In this chapter, I propose to discuss some of the ideas contained in Richard Rorty's recent book.¹ The book has been widely praised, and not without reason. The author goes for big issues, such as the nature of the mind and of philosophy itself, and he tackles them in an exciting way. More than this, he is free from the parochialism of which philosophers of the English-speaking world are often accused. He is well-versed (for example) in Quine, Davidson and Kuhn, but he is equally at home with the views of continental philosophers such as Sartre, Gadamer, Derrida and Heidegger. What makes the book relevant to the philosophy of education is its defence of what Rorty calls² "the humanist tradition in education". Rorty does not define this term, but it is clear from the course of his argument that he is concerned to defend, not just classical education³ but literary culture in general, "literacy" as opposed to "numeracy".