Pragmatic Humanism in Practice: The Bernstein-Rorty Philosophical Conversation

This essay revisits the nearly sixty-year philosophical conversation between lifelong friends Richard J. Bernstein and Richard Rorty. To quote from Robert Westbrook's memorable and informative “A Tale of Two Dicks,” we know that “theirs was a warm, even affectionate, fraternal bond, albeit, as we shall see, not one without significant philosophical and political disagreements, vigorously expressed” (3). By Bernstein's own lights, “[n]o other contemporary philosopher has influenced me in such a creative manner. As I developed my own interpretations of pragmatism, I frequently felt I was addressing Rorty directly or indirectly—seeking to meet his penetrating challenges” (Pragmatic Turn 200). In a similar spirit, Rorty attested that “Richard Bernstein and I are almost exact contemporaries, were educated mostly in the same places by mostly the same people, have been exalted by many of the same hopes, and have been talking to one another about how to fulfill...