%0 Journal Article
%T Double Visions: Autobiography and the Ends of Philosophy
%A Neil Gascoigne
%J Humanities
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/h2030384
%X In Contingency, irony and solidarity Rorty attempts to solve what Robert Pippin calls the ¡®Modernity Problem¡¯ by outlining a new self-understanding for the intellectuals of the ideal liberal society. The so-called liberal ironists of this post-philosophical milieu are no longer characterized by the quest for what Rorty describes as ¡®a single vision¡¯. This paper evaluates Rorty¡¯s attempt to conceptualize the self-image of post-philosophical intellectuals in the light of two similar endeavors; namely, Nietzsche¡¯s and the ancient Sceptics¡¯. The preliminary conclusion is that although Rorty¡¯s attempt fails, it points to an alternative way of interpreting the desire for a single vision; namely, as a form of autobiography. Drawing on Nietzsche, Nagel and Mill, the paper proceeds to argue that Rorty¡¯s own autobiographical fragment exemplifies the way in which the narration of a failed attempt to find a ¡®single vision¡¯ can itself be seen as the achievement of such a vision.
%K liberal ironist
%K autobiography
%K ancient scepticism
%K Nietzsche
%K modernity problem
%K intellectual self-understanding
%K Mill
%K Nagel
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/2/3/384