Exploring Philosophy : An Introductory Anthology

Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, Third Edition, is a remarkably accessible and engaging introduction to philosophy. Steven M. Cahn brings together extraordinarily clear, recent essays by noted philosophers and supplements them with influential historical sources. Most importantly, the articles have been carefully edited to make them understandable to every reader. The topics are drawn from across the major fields of philosophy and include knowledge and skepticism, mind and body, freedom and determinism, the existence of God, the problem of evil, ethical reasoning, abortion, euthanasia, world hunger, democracy, capital punishment, affirmative action, and the meaning of life. The readings are enhanced by concise introductions, explanatory notes, and suggestions for further reading. Featuring twenty-two new selections, the third edition has been expanded to include a separate section on free will containing articles by A.J. Ayer, Steven M. Cahn, Harry Frankfurt, Thomas Nagel, and Richard Taylor. It offers two sections on morality--Moral Theory and Moral Problems--with new selections by John Arthur, Virginia Held, Don Marquis, Bernard Mayo, Peter Singer, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and Christine Vitrano. This edition also adds historical sources by St. Anselm, William James, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, as well as contemporary essays by A.J. Ayer, Steven M. Cahn, Nicholas Everitt, Edmund L. Gettier, Carl G. Hempel, Alan Turing, and Ernest van den Haag.

Steven M. Cahn is Professor of Philosophy at The City University of New York Graduate Center. He is the author or editor of more than forty books. Most recently, he wrote From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor (2008), Puzzles Perplexities: Collected Essays, Second Edition (2007), and God, Reason, and Religion (2006). Dr. Cahn is the coeditor of Ethics, Fourth Edition (OUP, 2008), The Elements of Philosophy (OUP, 2007), Happiness (OUP, 2007), and The Meaning of Life, Third Edition (OUP, 2007). He is the editor of Exploring Ethics (OUP, 2008), Exploring Philosophy of Religion (OUP, 2008), Classics of Western Philosophy, Seventh Edition (2006), Political Philosophy (OUP, 2005), Ten Essential Texts in the Philosophy of Religion (OUP, 2005), Philosophy for the 21st Century (OUP, 2003), and Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy (OUP, 2001).