An American Promise Not Kept – Richard Rorty on Patriotism and the Cultural Left

Abstract

American philosopher Richard Rorty worked tirelessly for the label of an intellectual enfant terrible. One of the manifestations of his originality within the academic milieu was a staunch defence of American patriotism as exhibited in Achieving Our Country and some of his other works. In the article I strive to highlight some of the features of Rortian patriotism and to show how they link with his criticism of the cultural Left. In his opinion, the latter lost political influence and fetishized radical theorizing precisely due to its anti-Americanism. In the final section of the article I raise the question whether the growth of influence of the cultural Left in USA in recent years does not throw doubt on Rorty’s diagnosis.