Has Richard Rorty Ever Been an Analytic Philosopher?
It has become a commonplace to distinguish between analytical and pragmatist phases in Richard Rorty’s philosophical career. Nevertheless, not all historians of American philosophy or Rorty’s colleagues agree with this conventional periodization. It is suggested that in the 1960-70s Rorty only disguised himself as analytical philosopher, actually being a pragmatist. This view is held in United States by N. Gross, J. Richardson and C. West, and in Russia by E. Loginov. The purpose of this article is to refute the “sociological argument” put forward by Gross and those scholars who question the “polycentricity” of Rorty’s philosophy.