When Richard Rorty1 died in June 2007, nearly every obituary began with a statement about the controversy surrounding his work and his international in# uence. Perhaps no American philosopher has attracted such international attention and the controversial nature of his work is only part of the reason. No philosopher in recent memory was as adept at transcending the schism that had divided Western philosophy for half a century and his in# uence transcended the restrictive boundaries of academic philosophy.