Proceedings of the XXII World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 20, 2008

Philosophical Anthropology

Unjustifiable Hope
Richard Rorty on Religious Provenance

The article considers Richard Rorty’s thought on pragmatic religion and meliorism. It begins with Rorty’s critique of theism and Platonism, and his attempt to rehabilitate religion using a pragmatist framework. The article then offers an analysis of Rorty’s “unjustifiable hope”. Here, the author distinguishes the different senses of unjustifiable hope. With a tension between the “romantic” and “utilitarian” aspects of this outlook, the paper concludes with the advent of Rorty’s pragmatic religion.