Rorty and the Paradoxical Relation between Aesthetics and Politics

This article shows the paradoxical relation between aesthetics and politics in Richard Rorty's Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity. It holds that this relation should be examined in light of the separation between the public and private realm, since only by beginning with this dichotomy can it be understood how aesthetics and politics are complementary and mutually excluding. The article also justifies the distinction that Rorty makes between the private and public realm by showing how things look, with regard to the relationshiop between aesthetics and politics, if we refuse this dichotomy.