1. The Great Debate
Why Rorty?
The Spiritual
Spiritual Disjointedness
The Book
2. Overcoming Nihilism
Nietzsche: The Uncanniest of All Guests
Heidegger: When the Hammer Breaks
Taylor: Modern Moral Sources
Dreyfus and Kelly: Whooshing Up
Rorty the Nihilist?
Three Cases
Conclusion
3. The Concept of Redemption
Essentialism and Edification
Romantic Polytheism
The Religious Impulse
Rise of the Literary Culture
Liberal Democracy
A New Self-Image
Religious Nostalgia
Conclusion
4. Averting Nihilism
Egotism
The Private-Public Distinction
Self-Creation and Solidarity
Self-Enlargement
Nihilism and Egotism
Post-Metaphysical Redemption
Conclusion
5. Pragmatist Transcendence
The Ambition to Transcendence
Vertical Transcendence and the Onto-Theological Tradition
Horizontal Transcendence and Pragmatism
Strong and Weak Transcendence
Three Concerns
Conclusion
6. The Nihilisms of Our Time