A small-scale intellectual renascence is occurring under the broad banner of pragmatism. The controversial works of Richard Rorty — aided by the differing views of fellow pragmatists such as Hilary Putnam, Ian Hacking, and Richard Bernstein—have unsettled academic philosophy. Literary critics of the pragmatist persuasion like Frank Lentricchia and Stanley Fish have upset traditional humanists. Creative interpreters of John Dewey—like Sheldon Wolin, Michael Walzer, and Benjamin Barber—who have updated radical democratic thinking now challenge liberal political theory. And pragmatist thinkers such as Jeffrey Stout are reshaping prevailing conceptions of religious thought.