Philosophy and the Mirror of NatureWhen 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includes new essays by philosopher Michael Williams and literary scholar David Bromwich, as well as Rorty's previously unpublished essay "The Philosopher as Expert." |
Contents
The Invention of the Mind | 17 |
2 THE FUNCTIONAL THE PHENOMENAL AND THE IMMATERIAL | 22 |
3 THE DIVERSITY OF MINDBODY PROBLEMS | 32 |
4 MIND AS THE GRASP OF UNIVERSALS | 38 |
5 ABILITY TO EXIST SEPARATELY FROM THE BODY | 45 |
6 DUALISM AND MINDSTUFF | 61 |
Persons Without Minds | 70 |
2 PHENOMENAL PROPERTIES | 78 |
2 THE UNNATURALNESS OF EPISTEMOLOGY | 221 |
3 PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES AS GENUINE EXPLANATIONS | 230 |
4 PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES AS REPRESENTATIONS | 244 |
Epistemology and Philosophy of Language | 257 |
2 WHAT WERE OUR ANCESTORS TALKING ABOUT? | 266 |
3 IDEALISM | 273 |
4 REFERENCE | 284 |
5 TRUTH WITHOUT MIRRORS | 295 |
3 INCORRIGIBILITY AND RAW FEELS | 88 |
4 BEHAVIORISM | 98 |
5 SKEPTICISM ABOUT OTHER MINDS | 107 |
6 MATERIALISM WITHOUT MINDBODY IDENTITY | 114 |
7 EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND | 125 |
Mirroring | 129 |
The Idea of a Theory of Knowledge | 131 |
2 LOCKES CONFUSION OF EXPLANATION WITH JUSTIFICATION | 139 |
3 KANTS CONFUSION OF PREDICATION WITH SYNTHESIS | 148 |
4 KNOWLEDGE AS NEEDING FOUNDATIONS | 155 |
Privileged Representations | 165 |
2 EPISTEMOLOGICAL BEHAVIORISM | 173 |
3 PRELINGUISTIC AWARENESS | 182 |
4 THE IDEA IDEA | 192 |
5 EPISTEMOLOGICAL BEHAVIORISM PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIORISM AND LANGUAGE | 209 |
Epistemology and Empirical Psychology | 213 |
6 TRUTH GOODNESS AND RELATIVISM | 306 |
Philosophy | 313 |
From Epistemology to Hermeneutics | 315 |
2 KUHN AND INCOMMENSURABILITY | 322 |
3 OBJECTIVITY AS CORRESPONDENCE AND AS AGREEMENT | 333 |
4 SPIRIT AND NATURE | 343 |
Philosophy Without Mirrors | 357 |
2 SYSTEMATIC PHILOSOPHY AND EDIFYING PHILOSOPHY | 365 |
3 EDIFICATION RELATIVISM AND OBJECTIVE TRUTH | 373 |
4 EDIFICATION AND NATURALISM | 379 |
5 PHILOSOPHY IN THE CONVERSATION OF MANKIND | 389 |
The Philosopher as Expert | 395 |
Remembering Richard Rorty | 423 |
| 433 | |