Philosophy and Social Hope

Richard Rorty is one of the most provocative figures in recent philosophical, literary and cultural debate. This collection brings together those of his writings aimed at a wider audience, many published in book form for the first time. In these eloquent essays, articles and lectures, Rorty gives a stimulating summary of his central philosophical beliefs and how they relate to his political hopes; he also offers some challenging insights into contemporary America, justice, education and love.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Relativism: Finding and Making
I. Autobiographical
1. Trotsy and the Wild Orchids
II. Hope in Place of Knowledge: A Version of Pragmatism
2. Truth without Correspondence to Reality
3. A World without Substances or Essences
4. Ethics without Principles
III. Some Applications of Pragmatism
5. The Banality of Pragmatism and the Poetry of Justice
6. Pragmatism and Law: A Response to David Luban
7. Education as Socialization and as Individuation
8. The Humanistic Intellectual: Eleven Theses
9. The Pragmatist's Progress: Umberto Eco on Interpretation
10. Religious Fatih, Intellectual Responsibility and Romance
11. Religion as Conversation-stopper
12. Thomas Kuhn, Rocks, and the Laws of Physics
13. On Heidegger's Nazism
IV. Politics
14. Failed Prophecies, Glorious Hopes
15. A Spectre is Haunting the Intellectuals: Derrida on Marx
16. Love and Money
17. Globalization, the Politics of Identity and Social Hope
V. Contemporary America
18. Looking Backwards from the Year 2096
19. The Unpatriotic Academy
20. Back to Class Politics

Afterword: Pragmatism, Pluralism and Postmodernism
Index

Richard Rorty is a professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford University and the author of many books of philosophy, including Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature; Contingency, Irony & Solidarity; and Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in 20th-Century America. View titles by Richard Rorty

About

Richard Rorty is one of the most provocative figures in recent philosophical, literary and cultural debate. This collection brings together those of his writings aimed at a wider audience, many published in book form for the first time. In these eloquent essays, articles and lectures, Rorty gives a stimulating summary of his central philosophical beliefs and how they relate to his political hopes; he also offers some challenging insights into contemporary America, justice, education and love.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Relativism: Finding and Making
I. Autobiographical
1. Trotsy and the Wild Orchids
II. Hope in Place of Knowledge: A Version of Pragmatism
2. Truth without Correspondence to Reality
3. A World without Substances or Essences
4. Ethics without Principles
III. Some Applications of Pragmatism
5. The Banality of Pragmatism and the Poetry of Justice
6. Pragmatism and Law: A Response to David Luban
7. Education as Socialization and as Individuation
8. The Humanistic Intellectual: Eleven Theses
9. The Pragmatist's Progress: Umberto Eco on Interpretation
10. Religious Fatih, Intellectual Responsibility and Romance
11. Religion as Conversation-stopper
12. Thomas Kuhn, Rocks, and the Laws of Physics
13. On Heidegger's Nazism
IV. Politics
14. Failed Prophecies, Glorious Hopes
15. A Spectre is Haunting the Intellectuals: Derrida on Marx
16. Love and Money
17. Globalization, the Politics of Identity and Social Hope
V. Contemporary America
18. Looking Backwards from the Year 2096
19. The Unpatriotic Academy
20. Back to Class Politics

Afterword: Pragmatism, Pluralism and Postmodernism
Index

Author

Richard Rorty is a professor in the Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford University and the author of many books of philosophy, including Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature; Contingency, Irony & Solidarity; and Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in 20th-Century America. View titles by Richard Rorty

Three Penguin Random House Authors Win Pulitzer Prizes

On Monday, May 5, three Penguin Random House authors were honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Established in 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes are the most prestigious awards in American letters. To date, PRH has 143 Pulitzer Prize winners, including William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Josh Steinbeck, Ron Chernow, Anne Applebaum, Colson Whitehead, and many more. Take a look at our 2025 Pulitzer Prize

Read more

Books for LGBTQIA+ Pride Month

In June we celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month, which honors the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Pride Month is a time to both celebrate the accomplishments of those in the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the ongoing struggles faced by many across the world who wish to live

Read more