Analysis Of Richard Rorty's Contingency, Irony, And Solidarity

1278 Words3 Pages

CIS Paper

The book “Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity” by Richard Rorty is about how the entire world is based on conversation. Rorty adumbrated that the world would not exist without language. Based on the first three chapters, “The Contingency of Language”, “The Contingency of Selfhood”, and “The Contingency of Community” they each discuss ideas about the way people function in the world. The five main ideas consist of: Knowing the Truth, Individual Existence, The Narcissistic Origin of Compassion, Imagination, and How the World Would Not Function Properly Without Language.
The first idea is “Knowing the Truth.” In the text it states “There would be nothing more to do, and thus no possible loss to be feared. Extinction would not matter, for one would have become identical with the truth, and truth, on this traditional view, is imperishable.” Based on my understanding, I believe this means that knowing the truth would not make a difference in one’s life and that whatever happened, happened. As long as one is on the right path, there is nothing to fear. One of the ways people operate in the world is based on wanting to know the truth. Everyone wants the truth and will drive themselves insane until they …show more content…

Language allows us to communicate with other human beings and without it the world would be doomed. We would not be able to understand anything or have the abilities to cooperate with each other. Although language is made up by humans and not the world, we choose to believe otherwise. Everyday we go on with our lives thinking that the world created everything, but that is not true because something or someone had to create the world as the world was not just there. Language is essential to the world just as water is essential to people. For example, those who are deaf and communicate with sign-language sometimes struggle because not everyone knows how use

Show More
Related

  • The Importance of Language as Expressed in “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    Language, whether oral, or written is the primary type of interaction we have. In “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros, the author stress the importance of language and education in society rather than your social class. He shows the importance of language to us by outlining the everyday life of a hard working Mexican that lingers in developing his authorship, and really likes to criticize the writing of the higher class enlightened priest. He lives in the south side of Chicago, and in his spare time he loves to study and critic others writings for improvement.

    Read More

  • Irony in World War II as Discussed by Paul Fussell

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    The World War I was the first war fought after the industrial revolution that took place in Europe. The countries that were involved in this war were overly presumptuous that this war would be quick and efficient, because of the new weaponry that was the byproduct of the industrial revolution. But the soldiers realized that they were wrong about it. They thought the war would be over "before the Christmas" of year 1914. But they were wrong, and therefore found it necessary to disillusion the people back at home. Several war writers emerged who made the use of irony to expose the the brutality of the war. In short, they told it like it was - the ultimate truth about the war. Paul Fussell's theory states in his article, "Every war is ironic because every war is worse than expected."

    Read More

  • Irony In The Chosen, By Chaim Potok

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    Like salt and pepper to beef, irony adds “flavor” to some of the greatest works of literature. No matter if readers look at old pieces of work like Romeo and Juliet or more modern novels like To Kill a Mockingbird, irony’s presence serve as the soul fuel that pushes stories forward. By definition, irony occurs when writers of books, plays, or movies destine for one event or choice to occur when the audiences expects the opposite; like Tom Robinson being found guilty after all evidences point other ways in To Kill a Mockingbird. These unique plot twists add mystery and enjoyability to hundreds of books. From the very beginning of The Chosen, a novel written by Chaim Potok, to the very end, irony’s presences does not leave the reader at any

    Read More

  • Situational Irony In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Cornell

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the historic course of literature, one story known as “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Cornell has incorporated specific types of irony for multiple differing and fundamental reasons. Situational irony is the first use of ironic elements that will be discussed in regards to the story. Situational irony is defined as “an incongruity that appears between the expectations of something to happen, and what actually happens instead ” (literarydevices.net). The story’s climax offers a unique twist to the plot as it includes an unexpected discovery, ultimately incorporating situational irony into the sequence of events. The story starts out with the introduction of the legendary hunter Bob Rainsford as he is shipwrecked and trapped on a deserted island. While staying on the island, Rainsford is introduced to the eccentric General Zaroff, who is a self proclaimed expert hunter as well. In short, the General turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who forces Rainsford into a game of “cat and mouse”, which causes Rainsford to fight for his life. This state of affair is considered to be situational irony because Zaroff defies the expectations of being a hunter to the audience. This is specifically shown in the text when Rainsford confronts General Zaroff in regards to what he is hunting:

    Read More

  • The Powerful Words of Amy Tan, Maxine Hairston, and Mike Rose

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life.

    Read More

  • “Journey to Dialogic Moments”

    1908 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through concepts and principles which we studied in the “dialogic communication studies”, “Dialogue” is a special form of communication that creates positive results for individuals, group, organization and communities. This concept has become a central of various theoretical perspectives in humanity and social sciences studies by looking at social relation and interaction as dialogue.

