Richard Rorty: Memories

Abstract

It was in 1984,1 think, or perhaps 1985. At the end of a doctoral seminar held by my great teacher, Professor Jerzy Kmita, at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, a small group of us stood chatting about this and that. Among us was Slawek Magala, at that time an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and today pro fessor of international relations at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He has always impressed me with his wide reading, which includes acquain tance with all the latest literature in and sociology. I recall that on this particular day he expressed enthusiasm for a book, and a philosopher, up to that time unknown to me?Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by a certain Richard Rorty. I remembered the name and the title. Then, in 1987, thanks to Profe sor Zbigniew Pelczy?ski from Oxford University and his organization, the Oxford Hospitality Scheme for Polish Scholars, I received a grant to study at Oxford. While there, I made my way to London to seek out an odd bookshop that I had already contacted by post. I no longer recall the name of this emporium, only that in those days it used to send to Poland free shipments of books on the subjects of contemporary phi losophy and political science. (I imagine that behind its activities lurked a foundation?or something?set up to promote freedom movements in the Soviet Bloc countries.) This shop occupied a hole-in-the-wall some where near St. Paul's Cathedral, and it was there that I found a copy of Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. I remember that my reaction on first reading it was mixed. The first part of the work seemed to me quite tangled, but I was captivated by the second part, dealing with edifying philosophy and hermeneutics. I had the impression that the author was expressing ideas that were original, bold, and inspiring. I also felt that his approach was close to my own. Having received, thanks to Jerzy Kmita, a thorough schooling in thinking about in cultural and historical categories, I regarded Rorty's views as related to those I held myself on and the humanities as a whole. And when, in 1989, I found myself at St. John's College, Cambridge, as a visiting fellow, I was eager to get better acquainted with the work of my new philosophical hero.