Introduction to Philosophy

Description

Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings is the most comprehensive topically organized collection of classical and contemporary philosophy available. Ideal for introductory philosophy courses, the text offers a broad range of readings and depth. The text includes sections on God and Evil, Knowledge and Reality, the Philosophy of Science, the Mind/Body problem, Freedom of Will, Consciousness, Ethics, Political Philosophy, Existential Issues, and philosophical Puzzles and Paradoxes. (The unique section on Puzzles and Paradoxes is often praised by both instructors and students.)

Easy to use for both students and instructors alike, the book incorporates boldfaced key terms (listed after each reading and defined in the glossary); a guide to writing philosophy papers; and a “Logical Toolkit;” and study questions after each reading selection. These features have allowed more students to learn philosophy by using what is seen as the highest quality collection of philosophical readings available. The ninth edition will be revised based on reviewer suggestions, and will include more diversity and readings by female philosophers.

New to this Edition

• Expanded Logical Toolkit
• New pieces by: Robert Nozick, Keith DeRose and Fritz A. Warfield, Peter Graham, Christian Wenzel, Elizabeth Anderson, John Martin Fischer, and Samuel Scheffler. The pieces by Peter Graham and Christian Wenzel were commissioned just for this volume.
• Selections from Descartes' Mediations on First Philosophy and Hume Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion have been re-edited and abridged for clarity.
• The table of contents has been streamlined to focus on the most essential readings and topics.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I
Philosophy
Logical Toolkit
Writing Philosophy Papers
Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Philosophy"
Plato, "Apology: Defense of Socrates"

Part II
God and Evil
A. Why Believe?
Saint Anselm, "The Ontological Argument"
Saint Thomas Aquinas, "The Existence of God"
William Paley, "Natural Theology"
William James, “The Will to Believe”

B. The Problem of Evil
David Hume, "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion"
Gottfried Leibniz, "God, Evil and the Best of All Possible Worlds"
William Rowe, “The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism”
Marilyn McCord Adams, “Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God”
Stewart Sutherland, “Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God”
Eleonore Stump, “The Mirror of Evil”
Louise Antony, “For the Love of Reason”

Part III
Knowledge and Reality

A. Plato, Descartes, and the Problems of Skepticism
Plato's Allegory of the Cave
Robert Nozick, The Experience Machine*
Rene Descartes, "Meditations on First Philosophy"
Keith DeRose and Ted A. Warfield, “Responding to Skepticism”*
Peter Graham, “Beginning to Respond to Skepticism”*

B. Hume's Problems and Some Solutions
David Hume, "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding"
W.C. Salmon, "The Problem of Induction"

Part IV
Minds, Bodies, and Persons

A. The Traditional Problem of Mind and Body
David M. Armstrong, "The Nature of Mind"
Paul M. Churchland, "Eliminative Materialism"
Frank Jackson, "What Mary Didn't Know"
Patricia Churchland, "Neurophilosophy"

B. Minds, Brains, and Machines
A. M. Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"
John R. Searle, "Minds, Brains, and Programs"

C. Personal Identity
John Perry, "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immorality"
Derek Parfit, "Personal Identity"
J. David Velleman, "So It Goes"
Daniel Dennett, "Where Am I?"
Marya Schechtman, "Personhood and Personal Identity"
Agnieszka Jaworska, "Respecting the Margins of Agency: Alzheimer's Patients and the Capacity to Value"

D. Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility
Roderick M. Chisholm, "Human Freedom and the Self"
David Hume, "Of Liberty and Necessity"
Harry G. Frankfurt, "Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility"
John Martin Fischer, "Responsiveness and Moral Responsibility"
Harry G. Frankfurt, "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person"
Gary Watson, "Free Agency"
Christian Wenzel, “Free Will and Zhaungzi”*

Part V
Ethics and Society

A. Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham, "The Principle of Utility"
John Stuart Mill, "Utilitarianism"
F. Carritt, "Criticisms of Utilitarianism"
Mozi, "Excerpts from Mozi"
Peter Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality”

B. Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant, "Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals"
Onora O'Neill, "Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems"

C. Aristotelian Ethics
Aristotle, "Nicomachean Ethics"
Rosalind Hursthouse, "Right Actions"

D. Justice and Equality
John Rawls, "A Theory of Justice"
Robert Nozick, "Justice and Entitlement"
John Stuart Mill, "The Subjection of Women"
Annette C. Baier, "The Need for More Than Justice"
Elizabeth Anderson, “What's Wrong with Inequality?”*

E. Contemporary Moral Problems
Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion,”
Debra Satz, "Markets in Women's Reproductive Labor"
Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Racisms”
Linda Martin Alcoff, “Racism and Visible Race”

Part VI
Existential Issues

A. Meaning of Life
Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus"
Thomas Nagel, "The Absurd"
Richard Taylor, "The Meaning of Human Existence"
Susan Wolf, "The Meanings of Lives"

B. Death
Thomas Nagel, "Death"
James Baillie, “Existential Shock”*
John Martin Fischer, Excerpt from Death, Immortality and Meaning in Life*
Amy Olberding, "Sorrow and the Sage: Grief in the Zhuangzi"
Jenann Ismael, "The Ethical Importance of Death"
Samuel Scheffler, “The Afterlife”*

Part VII
Puzzles and Paradoxes

A. Zeno's Paradoxes
Achilles and the Tortoise
The Racecourse
The Argument Against Plurality

B. Metaphysical and Epistemological Puzzles and Paradoxes
The Paradox of Identity
The Paradox of Heap
The Surprise Examination
Goodman's New Riddle of Induction

C. Puzzles of Rational Choice
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Newcomb's Problem
Kavka's Toxin Puzzle
Quinn's Puzzle of the Self-Torturer

D. Paradoxes of Logic, Set Theory, and Semantics
The Paradox of the Liar
Other Versions of the Liar
Russell's Paradox
Grelling's Paradox

E. Puzzles of Ethics
The Trolley Problem
Ducking Harm and Sacrificing Others

Glossary of Philosophical Terms