Semantic and Political Revolutionaries – A Critical Commentary on Hütter-Almerigi’s Defence of Rorty’s Strong Poet

What is it about?

This article discusses philosopher Yvonne Huetter-Almerigi’s defence of Rorty’s strong poet. Rorty’s strong poet is a romantic and revolutionary figure—someone who decides to break with their community and its language in order to recreate themselves from the ground up by developing a new vocabulary. Huetter-Almerigi says the strong poet is perfectly possible and that breaking with the community is necessary to create something truly new. She also affirms that Rorty used this figure to motivate people to engage in democratic politics and creative undertakings. I agree with Huetter-Almerigi that the strong poet is possible and desirable. But I think everyone is already one, since everyone has a unique, idiosyncratic language that only they speak. These languages didn’t arise by breaking away from the community, though; rather they were shaped in conversation with others, and it is in conversations with (and against!) others that genuine novelty and revolutions can emerge. As to Rorty’s political aims, I am not sure he ever meant to rouse people politically or directly intervene in the public sphere. He did not think that was a good idea as philosophy is not well suited to that role, although it might be if it teamed up with other disciplines. As I read him, Rorty was concerned with criticising the unhistorical tendencies within philosophy, hoping that doing so might have some public benefit as a side effect. _x000D_

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