When it was published in 1979, "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" hit the philosophical world like a bombshell. In it, Richard Rorty argued that philosophers developed an unhealthy obsession with the concept of representation starting in the seventeenth century: comparing the mind to a mirror that reflects reality. Rorty's book is a powerful critique of this image and the tradition of thought that produced it. Today, the book remains a must-read and is considered a classic of twentieth-century philosophy. Its influence on academia, both within philosophy and across a variety 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includes new essays by philosopher Michael Williams and literary scholar David Bromwich, as well as Rorty's previously unpublished essay "The Philosopher as Expert.".