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Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature by Richard Rorty challenges the belief that human forms of knowledge can represent nature. Rorty critiques the "correspondence theory" of knowledge, tracing its roots to Descartes, and contends that knowledge is metaphorical and consensus-based rather than objective. He argues against epistemology's claims of ultimate truths and highlights that knowledge and progress are contingent and socially justified, drawing on works by Quine, Sellars, and Kuhn, and distinguishing between "normal" and "abnormal" discourse in philosophical practice.