The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy

by SOLOMON

Edition:

5th

ISBN13:

9780155036864

ISBN10:

0155036866

Format:

Paperback

Pub. Date:

8/5/1997

Publisher(s):

Wadsworth Publishing

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Summary

Written by a well-known and respected scholar, this best-selling Introduction to Philosophy text has a student-friendly style and organization. Topics are arranged under big questions (see contents) with each chapter's discussion of the selected big question self-contained so instructors can choose which, and in what order, topics are presented. The writing style is concise and accessible, and coverage is comprehensive without being intimidating.

Preface

iii

INTRODUCTION: Doing Philosophy

(15)

Beyond Buzz Words and Verbal Spaghetti

(1)

Articulation and Argument: Two Crucial Features of Philosophy

(2)

Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks

(10)

Doing Philosophy with Style

(5)

A Little Logic

(11)

Deduction

(1)

Induction

(2)

Criticizing Arguments

(7)

Closing Questions

(2)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

(1)

ONE: Philosophical Questions

(16)

Philosophical Questions

(1)

Opening Questions

(12)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

(1)

TWO: The Meaning of Life

(24)

Opening Questions

(1)

The Meaning of Meaning

(6)

Children as Meaning

(1)

God as Meaning

(1)

Afterlife as Meaning

(1)

No Meaning at All

(2)

The Meanings of Life

(13)

Life as a Game

(1)

Life as a Story

(1)

Life as Tragedy

(1)

Life as Comedy

(1)

Life as a Mission

(1)

Life as Art

(1)

Life as an Adventure

(1)

Life as Disease

(2)

Life as Desire

(1)

Life as Nirvana

(1)

Life as Altruism

(1)

Life as Honor

(1)

Life as Learning

(1)

Life as Suffering

(1)

Life as an Investment

(1)

Life as Relationships

(1)

Closing Questions

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

(2)

THREE: God

(38)

Opening Questions

(1)

Believing in God

(3)

Gods and Goddesses

(1)

Our Traditional Conceptions of God

(11)

God as Transcendent

(1)

God as Immanent

(1)

God as Totally Immanent: Pantheism

(4)

God as Universal Spirit

(1)

God as Process

(1)

God as Transcendent Creator: Deism

(1)

God as the Unknown Object of Faith

(1)

God as a Moral Being

(1)

The Problem of Evil

(5)

Denial of God

(1)

Two Kinds of Evil

(1)

Denial of Evil

(1)

The Least of the Evils

(2)

The Aesthetic Totality Solution

(1)

The Free-Will Solution

(1)

Justice in the Afterlife

(1)

God's "Mysterious Ways"

(1)

Working Out an Answer

(1)

Faith and Reason: Ways of Believing

(10)

The Cosmological Argument

(1)

The Argument from Design

(2)

The Ontological Argument

(1)

Rational Faith

(1)

Pascal's Wager

(2)

Irrational Faith

(2)

Understanding Your Belief

(1)

Closing Questions

100

(2)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

102

(3)

FOUR: The Nature of Reality

105

(38)

Opening Questions

106

(1)

The Real World

107

(2)

What Is Most Real?

109

(4)

The Reality Behind the Appearances

110

(1)

Dreams, Sensations, and Reason: What Is Real?

111

(1)

The Basis of Metaphysics

112

(1)

The First Metaphysicians

113

(3)

Thales

113

(1)

The Pre-Socratic Materialists

113

(3)

Early Nonphysical Views of Reality

116

(3)

Plato's Forms

119

(2)

Aristotle's Metaphysics

121

(1)

Mind and Metaphysics

122

(7)

Descartes

123

(3)

Spinoza

126

(1)

Leibniz

127

(2)

Idealism

129

(5)

Teleology

134

(3)

Metaphysics and the Everyday World

137

(2)

Closing Questions

139

(2)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

141

(2)

FIVE: The Search for Truth

143

(36)

Opening Questions

144

(1)

What Is True?

145

(1)

Two Kinds of Truth

146

(4)

Empirical Truth

147

(1)

Necessary Truth

147

(3)

Rationalism and Empiricism

150

(3)

The Presuppositions of Knowledge

153

(1)

Skepticism

154

(9)

Descartes and the "Method of Doubt"

157

(1)

David Hume's Skepticism

158

(4)

The Resolution of Skepticism: Kant

162

(1)

Knowledge, Truth, and Science

163

(5)

The Nature of Truth

168

(4)

The Coherence Theory of Truth

170

(1)

The Pragmatic Theory of Truth

171

(1)

Rationality

172

(3)

Why Be Rational?

