Bernard Shaw + Richard Rorty = Two Dialectical Peas in a Jesusian Pragmatist Pod

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that Shaw and Rorty are dialectical Jesusian pragmatists who share three significant and interrelated characteristics that could easily play decisive roles in determining the fate of the human species and the planet that sustains it: ethnocentrism, liberal ironism, and Jesusian pragmatism. Ethnocentrism, a synthesis of absolutism and nihilism, asserts that we necessarily make value judgments from parochial vantage points because we live in an inescapably pluralistic world. Liberal ironism, a dialectical synthesis of liberalism and contingency, asserts that humans can commit themselves to privileged causes even in the face of radical uncertainties in theory and practice. Jesusian pragmatism, a synthesis of Christian agape and pragmatist tenets, asserts that Jesusian social values compose the ethical core of a pragmatism dedicated to providing global wellness. The argument shows that Shaw and Rorty are not only congruent dialectical thinkers, but also kindred Jesusian pragmatists.