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Preface iii
Chapter 1
Introduction to the Philosophical Journey 3
1.0 OVERVIEW OF THE JOURNEY 4
1.1 SOCRATES AND THE SEARCH FOR WISDOM 15
FROM PLATO, Apology 18
FROM PLATO, Republic 24
1.2 PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE 30
FROM PLATO, Republic 32
1.3 ARGUMENT AND EVIDENCE: HOW DO I DECIDE WHAT TO BELIEVE? 37
Chapter 2
The Search for Ultimate Reality 49
2.0 OVERVIEW OF METAPHYSICS 50
2.1 OVERVIEW: THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM 60
FROM HUGH ELLIOT, Tantalus 60
2.2 DUALISM 67
FROM RENE DESCARTES, Discourse on the Method 69
FROM RENE DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 70
FROM RENE DESCARTES, The Puzzle of Conscious Experience 74
2.3 PHYSICALISM 79
FROM JEFFEREY OLEN, Persons and Their World 88
2.4 FUNCTIONALISM AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 94
FROM JEFFERY FODOR, The Mind- Body Problem 98
FROM MARVIN MINSKY, Why the People Think Computers Can’t 74
2.5 OVERVIEW: FREEDOM AND DETERMINISIM 112
2.6 HARD DETERMINISM
FROM B.F. SKINNER, Walden Two 124
FROM SAMUEL BUTLER, Erewhon 131
FROM CLARENCE DARROW, The Leopold and the Loeb Trial 133
2.7 LIBERTARIANISM
FROM RICHARD TAYLOR, Metaphysics 144
FROM JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, Being and Nothingness 149
2.8 COMPATIBILISM
FROM WALTER T. STACE, Religion and the Modern Mind 156
Chapter 3
The Search for Knowledge 167
3.0 OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE 168
3.1 SKEPTICISM 176
FROM RENE DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 183
FROM RENE DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 187
3.2 RATIONALISM 189
FROM PLATO, Phaedo 196
FROM RENE DESCARTES, Meditations on First Philosophy 201
3.3 EMPIRICISM
FROM GEORGE BERKELEY, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge 217
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 223
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 224
FROM DAVID HUME, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 226
3.4 KANTIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM
FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Critique of Pure Reason 237
FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Critique of Pure Reason 243
3.5 EPISTEMOLOGICAL RELATIVISM 249
FROM FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, Beyond Good and Evil 259
3.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: PRAGMATISM 266
FROM WILLIAM JAMES, Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth 275
3.7 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY 279
3.8 APPLYING EPISTEMOLOGY: WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE? 291
Chapter 4
The Search for God 309
4.0 OVERVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 310
FROM PETER KREEFT, Does God Exist? 310
4.1 THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR GOD 316
FROM THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica 317
FROM RICHARD TAYLOR, Metaphysics 320
4.2 THE DESIGN ARGUMENT FOR GOD 326
FROM WILLIAM PALEY, Natural Theology 328
FROM DAVID HUME, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 330
4.3 THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR GOD 335
FROM ST. ANSLEM, Proslogium 337
4.4 PRAGMATIC AND SUBJECTIVE JUSTIFICATIONS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF 340
FROM BLAISE PASCAL, Thoughts 342
FROM WILLIAM JAMES, The Will to Believe 346
FROM SOREN KIERKEGAARD, Selections 349
4.5 THE PROBLEM OF EVIL: ATHEISTIC AND THEISTIC RESPONSES 354
FROM ALBERT CAMUS, The Plague 342
FROM JOHN HICK, Evil and the God of Love 362
FROM C.S. LEWIS, The Problem of Pain 367
4.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION; ASIAN RELIGIONS 370
FROM THE UPANISHADES 373
FROM THE BUDDHA, Selected Teachings 381
FROM HERMAN HESSE, Siddartha 388
4.7 APPLYING PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION: HOW DOES RELIGION RELATE TO SCIENCE 391
Chapter 5
The Search for Ethical Values 405
5.0 OVERVIEW OF ETHICS 406
FROM PLATO, Republic 406
5.1 THE ETHICAL RELATIVISM VERSUS OJECTIVISM 421
FROM HERODOTUS, The Histories 425
FROM RUTH BENEDICT, Anthropology and the Abnormal 427
FROM JAMES RACHELS, The Challenge of Cultural Relativism 436
5.2 ETHICAL EGOISM
FROM W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM, Of Human Bondage 444
FROM AYN RAND, The Virtue of Selfishness 455
5.3 UTILITARIANISM 460
FROM JEREMY BENTHAM, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation 464
FROM JOHN STUART MILL, Utilitarianism 468
FROM ALASTAIR NORCROSS, Comparing Harms; Headaches and Human Lives 472
5.4 KANTIAN ETHICS 478
FROM IMMANUEL KANT, Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals 481
5.5 VIRTUE ETHICS 496
FROM ARISTOTLE, Nicomachean Ethics 505
FROM CONFUCIUS, The Analects 510
5.6 RETHINKING THE WESTERN TRADITION: FEMINIST ETHICS
MARILYN FRIEDMAN, Liberating Care 527
5.7 ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRACTICAL MORAL PROBLEMS 533
Chapter 6
The Search for the Just Society 547
6.0 OVERVIEW OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 548
6.1 THE JUSTIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT 553
FROM ROBERT PAUL WOLFF, In Defense of Anarchism 556
FROM LOCKE, An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent and End of Civil Government 562
FROM THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (JULY 4, 1776) 565
6.2 THE QUESTION OF JUSTICE 567
FROM PLATO, Republic 569
FROM THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologica 574
FROM JOHN STUART MILL, Utilitarianism 576
FROM JOHN RAWLS, A Theory of Justice 581
FROM SUSAN MOLLER OKIN, Justice, Gender, and the Family 586
6.3 THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE STATE 590
FROM JOHN STUART MILL, On Liberty 592
FROM KARL MARX AND FRIEDRICH ENGELS, Communist Manifesto 605
6.4 CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 612
FROM PLATO, Crito 615
FROM MOHANDAS GANDHI, Young India 622
FROM MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., Letter from Birmingham Jail 626
Chapter 7
Philosophy and the Meaning of Life 635
FROM LEO TOLSTOY, My Confession 643
FROM HAZEL E. BARNES, An Existentialist Ethics 648
Appendix
Reasoning Effectively: What to Do and What Not to Do A-1
Credits C-1
Index I-1