174

(1)

Subjective Truth: Any Truth at All?

175

(2)

Closing Questions

177

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

178

(1)

SIX: Self

179

(34)

Opening Questions

180

(1)

The Essential Self

181

(3)

Self as Body, Self as Consciousness

184

(11)

The Self as a Problem

189

(4)

No Self, Many Selves

193

(2)

The Mind-Body Problem

195

(16)

Behaviorism

197

(1)

Identity Theory

198

(2)

Functionalism

200

(1)

The Egocentric Predicament

201

(3)

The Self as Social

204

(4)

Self and Relationships

208

(3)

Closing Questions

211

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

212

(1)

SEVEN: Freedom

213

(26)

Opening Questions

214

(1)

Freedom and the Good Life

215

(9)

Why Is Freedom So Important to Us?

216

(4)

What Is Freedom?

220

(4)

Free Will and Determinism

224

(12)

Determinism Versus Indeterminism

227

(4)

The Role of Consciousness

231

(1)

"Soft" Determinism

232

(1)

In Defense of Freedom

233

(3)

Closing Questions

236

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

237

(2)

EIGHT: Morality and the Good Life

239

(36)

Opening Questions

240

(3)

The Good Life

243

(7)

Hedonism

243

(2)

Success

245

(1)

Asceticism

246

(1)

Freedom

247

(1)

Power and Creativity

247

(1)

Religion

248

(1)

Happiness

249

(1)

Egoism versus Altruism

250

(5)

Morality and Theories of Morality

255

(4)

Duty-defined Morality

259

(2)

Kant and the Authority of Reason

259

(2)

Consequentialist

261

(3)

Utilitarianism: Bentham and Mill

262

(2)

Aristotle and the Ethics of Virtue

264

(2)

Morality-Relative or Absolute?

266

(2)

Nietzsche and the Attack on Morality

268

(3)

Closing Questions

271

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

272

(3)

NINE: Justice and the Good Society

275

(24)

Opening Questions

276

(1)

Morals and Society

277

(1)

The Nature of Society

278

(2)

Who Should Rule?-The Question of Legitimacy

280

(2)

Anarchism, the Free Market, and the Need for Government

282

(3)

What Is Justice?

285

(3)

The Meaning of Equality

288

(3)

The Origins of Justice and the Social Contract

291

(3)

Rights and the Notion of the Self

294

(2)

Libertarianism

295

(1)

Liberalism

295

(1)

Communitarianism

296

(1)

Closing Questions

296

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

297

(2)

TEN: Philosophy, Sex, Race, and Culture

299

(34)

Opening Questions

300

(1)

Expanding the Philosophical "Canon"

301

(3)

Beyond the "Western Tradition"

304

(1)

Other Cultures, Other Philosophies

305

(16)

South Asian Philosophy

307

(6)

East Asian Philosophy

313

(3)

The Middle East

316

(2)

Native American and African Philosophy

318

(3)

Sexual Politics: The Rise of Feminist Philosophy

321

(7)

Women and Nature

323

(2)

Plato: Patriarch or Early Feminist?

325

(1)

Reason versus Passion in Ethics: The Ethics of Care

325

(2)

Feminist Epistemology and Feminist Science

327

(1)

The Revival of African-American Philosophy

328

(2)

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X

328

(2)

Closing Questions

330

(1)

Bibliography and Suggested Readings

331

(2)

Appendix I: Writing Philosophy

333

(22)

Opening Questions

333

(1)

The Rules of Good Writing in Philosophy

334

(12)

Organize

334

(2)

Write Simply

336

(1)

Be Clear

336

(1)

Be Human

337

(1)

Use Examples

338

(2)

Argue Your Point

340

(3)

Consider the Objections and Alternatives

343

(1)

Define Your Specialized Terms

344

(1)

Use the History of Philosophy

345

(1)

Indirect Styles

346

(9)

Dialogue Style

346

(3)

Ironic Style

349

(2)

Aphoristic Style

351

(4)

Appendix II: Deductive Logic Valid Argument Forms

355

(6)

Appendix III: Common Informal Fallacies

361

(6)

"Informal" Fallacies

361

(6)

Brief Biographies

367

(4)

Glossary

371

(16)

Index

387

The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy

9780155036864

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