Abstract
What are the implications for political life of Polanyi's conception of knowing and being? How do Polanyi's philosophic foundations situate him in relation to the political dimensions of postmodernism? In examining these questions, let us take as the representative of political postmodernism the neo-pragmatism of Richard Rorty. Assisted by Oakeshott's portrayal of political life as like a ship at sea, we will discover that while there are important parallels between the political perspectives of Rorty and Polanyi, at a critical juncture their paths diverge; as a result, they offer deeply incompatible visions of the nature and proper aim not only of political activity but of human life generally.