Spyridon Kaltsas - Hope and the Future in the Neo-Pragmatism of Richard Rorty

Season 8 continues with a recording from our 2021 annual conference, The Future as a Present Concern. This episode features a presentation from Spyridon Kaltsas Abstract: The main aim of this paper is to explore the conceptual relations between hope and the concept of the future in the neo-pragmatism of Richard Rorty. My presentation is divided into two main sections. In order to establish my position, I will first undertake a reconstruction of Rorty’s thought with a focus on the concept of hope. Rorty’s neo-pragmatism centers on the need to rethink freedom after the collapse of foundationalism and seeks to understand the possibility of building a common future without accepting the absolutist and authoritatian pretensions of essentialist metaphysics. Rorty aims to substitute hope for knowledge and replace objective certainty with a new relation to the future of a better common world. In this respect, hope is not understood as an objective ideal, but is rather to be seen as a practical achievement. However, Rorty’s view on the relation between hope and the future is far from being without problems. In the second section of my paper, I will try to further elucidate my argument by turning to the contradiction between two different conceptions of the future in Rorty’s thought. The first one understands the future as the fulfillment of the potential of the present, while the second one regards the future as wholly different from the present, as an alternative to present constraints in knowledge and social practice. I conclude by arguing that these conceptions of the future are mutually exclusive and cannot be reconciled in Rorty’s argument. Biography: Spyridon Kaltsas holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). His main research interests are in the fields of moral philosophy, social theory, and the theory of communicative action. He is currently teaching social theory and epistemology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Further Information: This recording is taken from our Annual UK Conference 2021, co-organised with University of Galway and The Irish Philosophical Society. This conference was held online consisting of live webninars with keynote presents and pre-recorded presentations from panel speakers. Biographical information of speakers is taken from the programme of that event and therefore may not be up-to-date. The British Society for Phenomenology is a not-for-profit organisation set up with the intention of promoting research and awareness in the field of Phenomenology and other cognate arms of philosophical thought. Currently, the society accomplishes these aims through its journal, events, and podcast. About our events: https://www.thebsp.org.uk/events/ About the BSP: https://www.thebsp.org.uk/about/