Introduction to Philosophy

Description

Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, Fourth Edition, is a highly acclaimed topically organized anthology featuring eighty-four selections that cover five major areas of philosophy--theory of knowledge, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, freedom and determinism, and moral philosophy. Louis P. Pojman and new coeditor James Fieser enhance the text's topical organization by presenting opposing articles on each issue so that students can better understand different perspectives. Offering a unique feature for a collection of this depth, the editors also include accessible introductions to each part, subsection, and individual reading, providing context for the essays and summarizing their key themes.
Beginning with the opening section, "What Is Philosophy?", the book focuses on a compelling sampling of classical material--including selections from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. It also incorporates some of philosophy's best contemporary work, offering articles by Harry Frankfurt, Richard Taylor, John Searle, Thomas Nagel, and others. The volume is enriched by helpful pedagogical features including "Questions for Further Reflection" after each selection; "Suggestions for Further Reading" at the end of the book; a glossary; and two appendices--"How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper" and "A Little Bit of Logic."

The fourth edition includes the complete text of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and nine new selections:

* Sextus Empiricus: "Skepticism and Tranquility"
* Lorraine Code: "A Feminist Epistemology?"
* Samuel Clarke and David Hume: "The Causal Argument for God"
* Voltaire: "The Best of All Possible Worlds?"
* René Descartes: "Interactive Dualism"
* Anne Conway: "Mind and Body as a Continuum"
* Epictetus: "Stoic Resignation to Fate"
* David Hume: "Morality Not Derived from Reason"
* Alfred Jules Ayer: "Emotivism and Prescriptivism"

Table of Contents

*=New to this edition
Preface
I. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Plato, Socratic Wisdom
John Locke, Philosophy as the Love of Truth versus Enthusiasm
Bertrand Russell, The Value of Philosophy
II. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
A. Classical Theories on Certainty and the Sources of Knowledge
Plato, The Theory of the Forms and Doctrine of Recollection
* Sextus Empiricus, Skepticism and Tranquility
René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (complete)
John Locke, Knowledge Through Experience
George Berkeley, An Idealist Theory of Knowledge
David Hume, Experience and the Limits of Human Reason
Immanuel Kant, The Copernican Revolution in Knowledge
B. Contemporary Theories on the Limits of Knowledge
John Maynard Smith, Science and Myth
Norman Malcolm, Two Types of Knowledge
Karl Popper, Epistemology Without a Knowing Subject
Richard Rorty, Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity
Daniel Dennett, Postmodernism and Truth
* Lorraine Code, A Feminist Epistemology?
III. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
A. Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God
St. Thomas Aquinas, The Five Ways
* Samuel Clarke and David Hume, The Causal Argument for God
F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell, A Debate on the Argument from Contingency
William Paley, The Watch and the Watchmaker
David Hume, A Critique of the Teleological Argument
Anselm versus Gaunilo, The Ontological Argument
F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell, A Debate on the Argument from Religious Experience
C.D. Broad, The Argument from Religious Experience
B. The Problem of Evil
* Voltaire, The Best of All Possible Worlds?
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Why Is There Evil?
Bruce Russell, The Problem of Evil: Why Is There So Much Suffering?
Richard Swinburne, A Theistic Response to the Problem of Evil
C. Faith and Reason
Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell, A Debate on the Rationality of Religious Belief
Blaise Pascal, Faith Is a Rational Wager
W.K. Clifford, The Ethics of Belief
William James, The Will to Believe
Alvin Plantinga, Religious Belief without Evidence
IV. PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
A. The Mind-Body Problem
* René Descartes, Interactive Dualism
* Anne Conway, Mind and Body as a Continuum
Jerome Shaffer, Consciousness and the Mind-Body Problem
Paul Churchland, A Critique of Dualism
Paul Churchland, On Functionalism and Materialism
Thomas Nagel, What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
David Chalmers, Against Materialism: Can Consciousness Be Reductively Explained?
John Searle, Minds, Brains, and Computers
B. The Problem of Personal Identity
John Locke, The Self as Psychological Properties
David Hume, The Self as a Bundle of Perceptions
Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey, Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue
C. Personal Identity and Survival: Will I Survive My Death?
Plato, Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul
Betrand Russell, The Illusion of Immortality
John Hick, In Defense of Life After Death
V. FREEDOM OF THE WILL, RESPONSIBILITY, AND PUNISHMENT
A. Free Will and Determinism
Baron Paul Henri d'Holbach, A Defense of Determinism
Richard Taylor, Libertarianism: Defense of Free Will
W.T. Stace, Compatibilism: Free Will Is Consistent with Determinism
John Hospers, Determinism: Free Will and Psychoanalysis
Harry Frankfurt, Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
B. Moral Responsibility
Aristotle, Voluntary Action and Responsibility
* Epictetus, Stoic Resignation to Fate
Galen Strawson, The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility
Michael Levin, A Compatibilist Defense of Moral Responsibility
Lois Hope Walker, A Libertarian Defense of Moral Responsibility
C. Punishment
Immanuel Kant, The Right to Punish: Retributivism
Jonathan Glover, Utilitarianism and Punishment
Karl Menninger, The Crime of Punishment: The Humanitarian Theory
C.S. Lewis, Against the Humanitarian Theory of Rehabilitation
John Rawls, Two Concepts of Punishment
VI. MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Plato, Socratic Morality
A. Moral Relativism
Herodotus, Custom Is King
Ruth Benedict, In Defense of Moral Relativism
Louis P. Pojman, Ethical Relativism versus Ethical Objectivism
J.L. Mackie, The Subjectivity of Values
Louis P. Pojman, A Critique of Mackie's Theory of Moral Subjectivism
B. Morality and Self-Interest
Plato, Gyges' Ring, or Is the Good Good for You?
James Rachels, Ethical Egoism
J.L. Mackie, The Law of the Jungle: Moral Alternatives and Principles of Evolution
C. Religion and Ethics
Plato, The Divine Command Theory of Ethics
Bertrand Russell, A Free Man's Worship
George Mavrodes, Religion and the Queerness of Morality
Kai Nielsen, Ethics Without Religion
D. Standards of Moral Evaluation
Aristotle, Virtues
Thomas Hobbes, The Social Contract
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism and Pleasure
Immanuel Kant, Duty and the Categorical Imperative
E. Challenges to Traditional Moral Theories
* David Hume, Morality Not Derived from Reason
* Alfred Jules Ayer, Emotivism and Prescriptivism
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
William Gass, The Case of the Obliging Stranger
Thomas Nagel, Moral Luck
Appendix I. How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper
Appendix II. A Little Bit of Logic
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading