What can we hope for? : essays on politics
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-221) and index.

"Richard Rorty (1931-2007) was among the most influential intellectuals of the latter half of the twentieth century, a thinker whose pragmatist philosophy ranged effortlessly across literature, politics, history, and poetry. To today's wider public Rorty is best known as the philosopher who forewarned of the 2016 US presidential outcome almost two decades in advance when he presciently predicted that a portion of the electorate would "start looking for a strongman to vote for- someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots." Featuring four previously unpublished essays, the writings collected in this volume convey his other prognostications and warnings for contemporary America and the global order-all of which remain surprisingly relevant. What Can We Hope For? showcases Rorty's striking diagnoses of the rising challenges democracies face, at home and abroad, and his timely proposals for how to address them..."--,Provided by publisher.