Richard Rorty is the most widely read, most broadly influential U.S. philosopher of the last quarter of the twentieth century. Beginning with his Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature (1979), Rorty has made several major contributions in the areas of epistemology, ontology, ethics, and language. Yet, his reputation extends far beyond the disciplinary boundaries of academic philosophy since his philosophical writings, beginning in the early 1980s, have been supplemented by discussions of significant political topics of the day such as the nature of citizenship, gender politics, American democracy, and postmodern liberalism, among many others. A catholicity of interests, a quite extraordinary productivity as an essayist, and the relative accessibility of his plain-English approach to philosophy and cultural critique have ensured for Rorty a considerable readership both within the United States and, through extensive translation of his major works, throughout the world. Any serious student of American postmodern culture...