Reading Wittgenstein within the Framework of Rorty and Irigaray

Abstract

In this study, the legacy of late Wittgenstein’s philosophy turned over poststructuralist/postmodern philosophy is discussed in Richard Rorty and Luce Irigaray in particular. In this period with its prominent emphasis on “difference” rather than “identity” (language game) Wittgenstein enables Rorty to square accounts with “the great mirror” ¦especially the notion of representation¦ of Cartesian tradition. And Irigaray, in Wittgensteinian jargon, destroying the masculine structure of the dominating language games of Western metaphysics investigates the possibility of a feminine discourse with an emphasis on creative difference. In this context, our study will also focus on the theme of Wittgenstein of the two poststructuralist/postmodern thinkers’ own philosophical loci.