The Great Conversation

Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes

Eighth Edition

Norman Melchert and David R. Morrow

Presents philosophy as an ongoing conversation among philosophers about people's deepest concerns and questions
Provides historical and cultural context for the philosophical ideas being presented throughout, especially in Chapter 1, Before Philosophy: Myth in Hesiod and Homer; Chapter 14, Philosophy in the Islamic World: The Great Conversation Spreads Out; and Chapter 16, From Medieval to Modern Europe
Cross-referencing enables students to see how various thinkers built off of one another's ideas and diverged or agreed on particular topics
Includes a generous, well-selected array of excerpts from major philosophical works
The excerpts and the authors' discussion complement each other to provide historical and cultural context for the philosophical ideas
Review questions follow key passages and facilitate classroom discussions
Each chapter ends with two types of exercises--"Basic Questions" and "For Further Thought"--for use in small group discussions or papers
A "How to Read Philosophy" section in the preface lets students know what to expect
A "Writing a Philosophy Paper" section in the appendix offers much-needed pointers for writing in this genre
A free, open-access Companion Website provides students with essential points and self-quizzes

New to this Edition:

Streamlined chapters that provide more accessible and focused content
Three new chapters on the beginnings of philosophical conversations in India and China: Chapter 3, "Appearance and Reality in Ancient India"; Chapter 5, "Reason and Relativism in China"; and Chapter 10, "Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi: Virtue in Ancient China"
A new chapter devoted entirely to philosophy in the Islamic world: Chapter 14, "Philosophy in the Islamic World: The Great Conversation Spreads Out"
A section on Hildegard of Bingen in a chapter on medieval thought, new Sketches of Hypatia and Margaret Cavendish, and a Profile of Émilie du Chåtelet

The Great Conversation

Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes

Eighth Edition

Norman Melchert and David R. Morrow

Description

Tracing the exchange of ideas among history's key philosophers, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Eighth Edition, provides a generous selection of excerpts from major philosophical works and makes them more easily understandable to students with lucid and engaging explanations. Extensive cross-referencing shows students how philosophers respond appreciatively or critically to the thoughts of other philosophers.

The Great Conversation, Eighth Edition, is also available in two separate volumes to suit your course needs:

The Great Conversation: Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes, Eighth Edition

The Great Conversation: Volume II: Descartes through Derrida and Quine, Eighth Edition

