ABSTRACT
Rorty viewed hermeneutics as an alternative to epistemology. He defined epistemology as a way to provide a foundation of knowledge. The epistemology-oriented philosophy assumes that finding a foundation that sustains all propositions is possible. In this context, epistemology is understood as something above culture, history, and all linguistics frameworks. It is in contrast with hermeneutics, which functions as a mediator to promote conversations, and in which disagreements between claims can be overcome without a pretence to universal claims. In this paper, I will argue that hermeneutics via Rorty’s perspectives replaces transcendent and foundational objectives with what he described as a ‘Bildung’ or edification. The concept of ‘Bildung’ refers to a situation of an interest in exploring all different propositions, which can become part of us. Rorty expressed an idea that re-describing the world and ourselves is the most important thing we can do to face the problems of modernity. In this context, edification is a peripheral intention with a belief that we are able to make the world more interesting by re-conceptualising the world than revealing the objective truth about it.
