Classic Philosophical Questions

by Gould, James A.; Mulvaney, Robert J.

• ISBN13: 9780136006527
• ISBN10: 0136006523
• Edition: 13th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Classic Philosophic Questionshas presented decades of students with the most compelling classic and contemporary primary source readings on the most enduring and abiding questions in philosophy. Classic Philosophic Questionsis a longstanding and highly respected anthology of basic readings in philosophy, taken from ancient, modern, and contemporary sources. Issues are treated in a fundamentally open manner with arguments pro and con for the various positions covered. All selections are taken from primary sources, with introductions and study guides to facilitate reading for the beginning student. A unique feature of this book is the list of "think abouts" at the end of most of the readings. These suggest issues raised in the readings that can promote new ways of thinking about themes and concepts. This text offers a comprehensive, first-hand experience of all the major branches of Philosophy. It covers all the fundamentals in philosophy, as opposed to volumes dealing with specialized topics. It draws from the ancient as well as modern and contemporary sources, rather than focusing on one particular historical period. Each reading contains a biographical sketch of the author, and a group of further readings for the student wishing to pursue the issue in greater depth.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Plato and the Trial of Socrates
What Is Philosophy?
Euthyphro: Defining Philosophical Terms	p. 1
The Apology, Phaedo, and Crito: The Trial, Immortality, and Death of Socrates	p. 12
Philosophy of Religion
Can We Prove That God Exists?
St. Anselm: The Ontological Argument	p. 37
St. Thomas Aquinas: The Cosmological Argument	p. 43
William Paley: The Teleological Argument	p. 50
Blaise Pascal: It Is Better to Believe in God's Existence Than to Deny It	p. 56
William James: Free Choice Is the Basis of Belief	p. 62
Does the Idea of a Good God Exclude Evil?
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: God Can Allow Some Evil	p. 72
David Hume: A Good God Would Exclude Evil	p. 83
Ethics
Are Ethics Relative?
Ruth Benedict: Ethics Are Relative	p. 91
W.T. Stace: Ethics Are Not Relative	p. 99
Are Humans Always Selfish?
Humans Are Always Selfish: Glaucon's Challenge to Socrates	p. 111
James Rachels: Humans Are Not Always Selfish	p. 115
Which Is Basic in Ethics: Happiness or Obligation?
Aristotle: Happiness Is Living Virtuously	p. 127
Jeremy Bentham: Happiness Is Seeking the Greatest Pleasure for the Greatest Number of People	p. 137
Immanuel Kant: Duty Is Prior to Happiness	p. 146
Friedrich Nietzsche: Happiness Is Having Power	p. 160
Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Ethics	p. 168
Rosemarie Tong: Feminist Ethics Are Different	p. 178
Two Contemporary Moral Problems: Abortion, Animal Rights
Jane English: Are Most Abortions Moral?	p. 196
The Animal Rights Issue
Peter Singer: Do Animals Have Rights?	p. 207
Knowledge
What Is Knowledge?
Plato: Knowledge Is "Warranted, True Belief"	p. 221
What Method Is Best for Acquiring Knowledge?
Charles Sanders Peirce: Four Approaches to Philosophy	p. 231
How Do We Acquire Knowledge?
Rene Descartes: Knowledge Is Not Ultimately Sense Knowledge	p. 242
John Locke: Knowledge Is Ultimately Sensed	p. 254
Immanuel Kant: Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical	p. 267
How Is Truth Established?
Bertrand Russell: Truth Is Established by Correspondence	p. 276
Francis. H. Bradley: Truth Is Established by Coherence	p. 283
William James: Truth Is Established on Pragmatic Grounds	p. 290
Can We Know the Nature of Causal Relations?
David Hume: Cause Means Regular Association	p. 298
David Hume: There Are No Possible Grounds for Induction	p. 305
Metaphysics
Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
Parmenides: Being Is Uncaused	p. 317
Lao-Tzu: Non-Being Is the Source of Being	p. 323
Is Reality General or Particular?
Plato: Universals Are Real	p. 329
David Hume: Particulars Are Real	p. 339
Of What Does Reality Consist?
Rene Descartes: Reality Consists of Mind and Matter	p. 345
Paul Churchland: Reality Consists of Matter	p. 352
George Berkeley: Reality Consists of Ideas	p. 360
John Dewey: Reality Consists of Mental and Physical Qualities	p. 373
Are Humans Free?
Holbach: Humans Are Determined	p. 382
Robert Kane: Humans Are Free	p. 392
Social and Political Philosophy
What Is Liberty?
Fyodor Dostoevski: Liberty and Authority	p. 409
John Stuart Mill: Liberty Is Independence from the Majority's Tyranny	p. 422
Martin Luther King Jr.: Liberty and Racial Prejudice	p. 434
Which Government Is Best?
Thomas Hobbes: Monarchy Is Best	p. 445
John Locke: Democracy Is Best	p. 453
Karl Marx: Communism and Nonalienated Labor Is Best	p. 460
Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy Can Have Serious Problems	p. 476
Karl Popper: Utopias Lead to Violence	p. 484
Aesthetics
What Constitutes the Experience of Beauty?
Plotinus: Beauty, Sensuous and Ideal	p. 495
What Is the Function of Art?
Aristotle: The Nature of Tragedy	p. 505
Henri Bergson: The Nature of Comedy	p. 514
Philosophy and the Good Life
Two Classic Views of the Good Life
Epicurus and the Pleasant Life	p. 525
Epictetus and the Life of Self-Control	p. 534
What Gives Life Meaning?
Leo Tolstoy: Faith Provides Life's Meaning	p. 541
Albert Camus: Each Person Determines His or Her Life's Meaning	p. 553
What Is the Value of Philosophy?
Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy	p. 565
Glossary	p. 572
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