To abjure the notion of the truly human is to abjure the attempt to divinize the self as a replacement for a divinized world.
Richard RortyThere are credentials for admission to our democratic society [...]. You have to be educated in order to be a participant in our conversation So we are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours.
Richard RortyHad there been no Plato, the Christians would have had a harder time selling the idea that all God really wanted from us was fraternal love.
Richard RortyPhilosophers get attention only when they appear to be doing something sinister - corrupting the youth, undermining the foundations of civilization, sneering at all we hold dear. The rest of the time everybody assumes that they are hard at work somewhere down in the sub-basement, keeping those foundations in good repair. Nobody much cares what brand of intellectual duct tape is being used.
Richard Rorty