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Cover

The Great Conversation

A Historical Introduction to Philosophy

Ninth Edition

Norman Melchert and David Morrow

Publication Date - November 2022

ISBN: 9780197663462

856 pages
Hardcover
7 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches

In Stock

Tracing the exchange of ideas among history's key philosophers, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Ninth Edition, provides a generous selection of excerpts from major philosophical works and makes them more easily understandable to students with lucid and engaging explanations.

Description

Tracing the exchange of ideas among history's key philosophers, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Ninth 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, Ninth Edition, is also available in two separate e-book volumes to suit your course needs:

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

The Great Conversation: Volume II: Descartes through the Twentieth Century, Ninth Edition

New to this Edition

  • New features on Frederick Douglass and W.E.B DuBois
  • New chapter on Rawls, Nozick, and Young
  • Signififcantly expanded section on Mary Wollstonecraft

Features

  • Flashcards
  • Self-Quizzes
  • Find it Online resources

About the Author(s)

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.

Table of Contents


    1. BEFORE PHILOSOPHY: MYTH IN HESIOD AND HOMER?
    2. PHILOSOPHY BEFORE SOCRATES?
    3. APPEARANCE AND REALITY IN ANCIENT INDIA?
    4. THE SOPHISTS: RHETORIC AND RELATIVISM IN ATHENS?
    5. REASON AND RELATIVISM IN CHINA?
    6. SOCRATES: TO KNOW ONESELF??
    7. THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES?
    8. PLATO: KNOWING THE REAL AND THE GOOD?
    9. ARISTOTLE: THE REALITY OF THE WORLD?
    10. CONFUCIUS, MENCIUS, AND XUNZI: VIRTUE IN ANCIENT CHINA?
    11. EPICUREANS, STOICS, AND SKEPTICS: HAPPINESS FOR THE MANY?
    12. JEWS AND CHRISTIANS: SIN, SALVATION, AND LOVE?
    13. AUGUSTINE: GOD AND THE SOUL?
    14. PHILOSOPHY IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD: THE GREAT CONVERSATION SPREADS OUT?
    15. ANSELM AND AQUINAS: EXISTENCE AND ESSENCE IN GOD AND THE WORLD?
    16. FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN EUROPE?
    17. RENÉ DESCARTES: DOUBTING OUR WAY TO CERTAINTY?
    18. HOBBES, LOCKE, AND BERKELEY: MATERIALISM AND THE BEGINNINGS OF EMPIRICISM?
    19. DAVID HUME: UNMASKING THE PRETENSIONS OF REASON?
    20. IMMANUEL KANT: REHABILITATING REASON
    (WITHIN STRICT LIMITS)?
    21. GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL: TAKING HISTORY SERIOUSLY?
    22. KIERKEGAARD AND MARX: TWO WAYS TO “CORRECT” HEGEL?
    23. MORAL AND POLITICAL REFORMERS: THE RIGHTS AND HAPPINESS OF ALL ?
    24. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: THE VALUE OF EXISTENCE?
    25. THE PRAGMATISTS: THOUGHT AND ACTION?
    26. LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
    AND ORDINARY LANGUAGE?
    27. MARTIN HEIDEGGER: THE MEANING OF BEING?
    28. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR: EXISTENTIALIST, FEMINIST?
    29. POSTMODERNISM: DERRIDA, FOUCAULT, AND RORTY?
    30. PHYSICAL REALISM AND THE MIND: QUINE, DENNETT, SEARLE, NAGEL, JACKSON, AND CHALMERS?
    31. FARINESS, LIBERY, AND IDENTITY: RAWLS, NOZICK, AND YOUNG

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