Problems of the modern self: Reflections on Rorty, Taylor, Nietzsche, and Foucault (Richard Rorty, Charles Taylor, Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault)

Richard Rorty's criticisms of epistemology must be understood in terms of his ultimate goal: the introduction of a moral vision, one that provides a compelling understanding of the self. On Rorty's view, the public and private vocabularies that compose the self are incommensurable. There is, therefore, a tension at the heart of the self: insofar as she identifies with her public concerns, her private concerns can be nothing more than “guilty pleasures;” insofar as she identifies herself with her private concerns, her public concerns appear arbitrary and dispensable. Thus, the self is in a state of constant tension which threatens its coherence; the two vocabularies ensure that the self regards itself as a stranger before whom it is ashamed.; While it seems that this tension might be assuaged by the reconciliation of these vocabularies, Rorty rejects this pursuit. He overestimates, however, the power of his arguments here: they establish only that reconciliation of the tensions cannot be profitably pursued given the assumptions of the epistemological project. There are, in fact, at least four options for the pursuit of reconciliation outside the epistemological project.; First, it may be the case that reconciliation can be had through knowledge that does not require a standpoint outside our linguistic practices. Charles Taylor's work is a powerful statement of this position. Second, it may be the case that reconciliation can be had from a standpoint within our practices, but not in such a way as to constitute knowledge. The work of Bernard Williams is representative here. Third, it may be the case that reconciliation can be had by a standpoint outside our linguistic practices, but which does not constitute knowledge. A reading of Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy alongside Foucault's Folie et déraison shows both to hold this view. Fourth, it may be that reconciliation is impossible, though it can still be sensibly pursued. This last position can be formulated using Foucault's later work on ethics. Finally, the discussion as a whole can be given a powerful reading in Christian terms using the work of Soren Kierkegaard.