    Read More

  • Deaf Like Me

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although babies are born without language, they learn to communicate by listening to the world around them. Language is crucial for the development of a child. By the time the child is school age he or she should have amassed some sort of vocabulary without any instructional lessons. Children pick up grammar, language, and meaning from the people around them. No one should be denied a language. We use language to express our feelings, state our needs and say what’s on our minds. Without language it would be like we are in a prison in our own heads with no means on how to communicate with other people. This can lead to frustration, resentment, and uncontrolled behaviors.

    Read More

  • Comparing Malcolm X And Helen Keller's A Word For Everything

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    The prehistoric times stand evidence to the power of language as a tool for communication and growth. Language has proven to be an effective medium and factor surrounding the evolution of man. Language has played a big role in the development of individuals and societies. What is spoken and/or written, help in the initiation of imagination, expression of feelings, and conveyance of thoughts and ideas.

    Read More

  • Essay On Discourse Community

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    Swales, Gee and Porter all give their understanding of how they believe a discourse community operates and contributes to society. It can be seen as a type of language used to connect between particular groups and integrate social identities into the world (Gee 484). The building of a discourse community starts with creating a type of communication plan. It is necessary that all members connect and confer alike in order to maintain a set of documented decisions and actions. A discourse community connects people to a lifestyle and provides a form of order that stretches the interconnections of words, writings, values, attitudes, and beliefs (Swales 220). Those interconnecting contacts though sometimes conflict with select purposes of other discourses, leading to confusion or even anarchy. When this occurs, awareness and a choice of acceptance or doubt sets into place (Porter 400). For a discourse community to continue all doubt and awareness have to be tracked and suppressed. The discourse community needs to insure that its values are well convinced and received by its members and potential new members, in order to remain accepted in a

    Read More

  • Challenges In Living With Dyslexia

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Suzanne K. Langer, the author of “Language and Thought” states that “the birth of language is the dawn of humanity” (120). The “dawn of humanity” refers to the beginning of time, the beginning of life, the beginning of society, and we, as people need language to survive every day in civilization. Humans haven’t always had the glory of language. Millions of years ago, science has proven that we have evolved from chimpanzees because of our fairly similar DNA. We have similar facial structure, body language, and protective instincts; although language is what defines us as human and what allows us to become individuals. However, the challenges we would face to grow a relationship in our modern society would become increasingly difficult because

    Read More

  • Vygotsky Cognitive Development Essay

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Language plays a major role in a child’s life, because some children will dialogues with themselves through how they engage with themselves or other children through imaginative play. Vygotsky explains this as how they will make up their own story and give their characters different names, and also changing the voices of each character. This helps children with their vocabulary skills, in which it will help them in the long run to name, and negative the different things that they will start to come into connect with as they get older. Language is also known as a symbolic system of communication and a cultural tool transmit play, and cultural history both play a big part in language development, and understanding the world around them. And also

    Read More

  • Language Acquisition and Acculturation

    1123 Words  | 3 Pages

    Language is a medium of communication and a carrier of culture because all that people know about their origin is communicated to them using language. In most cases mother tongues are suitable in expressing ones way of life. The native language is the best in expressing basic societal affairs. Language is the key medium of communication and it should be used in its simplest form because the simpler the language the easier the communication (Diyanni 633-639).

    Read More

  • The Verbal And Gestural Theory In The Origin Of Language

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    Language is the most important aspect in the life of all beings. Language is a link between meaning and expression that consist of signs and symbols which can be understood within a context. Therefore, human use language to express their inner thoughts and emotions, make sense of complex and abstract thought, to learn and communicate with others, to fulfill their wants and needs, as well as to establish rules and maintain their culture. The origin of language has been a popular topic for research study over the past two centuries. Thus, the philosophers and linguists have come out with some theories such as the divine source theory, Language Universals theory, and the verbal and gestural theory which can answer the question of how the behavior

    Read More

  • Piaget's Theory Of Language Development

    2212 Words  | 5 Pages

    Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change

    Read More

  • Gender And Language

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    To start with, I do not want to narrowly define language as merely verbal communication. Language is far broader than that. In a few seconds a person walking past you on the street could tell you more about themselves with a sincere smile than they could with a few rushed words. Language encompasses all aspects of communication that enhance the level of our interaction. The tone in our voice demonstrating our feelings on a topic or our body language indicating our level of interest are just as important in interaction as verbally communicating content. There for I define language as any act that is involved in the interaction between two or more people.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Richard Rorty's Contingency, Irony, And Solidarity

Open Document