Continental philosophy in recent times has tended to become highly cerebral and often esoteric in the sense of being addressed and accessible only to a narrow circle of fellow academics. Only rarely do recent works in that genre make an effort, or are able, to appeal to a broader audience, including practitioners in the "human sciences". A prominent exception to this general tendency is Calvin Schrag whose writings combine philosophical depth with social political relevance and thus manage to transgress the customary boundaries separating philosophy from the social sciences, from literature, and from the public at large. Articulated in lucid style and free from academic jargon (especially the jargon often marring the Continental genre), Schrag's writings yet refuse to compromise philosophical integrity by courting the favor of popular fashions or consumer tastes. To this extent his work makes a serious contribution to a reflectively sustained public discourse and a communicative praxis linking (or rather reconnecting) philosophical thinking with the concerns of the public sphere. Schrag's commitment to such a linkage is not of novel origin, but can be traced through his major publications during the past two decades, including Radical Reflection and the Origin of the Human Sciences (1980) and Communicative Praxis and the Space of Subjectivity (1986). More recently, Schrag has come forward with a new book which provides ample food for thought to philosophers, human scientists, and concerned citizens alike: The Resources of Rationality: A Response to the Postmodern Challenge (1992). My comments here will be mainly restricted to this book.
Schrag's new study offers a penetrating and far-ranging exploration of our refracted intellectual landscape: the terrain marked by the intersections of metaphysics and postmetaphysics, of modernity and postmodernity, of representation and deconstruction. Thus, Schrag inserts himself squarely into the "thick" of contemporary philosophical and public debates. Moreover, as the title indicates, the book is designed as a "response" to present-day dilemmas, thus illustrating and testifying plainly to the author's commitment to