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presuppositions would seem to be counterproductive if one`s objective is to explore the question of how

pragmatism intersects with Christian theology in our post/modern world. More fruitful, it seems, would

be to chart the ways in which theologians have drawn from and interacted with other strands of the

pragmatist tradition. Yet I would urge that Rorty`s neo-pragmatism not be neglected by theologians for a

number of reasons. First, over the past generation, Rorty has emerged from the obscurities of mid-

twentieth century analytic and linguistic philosophy as a public figure in philosophical and cultural

circles in twenty-first century America. Even if his neo-pragmatist vision has not gone unchallenged, his

fame is unparalleled among contemporary philosophers and his influence widespread.

As such,

theology`s critical voice needs to be registered in conversation with Rorty. And such registration is

already taking place, if only predominantly amidst the circles of theological liberalism. Yet even in that

arena, the ideas of Rorty in particular and neo-pragmatism generally are being developed in interesting

directions.

It is therefore too late to think that theological conservatives and moderates can safely ignore

this stream of thought. But, finally, engaging Rorty is important because whereas there has been some

attempt to do constructive theology with aid from the classical pragmatist tradition, Rorty`s project has

been consistently deconstructive. In that sense, his neo-pragmatist vision compares with the post-

ontotheological turn in contemporary Continental (especially French) philosophy. I suggest that insofar

utilizing the slashed post/modernism and its cognates throughout the first two sections of this paper, and hope to
resolve some of the theological implications of this issue in the concluding discussion on Peirce.

See, e.g., Konstantin Kolenda, Rorty's Humanistic Pragmatism: Philosophy Democratized (Tampa:

University of South Florida Press, 1990); Alan R. Malachowski, ed., Reading Rorty: Critical Responses to
Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (and Beyond) (Oxford and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1990); Kai Nielsen,
After the Demise of Tradition: Rorty, Critical Theory, and the Fate of Philosophy (Boulder, San Francisco, and
Oxford: Westview Press, 1991); Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr., ed., Rorty and Pragmatism: The Philosopher Responds to
His Critics (Nashville and London: Vanderbilt University Press, 1995); Lenore Langsdorf and Andrew R. Smith,
eds., Recovering Pragmatism's Voice: The Classical Tradition, Rorty, and the Philosophy of Communication
(Albany: SUNY Press, 1995); John Pettegrew, ed., A Pragmatist's Progress? Richard Rorty and American
Intellectual History (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000); and Robert B. Brandom, ed., Rorty and
His Critics (Oxford and Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2000).

See, e.g., Victor Anderson, Pragmatic Theology: Negotiating the Intersections of an American

Philosophy of Religion and Public Theology (Albany: SUNY Press, 1998); Sheila Greeve Davaney, Pragmatic
Historicism: A Theology for the Twenty-first Century (Albany: SUNY Press, 2000); and Charley D. Hardwick and
Donald A. Crosby, eds., Pragmatism, Neo-pragmatism, and Religion: Conversations with Richard Rorty, American
Liberal Religious Thought 6 (New York: Peter Lang, 1997), many of which contributors are neo-pragmatists
associated with the theological liberalism of the Highlands Institute conferences and seminars.