This book offers a fresh perspective on Richard Rorty by situating his work in the arena of political theory. Reinterpreting Rorty's much-maligned antirepresentationalism as a Romantic affirmation of the power of imaginative writing, Voparil firmly grounds Rorty in an American tradition that includes not only James and Dewey, but Emerson, Whitman, and James Baldwin, and initiates an overdue reassessment of this important thinker's value to the political discourse of the 21st century.

Chapter 1 Acknowledgements Chapter 2 List of Abbreviations Chapter 3 Introduction: Reading Rorty Chapter 4 Chapter 1. Pragmatism and Personal Vision Chapter 5 Chapter 2. The Mirror and the Lever Chapter 6 Chapter 3. The Politics of the Novel Chapter 7 Chapter 4. The Limits of Sympathy Chapter 8 Chapter 5. Reflections on Public and Private Chapter 9 Chapter 6. American as the Greatest Poem Chapter 10 Conclusion. Rorty and Thesis Eleven