Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Consequences of Pragmatism
Rorty's 1982 essays developing the consequences of dropping representationalist epistemology
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Consequences of Pragmatism (Mid) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Community |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Variable |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Variable |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Consequences of Pragmatism
The 1972-80 essays — late-twentieth-century post-positivist moment.
Space
Consequences of Pragmatism
American academic philosophy and its conversation with continental thought.
Matter
Consequences of Pragmatism
The natural-scientific world that Rorty treats as the proper subject-matter of inquiry.
Observer
Consequences of Pragmatism
The philosophical conversation as collective inquiry.
Energy
Consequences of Pragmatism
The intellectual energies of the post-representationalist turn.
Information
Consequences of Pragmatism
The discursive content of the philosophical conversation.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
Rorty's neo-pragmatism has been variously assessed — defenders see it as the proper post-positivist development, critics (Putnam, Habermas) see it as relativist.