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Ashley Dawkins's picture

I have to saw that I felt

I have to saw that I felt this paper was a bit complicated to understand. After discussing it with the team and Paul, it became clearer and a lot more interesting. As I began to understand what Rorty was actually proposing, I found myself disagreeing more and more with his ideas about “unwobbling pivots”. From what I understand Rorty disagrees with the existence of “unwobbling pivots”; or something that we tend to base our lives on. Or the search for the ultimate “unwobbling pivot”; or something that everyone can base their lives around. The ideas he suggests are interesting, but at the same time they are also saddening. For example, he suggests that what matters to me may never matter to the majority of people in the world. This idea forces me to wonder, “ what the point?”. I almost think that this is not the case though; many people have similar interests and general things that they care about. Often you become friends with someone because you have something in common with them. In certain cases, there may be less people who share a certain interest, but there most likely will be someone out there that does. This is just one example of many that could pertain to this idea. My next question is, would following the ideas of Rorty be a satisfying way to live. I ask this mostly because of his idea of not having “unwobbling pivots” in our lives. Therefore, if you like something, just do it. To me, this idea paints a picture of someone wondering from one thing to the next without. Although I am still trying to figure out what exactly having an “unwobbling pivot” in your life means and how it changes your behavior, it seems as though having one in some ways may justify your behavior. Also, after finding more about Rorty, it is my impression that he set out to change philosophy because he was not happy with its state. But, I would ague that since he sought out to change something; he had an “unwobbling pivot”. What does this all mean in relation to Paul? I almost think that their lives don’t math up as much as he says. I say this because Paul’s idea of storytelling and story sharing inherently produce change and acknowledging what people have to share. This does not go along with Rorty’s most people won’t care about what matters to you idea. If this is true Paul’s storytelling idea would fair, but I’ve seen it work in my own life. My next question is, does Rorty leave room for agents of change? As I stated before, I am still trying to understand all the Rorty had to say. What I know as of now, I don’t agree with. I also am questioning whether or not Richard and Paul’s path cross. I know Paul believes that he has no “unwobbling pivots”, but I have made it my mission to show him that he does.

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