This is the first systematic assessment of the work of Richard Rorty - one of the most provocative and influential thinkers writing today. It will be an essential reference for academics and students in philosophy, social theory, sociology, cultural studies and literary theory.

Rorty's fertile writings have challenged not just the assumptions behind the relatively narrow analytic tradition he was first trained in, but those concerning the very nature of social thought itself. The critical articles collected in these four volumes follow the trajectory of Rorty's whole career, from his early work in analytic philosophy to his later writings on pragmatism, continental philosophy, literature, culture, and liberal politics.

The collection is divided into four volumes: Philosophy; Post-Analytic Pragmatism; Politics, Irony and Solidarity; and Culture, Interpretation and Conversations.

Edited by Alan Malachowski - a leading commentator on Rorty's work - this collection will be the standard reference work on one of the canonical theorists of the late 20th century.