Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal Volume 27, Number 1, 2006 Inferentialism in Brandom and Holism in Hegel: Vittorio HosIe A Reply to Rorty and Some Questions for Brandom The richness of Richard Rorty's text, Alcuni usi americani di Hegel, makes it impossible to discuss here all the issues he raises, although they certainly would merit attention. I will proceed in the following manner: first, I will comment on some of Rorty's explicit statements on Hegel and in particular discuss the vexed question of Hegel's proper place in the history of philosophy; second, I will focus on one of the four American pragmatists Rorty relates to Hegel, namely Robert Brandom, and sketch some of the basic tenets of his philosophical program; and third, I will compare Brandom's program with the Hegelian, analyzing both the similarities and the differences. It goes without saying that, given the complexities of the two philosophies, I will be unable to ren- der justice to their subtleties and must limit myself to some general reflections. These will make clear not only why Hegel would have to learn a lot from Brandom, but also why Brandom's enterprise cannot yet claim to be a contemporary version of Hegel's central ideas. l L The extraordinary complexity of Hegel's philosophy is mirrored by the fact that few philosophies have received such varying interpretations. Shortly after his death the split into right and left Hegelians mani- fested that Hegel's philosophy could be read either as one of the last ----- -- --------- - ---- ----------- This paper was originally delivered as part of the "Hegel contemporaneo" con- ference in Venice, Italy from May 16-18, 2001. Here Rorty delivered the paper under discussion, which so far as I know was published only in Italian: Richard Rorty, "Alcuni usi americani di Hegel," in Hegel contemporaneo: La ricezione americana di Hegel a confronto con la tradizione europea, ed. Luigi Ruggiu and Italo Testa (Milano: Guerini, 2003), pp. 197-217. 61