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PRACTICAL MATTERS: Rorty steered away from epistemology.
Stanford News Service/Linda Cicero
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AN AMERICAN PRAGMATIST
Richard Rorty built a career on some of the most complex intellectual ideas around. He challenged the assumptions held by his fellow philosophers—the very people exploring assumptions about life. But he also was devoted to simple things—a patch of orchids or catching sight of a rare and beautiful bird.
Rorty, a professor emeritus of comparative literature at Stanford and a winner in 1981 of one of the first MacArthur "genius" grants, died on June 8 of pancreatic cancer at his campus home. He was 75.
He was born in 1931 in New York City into a family of ardent leftists; his grandfather was a theologian who challenged the inerrancy of the Bible. Rorty began undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago when he was only 15. He earned a PhD in philosophy at Yale, served in the Army and taught at Wellesley and Princeton.
Breaking with the philosophical pack, Rorty published Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature in 1979. The book emphasized pragmatism over epistemology—arguing that philosophy should address the contingent ways people cope with real-world situations, not just analyze what can and cannot be known. He also focused on the relationship of philosophy and language. Critics on one hand accused him of relativism; on the other of irrationalism.
Undeterred, Rorty dipped his feet into political criticism, arguing that the Democratic party had neglected its roots and failed to build a base that could win an electoral majority. At the same time, he railed against the Bush administration. "He never forgot that philosophy—above and beyond objections by colleagues—mustn't ignore the problems posed by life as we live it," German philosopher Jürgen Habermas wrote in a tribute to Rorty after his death.
Rorty is survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary Varney Rorty, a faculty associate at the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics; three children, Jay, Kevin and Patricia; two grandchildren; and his former wife, philosopher Amelie Oksenberg Rorty.
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WOW BOY: Orme took Cardinal enthusiasm to Arizona.
The Orme School/Orme Family Archives
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HEADMASTER AND STANFORD BOOSTER
A letterman who played on the "Wow Boys" Stanford team that upset Nebraska in the 1941 Rose Bowl, Charles Henry Orme Jr., '41, served for 42 years as the headmaster of the Orme School. He died on May 4 in Phoenix. He was 88.
After playing with the team that introduced the modern T-formation offense, the Zeta Psi member returned home to help his parents run a tiny elementary school on the family's 26,000-acre working ranch. In 1945 he became founding headmaster of Orme School, which he began building into a prominent college-preparatory boarding school. Following a 1952 story in Arizona Highways magazine, the Orme school and summer camps became favorites for children of Hollywood stars and national leaders, including Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
In addition to serving as headmaster, Orme taught classes and coached football. (The school's colors were cardinal and white.) He retired in 1987 but remained active in the school. He was a leader in numerous educational organizations and wrote about education.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Mimi; two sons, Charles "Chip" III, '71, and Paul; and five grandchildren. |
