I just learned that Richard Rorty died Friday. I was a big fan of his work as an undergrad, and at that time both Consequences of Pragmatism and Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity had a big influence on my thinking. I suppose they still do indirectly, though I'm less impressed with them now than I was then. He was one of the (very) few contemporary philosophers whom I found really inspiring, even when he was downright frustrating. So I'm sad to hear he's no longer around. Love him or hate him, English-language philosophy needs many more people writing interesting, far-reaching, and far-sighted philosophy, and can't afford to lose any of those who are.
UPDATE: Here are some other people's thoughts on Rorty's passing that I've come across:
John Holbo at The Valve
Brian Leiter at Leiter Reports
"Duck" at DuckRabbit
N. Pepperell at Rough Theory
Sean Carroll at Cosmic Variance
Peter Bradwell at Demos
Daniel Solove at Concurring Opinions
Christopher Hayes (via Rough Theory)
David Roberts at The Gristmill (via Rough Theory)
John Wilkins at Evolving Thoughts
If you have posted your own reflections, let me know. It's nice to see such a broad range of people, from physicists and analytic philosophers to broadly continental sorts, remembering him fondly. Like I said, far-reaching.
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Oh. I'd become a big fan of his work in the past six months -- in other words, I was becoming more and more anti-foundationalist -- and just spend yesterday afternoon reading a few essays in his "Philosophy and Social Hope". Sad...
Se also Crooked Timber