Rorty, the American pragmatist philosopher, has died at the age of 75. I saw news of this via Arts and Letters Daily, which linked to a brief notice in Telos (a journal of political and social thought).
Rorty's most referenced work was 1979's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. His most recent was Philosophy as Cultural Politics: Philosophical Papers IV (2007). For those not familiar with Rorty and (knowing scienceblogs readers) who may seek to reduce him either to leftist, po-mo, irrelevant, or an aid to the right, fear not that I'm sure all such critiques had been leveled against him in his life.
Just to say: He was a big deal.
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My condolences.