Richard Rorty is professor of comparative literature and philosophy at Stanford University. He is the author of numerous works, including Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature; Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity; and What's the Use of Truth?Gianni Vattimo teaches hermeneutic philosophy at the University of Turin. Among his books are After Christianity; Nihilism and Emancipation: Ethics, Politics, and Law; Dialogue with Nietzsche; and After the Death of God.Santiago Zabala is the editor of Weakening Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Gianni Vattimoand author of The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophyand the forthcoming The Remains of Being.
Michael Williams is a writer of plays, musicals, operas and novels and the Managing Director of Cape Town Opera in South Africa. He has written operas for young people based on African mythology, as well as the libretti for symphonic operas that have premiered around the world.