This book provides an incisive reading of the problems with Rorty's public/private distinction, his valorization of the figure of the strong poet, and his conception of solidarity. Rothleder argues that Rorty lacks a conception of friendship which would rescue him from the isolation inherent in the life of a strong poet. She draws on ideas in contemporary continental philosophy, education, and feminism to develop a model of friendship that would achieve Rorty's goal of ending humiliation without invoking the problematic figure of the strong poet.