Hegelianism in the Philosophy of Richard Rorty

This paper tried to answer whether Rorty was a Hegelian philosopher. The answer to this question would not be a convincing “yes/no” response since Rorty was influenced by Hegel. Thus, to help the reader understand the place of reason in Rorty’s neo-pragmatic thought, this paper considered the place of Hegel in (classic and neo) pragmatism. Later, in the discussion, we referred to the status of Hegel in Rorty's philosophy. Upon this analysis, Rorty was a Hegelian in several aspects. Similar to Hegel, he had social concerns and justified the role of philosophy in the same direction. Under the influence of Hegel, Rorty, too, criticized modernity and modern philosophy and considered philosophy and its issues a historical contingency. Therefore, he held that after Hegel, the philosophical culture had been replaced by the literary culture, which rooted in Hegel’s philosophy. However, unlike Hegel, Rorty did not support the Hegelian absolute spirit and his systematization.