Towards a non-foundationalist view of the concept of solidarity:: Liberalism and solidarity in Richard Rorty

Abstract

Rorty invites us to abandon the belief that moral foundationalism of a universalist nature is useful for the moral progress of our societies. Instead, he suggests that post-modern secular liberalism and solidarity, understood as a local identification process and not as a universally binding principle, should be the axes of such progress. The present article will 1) clarify the redescription of solidarity made by Rorty, 2) show how such contingent redescription ends up being more useful for the attaining of solidarity that the foundationalist view, and 3) suggest an interpretation from which the self-empowerment between his notion of liberalism and the redescription of the concept of solidarity can be made evident.