Fraught with Ought 
Tim Crane
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When Richard Rorty died last year, the New York Times called him ‘one of the world’s most influential contemporary thinkers’. Few philosophers would accept this assessment. Rorty was widely read and admired by many, he had a good nose for a controversy and was impressive in oral debate. But his influence on philosophy has, so far, been minimal: Rorty’s unconvincing attempts to show that traditional philosophy has had its day have largely been ignored by philosophers. Outside the field, he’s the philosopher you can cite in your defence if you dislike traditional philosophy as much as he did.
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Tim Crane is a professor of philosophy at University College London, and the director of the Institute of Philosophy in the University of London’s School of Advanced Study. He is the author of Elements of Mind.
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