The Big Questions A Short Introduction to Philosophy (with Source CD-ROM)

by Solomon, Robert C.

• ISBN13: 9780534625504
• ISBN10: 0534625509
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-11
• Publisher: Cengage High School

Summary

It's time for an introduction to philosophy textbook that's written so you can actually understand it! THE BIG QUESTIONS: A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY tackles the tough issues and helps you make up your mind about what you think, all while presenting the best philosophical selections available.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Introduction Doing Philosophy	3	(24)
Beyond Buzzwords	4	(1)
Articulation and Argument: Two Crucial Features of Philosophy	5	(3)
Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks	8	(7)
Doing Philosophy with Style	13	(2)
A Little Logic	15	(12)
Deduction	16	(1)
Induction	17	(3)
Criticizing Arguments	20	(4)
Closing Questions	24	(1)
Suggested Readings	25	(2)
Chapter 1 Philosophical Questions	27	(16)
Philosophical Questions	28	(1)
Opening Questions	29	(12)
Suggested Readings	41	(2)
Chapter 2 The Meaning of Life	43	(22)
Opening Questions	43	(1)
The Meaning of Meaning	44	(6)
Children as Meaning	46	(1)
God as Meaning	46	(1)
Afterlife as Meaning	47	(1)
No Meaning at All	47	(3)
The Meanings of Life	50	(12)
Life as a Game	51	(1)
Life as a Story	51	(1)
Life as Tragedy	52	(1)
Life as Comedy	52	(2)
Life as a Mission	54	(1)
Life as Art	54	(1)
Life as an Adventure	55	(1)
Life as Disease	56	(1)
Life as Desire	57	(1)
Life as Nirvana	57	(1)
Life as Altruism	58	(1)
Life as Honor	58	(1)
Life as Learning	59	(1)
Life as Suffering	60	(1)
Life as an Investment	61	(1)
Life as Relationships	61	(1)
Closing Questions	62	(1)
Suggested Readings	63	(2)
Chapter 3 God	65	(42)
Opening Questions	65	(1)
Believing in God	66	(3)
Gods and Goddesses	69	(1)
The Traditional Western Conceptions of God	70	(11)
God as Transcendent	73	(1)
God as Immanent	74	(1)
God as Totally Immanent: Pantheism	75	(2)
God as Universal Spirit	77	(1)
God as Process	78	(1)
God as Transcendent Creator: Deism	79	(1)
God as the Unknown Object of Faith	80	(1)
God as a Moral Being	81	(1)
The Problem of Evil	81	(6)
Denial of God	82	(1)
Two Kinds of Evil	82	(1)
Denial of Evil	83	(1)
The Least of the Evils	84	(1)
The Aesthetic Totality Solution	85	(1)
The Free-Will Solution	85	(1)
Justice in the Afterlife	86	(1)
God's "Mysterious Ways"	86	(1)
Working Out an Answer	87	(1)
Faith and Reason: Ways of Believing	87	(11)
The Cosmological Argument	89	(1)
The Argument from Design	90	(1)
The Ontological Argument	91	(1)
Rational Faith	92	(2)
Pascal's Wager	94	(2)
Irrational Faith	96	(2)
Religious Tolerance: Ritual, Tradition, and Spirituality	98	(3)
Doubts	101	(2)
Closing Questions	103	(1)
Suggested Readings	104	(3)
Chapter 4 The Nature of Reality	107	(38)
Opening Questions	107	(1)
The Real World	108	(2)
What Is Most Real?	110	(4)
The Reality Behind the Appearances	111	(1)
Dreams, Sensations, and Reason: What Is Real?	112	(1)
The Basis of Metaphysics	113	(1)
The First Metaphysicians	114	(3)
Thales	114	(1)
The Pre-Socratic Materialists	114	(3)
Early Nonphysical Views of Reality	117	(3)
Plato's Forms	120	(2)
Aristotle's Metaphysics	122	(2)
Mind and Metaphysics	124	(6)
René Descartes	125	(1)
Baruch Spinoza	126	(3)
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz	129	(1)
Idealism	130	(6)
Teleology	136	(3)
Metaphysics and the Everyday World	139	(2)
Closing Questions	141	(1)
Suggested Readings	142	(3)
Chapter 5 The Search for Truth	145	(38)
Opening Questions	145	(1)
What Is True?	145	(2)
Two Kinds of Truth	147	(4)
Empirical Truth	147	(1)
Necessary Truth	148	(3)
Rationalism and Empiricism	151	(2)
The Presuppositions of Knowledge	153	(2)
Skepticism	155	(8)
René Descartes and the Method of Doubt	157	(2)
David Hume's Skepticism	159	(3)
