NANCY FRASER
FROM IRONY TO PROPHECY TO POLITICS:
A RESPONSE TO RICHARD RORTY
It's a great pleasure to participate in this symposium. Actually, I
believe that this is an occasion of considerable historical significance, since it is the first time, to my knowledge, in this era of
postwar professionalized American philosophy, that a renowned
male philosopher has elected to address the subject of feminism and
indeed to make it the subject of a major philosophical address. The
importance of this should not be underestimated. In a context in
which feminist philosophers are still struggling to win a measure of
recognition of the legitimacy of our enterprise- recognition that
feminist scholars in disciplines like history, anthropology, and literature already enjoy - Richard Rorty's decision to address the subject
of "Feminism and Pragmatism" can only have a salutary effect. It
cannot but create more space in the discipline for feminist philosophy and promote a wider hearing for our work. It is even possible
for me to fantasize today, as I don't think I could have a year ago,
that in the not very distant future a Tanner Lecture on feminist
philosophy will be delivered by a feminist philosopher and a
woman.
Since Professor Rorty is breaking new ground as a male philosopher lecturing on this subject, he has not had the benefit of any role
models to help him develop a rhetorical posture or stance. He is not,
after all, merely speaking about feminism; he is also speaking to
feminists, so he has had to find a way to address us. When I first
read his lecture I had the impression that he was addressing us as a
suitor with a marriage proposal; much of his paper is devoted to
trying to persuade us that we'd be much better off with him than
Presented as part of the Symposium on The Tanner Lecture, University of
Michigan, December 8, 1990.
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