Richard Rorty was a seminal figure in philosophy, transforming the discipline during the last quarter of the 20th century and setting it on a new path for the 21st. An early, implacable critic of the widespread preoccupation with questions of truth, representation, and the foundations of knowledge, Rorty promoted a new type of philosophical pragmatism with great persuasive power, and many have credited him with inspiring the renewed interest in the thought of classical American philosophy, especially his hero John Dewey. Always controversial, Rorty's books and essays were read as carefully by...