Speaking up for the Clerks 1

At the end of his essay " Pragmatism, pluralism, and postmodernism " (1998), Richard Rorty writes: " Many of my fellow philosophers use the term " post-modernist relativism " as if it were a pleonasm, and as if utilitarians, pragmatists, and philosophical pluralists in general had committed a sort of " treason " of the clerks, as Julien Benda puts it. 1 Has Rorty betrayed the clerks? Well, it is complex question, to which I used to answer in the affirmative, and to which I am today only tempted to answer thus. Betraying the clerks is certainly not as bad as featuring in Jorge Luis Borgès' Historia universal de la infamia, and one man's traitor is another man's hero. Rorty himself considers that invocation of the ideals of truth, reason, knowledge, objectivity and realism is a best empty and at worst a ressurection of a theological way of thinking. I used to try to argue against Rorty in order to attempt to show that he is wrong in that 2. I have, however, come to believe that it is useless play the game of arguments when what is a stake is a general picture. I shall try to follow Rorty's advice: when you disagree about a picture, just stop arguing and try only to show another way to deal with things. So I shall only try to describe , and illustrate, in a somewhat edifying manner, the figure of the clerk, Julien Benda, in many ways the anti-Rorty figure par excellence. 3 Julien Benda (1867-1956) is a writer who, although quite famous in his time, is today largely forgotten, including in his own country 4. He is mostly known for his 1927 bestseller , 1 Philosophy and social Hope, 1999, Penguin, p. 276 2 In my joint book with rorty , What's the Use of Truth?New York: Columbia University Press and in previous writings, I thought I could produce arguments against his views on truth. But he was right to point out that arguments in this field are not enough. So this essay in, in a way, a recognition of this fact. 3 Unfortunately I have been unable to give this essay to the Editor before Richard Rorty's death. Revha's book displays no sympathy for Benda, and is biased by the desire to reduce Benda's career to his conflict with judaism. Compagnon 's account is mostly focused on Benda's relationship …