Complaints About The Social Irresponsibility Of The

Richard Rorty

Complaints about the social irresponsibility of the intellectual typically concern the intellectual's tendency to marginalize herself, to move out from one community by interior identification of herself with some other community - for example, another country or historical period... it is not clear that those who thus marginalize themselves can be criticized for social irresponsibility. one cannot be irresponsible toward a community of which one does not think of oneself as a member. otherwise runaway slaves and tunnelers under the berlin wall would be irresponsible.