The Great Conversation

Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes

Eighth Edition

Norman Melchert and David R. Morrow

*=New to this Edition
A Word to Instructors
A Word to Students
Acknowledgments
1. Before Philosophy: Myth in Hesiod and Homer
Hesiod: War among the Gods
Homer: Heroes, Gods, and Excellence
2. Philosophy before Socrates
Thales: The One as Water
Anaximander: The One as the Boundless
Xenophanes: The Gods as Fictions
Sketch: Pythagoras
Heraclitus: Oneness in the Logos
Parmenides: Only the One
Zeno: The Paradoxes of Common Sense
Atomism: The One and the Many Reconciled
The Key: An Ambiguity
The World
The Soul
How to Live
* 3. Appearance and Reality in Ancient India
* The Vedas and the Upanisads
* The Buddha
* The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path
* Right View
* Non-Self and Nagasena
* The Brahmanical Schools
* Vaisesika
* Nyaya
* The Great Conversation in India
4. The Sophists: Rhetoric and Relativism in Athens
Democracy
The Persian Wars
The Sophists
Rhetoric
Relativism
Physis and Nomos
Athens and Sparta at War
Aristophanes and Reaction
* 5. Reason and Relativism in China
* A Brief History of Ancient China
* Mozi
* The School of Names
* The Later Mohists
* Zhuangzi
* Sketch: Laozi
6. Socrates: To Know Oneself
Character
Is Socrates a Sophist?
What Socrates "Knows"
We Ought to Search for Truth
Human Excellence Is Knowledge
All Wrongdoing Is Due to Ignorance
The Most Important Thing of All is to Care for Your Soul
7. The Trial and Death of Socrates
Euthyphro
Translator's Introduction
The Dialogue
Commentary and Questions
Apology
Translator's Introduction
The Dialogue
Commentary and Questions
Crito
Translator's Introduction
The Dialogue
Commentary and Questions
Phaedo (Death Scene)
Translator's Introduction
The Dialogue
Commentary and Questions
8. Plato: Knowing the Real and the Good
Knowledge and Opinion
Making the Distinction
We Do Know Certain Truths
The Objects of Knowledge
The Reality of the Forms
The World and the Forms
How Forms Are Related to the World
Lower and Higher Forms
The Form of the Good
The Love of Wisdom
What Wisdom Is
Love and Wisdom
The Soul
The Immortality of the Soul
The Structure of the Soul
Morality
The State
Problems with the Forms
9. Aristotle: The Reality of the World
Aristotle and Plato
Logic and Knowledge
Terms and Statements
Truth
Reasons Why: The Syllogism
Knowing First Principles
The World
Nature
The Four "Becauses"
Is There Purpose in Nature?
Teleology
First Philosophy
Not Plato's Forms
What of Mathematics?
Substance and Form
Pure Actualities
God
The Soul
Levels of Soul
Soul and Body
Nous
The Good Life
Happiness
Virtue or Excellence (Areté)
The Role of Reason
Responsibility
The Highest Good
* 10. Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi: Virtue in Ancient China
* Confucius
* The Way of Confucius
* Ritual Propriety
* Good Government
*Mencius
* Differentiated Love
* Xunzi
* The Confucians' Legacy
11. Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics: Happiness for the Many
The Epicureans
The Stoics
Profile: Marcus Aurelius
The Skeptics
12. Jews and Christians: Sin, Salvation, and Love
Background
Jesus
The Meaning of Jesus
13. Augustine: God and the Soul
Wisdom, Happiness, and God
God and the World
The Great Chain of Being
* Sketch: Hypatia of Alexandria
Evil
Time
Human Nature and Its Corruption
Human Nature and Its Restoration
Augustine on Relativism
The Two Cities
Augustine and the Philosophers
Reason and Authority
Intellect and Will
Epicureans and Stoics
* 14. Philosophy in the Islamic World: The Great Conversation Spreads Out
* A Sea Change in the Mediterranean Basin
* Al-Kindi, the "Philosopher of the Arabs"
* Al-Farabi, the "Second Master"
* Religion as Subordinate to Philosophy
* Emanation and the Active Intellect
* Sketch: The Celestial Spheres
* Certitude, Absolute Certitude, and Opinion
* Avicenna, the "Preeminent Master"
* Existence and Essence
* The Necessary Existent, God
* The Soul and Its Faculties
* Al-Ghazali
Sketch: Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon)
* The Great Conversation in the Islamic World
15. Anselm and Aquinas: Existence and Essence in God and the World
Anselm: On That, Than Which No Greater Can Be Conceived
The Transfer of Learning
Thomas Aquinas: Rethinking Aristotle
Sketch: Averroės, the Commentator
Philosophy and Theology
From Creation to God
The Nature of God
Humans: Their Souls
Humans: Their Knowledge
Humans: Their Good
Ockham and Skeptical Doubts--Again
16. From Medieval to Modern Europe
The World God Made for Us
Reforming the Church
Revolutions
Humanism
Skeptical Thoughts Revived
Copernicus to Kepler to Galileo: The Great Triple Play
The Counter-Reformation
17. René Descartes: Doubting Our Way to Certainty
The Method
Meditations on First Philosophy (each Meditation is followed by Commentary and Questions)
Meditation I
Meditation II
Meditation III
Meditation IV
Meditation V
Meditation VI
What Has Descartes Done?
A New Ideal for Knowledge
A New Vision of Reality
Problems
The Place of Humans in the World of Nature
The Mind and the Body
God and the Problem of Skepticism
The Preeminence of Epistemology
Afterword
Appendix: Writing a Philosophy Paper
Glossary
Credits
Index

The Great Conversation

Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes

Eighth Edition

Norman Melchert and David R. Morrow

Author Information

Norman Melchert is Selfridge Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and a former Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University. He is the author of Who's to Say? A Dialogue on Relativism (1994) and numerous journal articles.

David R. Morrow is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University. College. He is the coauthor of A Workbook for Arguments, Second Edition (2015) and numerous papers in applied ethics.

The Great Conversation

Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes

Eighth Edition

Norman Melchert and David R. Morrow

Reviews and Awards

"The Great Conversation is the best introductory text I have come across in twenty-five years of teaching. It's an extremely useful and insightful book with a particularly appropriate balance of depth and breadth. The writing style is easily accessible without sacrificing clarity and specificity."--Douglas Howie, North Lake College

"Both my students and I enjoy the integration of philosophy outside of typical Western thought. The writing is easily understood by introductory students who normally don't have a background in the material."--Susan M. Mullican, University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Campus

"The Great Conversation is a solid introduction. More than other texts, it takes the time in plain English to flesh out important concepts. It also tells a tight story, with the chapters building on one another, which is useful for introducing students to philosophical thinking."--Eric Boynton, Allegheny College

"The chapters on classical Chinese philosophy, with selections from numerous texts and figures, are a welcome addition. Giving students exposure to non-Western traditions of thought at the introductory level provides them with a more expansive sense of the range and possibility of philosophical thought."--Hagop Sarkissian, Baruch College and The City University of New York Graduate Center