Richard Rorty, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and a significant figure in 20th century philosophy, died yesterday. Disenchanted with the trends of modern philosophy, Rorty shifted in his career from the sort of traditional analytical philosophy taught in philosophy departments to continental philosophy. Rorty received numerous awards, and, according to The Harvard Crimson, was supposed to receive an honorary degree from Harvard last week. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has an entry outlining his thought.

I was lucky enough hear him give a very interesting talk at the Symbolic Systems Forum two years ago, where he attacked much of the current analytical research program in philosophy of mind. A video of the talk is available on the Symbolic Systems website, as is an article from the Stanford News Service about the talk.

UPDATE, 6.10.07: Stanford News Service now has an article on his death.