The Resolution of Skepticism: Immanuel 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 and the Problem of Relativism	175	(5)
Closing Questions	180	(1)
Suggested Readings	181	(2)
Chapter 6 Self	183	(34)
Opening Questions	183	(1)
The Essential Self	184	(2)
Self as Body, Self as Consciousness	186	(10)
The Self and Its Emotions	190	(3)
The Egocentric Predicament	193	(3)
The Mind-Body Problem	196	(2)
Behaviorism	198	(16)
Identity Theory	198	(2)
Functionalism	200	(2)
The Self as a Choice	202	(4)
No Self, Many Selves	206	(2)
The Self as Social	208	(3)
Self and Relationships	211	(3)
Closing Questions	214	(1)
Suggested Readings	215	(2)
Chapter 7 Freedom	217	(26)
Opening Questions	217	(1)
Freedom and the Good Life	218	(9)
Why Is Freedom So Important to Us?	219	(3)
What Is Freedom?	222	(5)
Free Will and Determinism	227	(13)
Determinism Versus Indeterminism	230	(4)
The Role of Consciousness	234	(1)
Soft Determinism	235	(2)
In Defense of Freedom	237	(3)
Closing Questions	240	(1)
Suggested Readings	240	(3)
Chapter 8 Morality and the Good Life	243	(34)
Opening Questions	243	(2)
The Good Life	245	(8)
Hedonism	245	(2)
Success	247	(2)
Asceticism	249	(1)
Freedom	249	(1)
Power and Creativity	250	(1)
Religion	250	(1)
Happiness	251	(2)
Egoism Versus Altruism	253	(5)
Morality and Theories of Morality	258	(3)
Duty-Defined Morality	261	(3)
Immanuel Kant and the Authority of Reason	261	(3)
Consequentialist Theories	264	(3)
Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill	264	(3)
Aristotle and the Ethics of Virtue	267	(1)
Morality-Relative or Absolute?	268	(3)
Friedrich Nietzsche and the Attack on Morality	271	(3)
Closing Questions	274	(1)
Suggested Readings	275	(2)
Chapter 9 Justice and the Good Society	277	(24)
Opening Questions	277	(1)
Morals and Society	278	(1)
The Nature of Society	279	(1)
Who Should Rule? The Question of Legitimacy	280	(3)
Anarchism, the Free Market, and the Need for Government	283	(3)
What Is Justice?	286	(3)
The Meaning of Equality	289	(3)
The Origins of Justice and the Social Contract	292	(3)
Rights and the Notion of the Self	295	(2)
Libertarianism	296	(1)
Liberalism	296	(1)
Communitarianism	297	(1)
Closing Questions	297	(1)
Suggested Readings	298	(3)
Chapter 10 Philosophy, Sex, Race, and Culture	301	(36)
Opening Questions	301	(1)
Expanding the Philosophical Canon	302	(3)
Beyond the Western Tradition	305	(1)
Other Cultures, Other Philosophies	306	(17)
South Asian Philosophy	308	(5)
East Asian Philosophy	313	(3)
The Middle East	316	(1)
Hispanic Philosophy	317	(3)
Native American and African Philosophy	320	(3)
Sexual Politics: The Rise of Feminist Philosophy	323	(8)
Women and Nature	326	(2)
Plato: Patriarch or Early Feminist?	328	(1)
Reason Versus Passion in Ethics: The Ethics of Care	329	(2)
Feminist Epistemology and Feminist Science	331	(1)
The Revival of African American Philosophy	331	(3)
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X	332	(2)
Closing Questions	334	(1)
Suggested Readings	334	(3)
Chapter 11 Beauty	337	(18)
Opening Questions	337	(1)
Beauty and Truth	338	(3)
Enjoying Tragedy	341	(2)
Arguing About Taste	343	(3)
Art, Ethics, and Religion	346	(2)
The Aesthetics of Popular Culture and Everyday Life	348	(4)
Closing Questions	352	(1)
Suggested Readings	353	(2)
Appendix A Writing Philosophy	355	(22)
Opening Questions	355	(1)
The Rules of Good Writing in Philosophy	356	(12)
Organize	356	(1)
Write Simply	357	(1)
Be Clear	358	(1)
Be Human	359	(1)
Use Examples	360	(2)
Argue Your Point	362	(3)
Consider the Objections and Alternatives	365	(1)
Define Your Specialized Terms	366	(1)
Use the History of Philosophy	367	(1)
Indirect Styles	368	(15)
Dialogue Style	368	(4)
Ironic Style	372	(2)
Aphoristic Style	374	(3)
Appendix B Deductive Logic Valid Argument Forms	377	(6)
Appendix C Common Informal Fallacies	383	(6)
Informal Fallacies	383	(6)
Glossary	389	(16)
Index	405