large extent disagreements about how that service could best be performed. Marcin Kilanowski reliably and helpfully guides the reader through positions and arguments taken by Rorty and Habermas respectively, while emphasizing their commonalities. A compelling read at a time when freedom and democracy are increasingly contested and the question of their defence is very much a live issue." — Mattias Kumm, Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), and Humboldt University in Berlin"What do Richard Rorty and Jürgen Habermas have in common? As philosophers know well, quite a lot, but one point not generally known is that they met at a public debate in Warsaw, Poland, right after the fall of Communism which marked a beginning of a new era in Europe, and the world. This event, and these two giants of contemporary philosophy, constitute the organizing structure of this beautifully written, sophisticated yet accessible book. Of course it is of great interest to all Habermas and Rorty students, but there is more than that: gesturing to an idea of 'freedom as responsibility,' Marcin Kilanowski provides us with an outline of his new, intriguing theory. Greatly recommended!" — Wojciech Sadurski, Challis Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Sydney"Kilanowski offers thorough introductions to Rorty and Habermas, accessible to scholars working outside philosophy. He then fully dispels the battling caricatures that have arisen, establishing roots and commonalities especially deriving from Dewey's philosophical pragmatism. This book will be an enormous service to students and scholars who hope to learn from these philosophers without being specialists themselves, or even without being philosophers at all." — David Estlund, Professor of Philosophy, Brown University