A Post-Philosophical Culture

ValJester

I've been rereading Richard Rorty's Philosophy And The Mirror Of Nature of late, and the concept in it I find most interesting is the idea that the time has come for a post-philosophical culture. What he means by this is one in which the Englightenment's ideals are superseded by one in which we live in a radically empiricist culture, in which all our ideas are based on pure and simple facts of what is, with no pretenstions or convictions of a higher culture

http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/rorty.htm
Read Part 5 for a fuller definition.

What are your opinions on this-would it be possible, and perhaps even to be worked towards, or a major regression?

Joe1919

But, like its predecessor, it is not going to be resolved by any sudden new discovery of how things really are. It will be decided, if history allows us the leisure to decide such issues, only by a slow and painful choice between alternative self-images." (Rorty)

"The perennial task of philosophers is to examine whatever seems insusceptible to the methods of the sciences or everyday observation, e.g. categories, concepts, models, ways of thinking or acting, and particularly ways in which they clash with one another, with a view to constructing other, less internally contradictory, and (though this can never be fully attained) less pervertible metaphors, images, symbols and systems of categories." (The purpose of philosophy, Isaiah Berlin)
http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/cc/index.html


It might be worth comparing Rorty with Berlin. My reading of this is that philosophy has given up on the task of trying to discover 'how things really are'.(Ontology) This is best left to Science.

However, philosophy does have a task (imo) and this is in looking at the choices between 'alternative self-images.' (Rorty) or our 'categories, concepts, models, ways of thinking or acting......'. (Berlin).

Hence, Philosophy is still valuable in helping us with our 'painful choices'.

Gary L

Joe said it all there. I'd add this from Russell;

The value of philosophy is to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason.

To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given.

Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom.

Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.

philologos

OP: You've made a categorical mistake, in assuming that a post-philosophical culture means a culture that moves beyond Enlightenment ideals. The Enlightenment is not the only period in philosophy. Indeed it is long behind us. There is philosophy of our time as well, and there will be philosophy in ages to come.

Why is this? - Philosophy inform us of who we are. Philosophy is the result of bringing all things from literature, to science under the critical eye of reason. Philosophy is trying our best to find a rational view of what is around us. Indeed, philosophy tries to account for our emotions, and for our ethical systems, and so on and so forth.

Everyone I have met seems to work on philosophical assumptions. This isn't surprising because our culture has been heavily influenced both by the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and to a greater degree 20th century postmodernism.

New philosophy takes a long time to permeate a society, therefore what is being talked about in academic settings will take a long time to impact larger society.