Engaging Philosophy

by Green, Mitchell S.

• ISBN13: 9780872207967
• ISBN10: 087220796X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-30
• Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc

Summary

This brief, elegant book introduces students and general readers to philosophy through core questions and topics -- particularly those involving ethics, the existence of God, free will, the relation of mind and body, and what it is to be a person. It also features a chapter on reasoning, both theoretical and practical, that develops an account of both cogent logical reasoning and rational decision-making. Throughout, the emphasis is on initiating newcomers to philosophy through rigorous yet lively consideration of some of the most fundamental questions a thinking person can ask.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(8)
Reasoning: Truth and Prudence	9	(22)
Grounds for Belief	10	(3)
What Is an Argument?	13	(4)
Fallacies of Theoretical Rationality	17	(5)
The fallacy of composition	17	(1)
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc	18	(1)
The fallacy of equivocation	19	(1)
Ad hominem	20	(1)
Argument from authority	21	(1)
Begging the question	21	(1)
What Is Practical Reasoning?	22	(4)
Fallacies of Practical Rationality	26	(2)
The gambler's fallacy	26	(1)
The ``person who'' fallacy	27	(1)
The calculator's fallacy	27	(1)
Study Questions	28	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	29	(1)
Movies Significant for Logic and Reasoning	29	(2)
The Greatest Conceivable Being	31	(36)
Theological Arguments	34	(17)
The argument from design	34	(4)
The cosmological argument	38	(4)
The ontological argument	42	(3)
Pascal's wager	45	(4)
The argument from morality	49	(2)
Atheological Arguments	51	(11)
The paradox of the stone	52	(1)
The problem of evil	53	(1)
``God is giving us a test''	54	(1)
``Evil is just a privation''	55	(1)
``Things balance out''	55	(1)
``No mountains without valleys''	56	(6)
Study Questions	62	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading	64	(1)
Movies Significant for the Philosophy of Religion	65	(2)
Right and Wrong	67	(30)
Ethical Egoism	67	(2)
Utilitarianism	69	(7)
Critiques of Utilitarianism	76	(6)
Intermission: Moral Relativism	82	(6)
``Who's to say?''	84	(1)
``We shouldn't sit in judgment of others''	85	(1)
``Robust relativism is the only way of respecting the integrity and autonomy of other cultures, ethnicities, and societies''	86	(2)
Kantian Ethics	88	(5)
Study Questions	93	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading	95	(1)
Movies Significant for Ethics	95	(2)
The Matter of Minds	97	(24)
Plato's Tripartite Soul	97	(2)
Descartes' Division	99	(6)
La Mettrie and Machines	105	(2)
Ryle and the Category Mistake	107	(3)
The Identity Theory	110	(2)
Minds and Computers	112	(3)
Consciousness	115	(3)
Study Questions	118	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	119	(1)
Movies Significant for the Philosophy of Mind	120	(1)
Are You Free?	121	(22)
Universal Determinism and Its Challenge to Freedom	122	(4)
Does Quantum Mechanics Save Freedom?	126	(2)
Hume's Compatibilism	128	(2)
Libertarian Critiques of Hume	130	(3)
Hard Determinism and the Illusion of Freedom	133	(2)
Is Conscious Will an Illusion?	135	(2)
Freedom of Will	137	(2)
Study Questions	139	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	140	(1)
Movies Significant for Freedom of Will	141	(2)
What Is a Person?	143	(14)
Synchronic and Diachronic Questions of Identity	144	(2)
Synchronic Identity	146	(1)
Memory Links and Identity over Time	147	(4)
Bodily Continuity and Identity over Time	151	(4)
Study Questions	155	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	156	(1)
Movies Significant for Personal Identity	156	(1)
Philosophical Glossary	157	(6)
Index	163