Problems of contemporary historicism – revolution in Castoriadis and redescription in Rorty

Abstract

This article is about historicism, a philosophical approach which considers history as a crucial factor in the setting of values ​​and beliefs of men and women. Specifically, I explore, in the following pages, some issues surrounding the historicist approach and its relation to the political action and philosophical discourse. I do that by examining the thoughts of two philosophers whose contribution has been considered very important for today's political philosophy: Cornelius Castoriadis and Richard Rorty. Both authors, indeed resolutely historicist, developed their theories from the critical reading of some elements of Hegelian philosophy, in order to offer an alternative to the Marxist philosophy. My analysis of Castoriadis accompanies his criticism of the "objectivist universalism of Marxism" and his proposal of a "historical ontology". Based upon that, I develop a few reflections on some possible problems arising from that kind of historicism. Then I explore the possible virtues of Castoriadis’ philosophy, pointed out by Richard Rorty, to show how Rorty himself offers a possible solution to the impasses of Castoriadis’ historicism.