Calcaterra examines these provocations by setting them in historical and philosophical context, relating Rortyan themes to the work of his many influences, which range the gamut from the classical pragmatists – Peirce, James, and Dewey – to Continental thinkers – Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and their postmodernist successors – to analytic philosophers, including Wittgenstein, Sellars, Quine, Davidson, and, more surprisingly, Carnap.
But, as Calcaterra insists, her book is “not an apology for Rorty” (Calcaterra 2019: ix) she critically approaches what she calls Rorty’s philosophical “provocations,” especially his conceptions of contingency and normativity, to see how they might inspire fresh thinking. It is a worthy addition to the growing number of works that offer a more generous and balanced assessment of Rorty’s thought, in contrast to the scores of highly critical treatments it received during his career. 1Rosa Calcaterra has written an extremely learned and thoughtful book about Richard Rorty’s controversial neopragmatism.
