Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature - Paperback

by Richard Rorty (Author), Michael Williams (Introduction by), David Bromwich (Afterword by)

When it first appeared in 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature hit the philosophical world like a bombshell. In it, Richard Rorty argued that, beginning in the seventeenth century, philosophers developed an unhealthy obsession with the notion of representation: comparing the mind to a mirror that reflects reality. Rorty's book is a powerful critique of this imagery and the tradition of thought that it spawned.

Today, the book remains a must-read and stands as a classic of twentieth-century philosophy. Its influence on the academy, both within philosophy and across a wide array of disciplines, continues unabated. This edition includes new essays by philosopher Michael Williams and literary scholar David Bromwich, as well as Rorty's previously unpublished essay "The Philosopher as Expert."

Author Biography

Richard Rorty (1931-2007) was a prolific philosopher and public intellectual who, over the course of his career, taught at Princeton, the University of Virginia, and, until his death, Stanford University.