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While Rorty is explicitly invoked in the title of a later short story--"Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature," taken from Rorty's 1979 book of the same name--Wallace also referred to Stanley Cavell at least once, and his influence on Wallace's work has gained increasing attention in the recent past.…

The philosopher Richard Rorty held that the purpose of philosophy is not to find answers, but to keep the conversation going. In Wallace's writing, the same perspective is visible.

UGOLINO THE SIGNIFICANT: Has the little turd learned his lines yet?

REVEREND SYKES: Friends let us all pause here and listen together and reflect on the implications of such a revelation. That's right . . .

"Lenore, we will shrink into husks together. We will bleed in the sky. See it?"

[...]

"We'll be joined in the light of the sky, Lenore. See the light of the sky? The dawn and sunset will be fed from our veins. We'll be spread all over. We'll be everything. We'll be gigantic."

"[...] stays shacked up in the malevolent blond psychologist's apartment, rutting, and also watching gymnastics on television, the symbolism of which doesn't escape the reader, rest assured."