Philosophy and Contemporary Issues

by Burr, John R.; Goldinger, Milton

• ISBN13: 9780130209931
• ISBN10: 0130209937
• Edition: 9th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Timely and very approachable, this book introduces today's readers to philosophy with readings of philosophical significance. It is one of the most successful philosophy books available for the last 20 years. Incorporates 15 new readings by authors such as Kai Nielsen, Jenny Teichman, Jonathan Harrison, and Sextus Empiricus. Features extensively revised Puzzles and Problems sections that offer unusual and provocative views to arouse reader response. Relates traditional philosophical issues to key contemporary problems, and follows the explanation of each issue with related readings and Puzzles and Problems. Challenges conventional thinking and presents opposing viewpoints on topics such as the existence of God and the limitation of immigration. MARKETFor anyone interested in learning more about philosophy and applying its principles to everyday life.

Table of Contents

(NOTE: Each part begins with an Introduction and concludes with Suggestions for Further Reading.)

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

1. Plato, The Apology.

I. FREEDOM AND DETERMINISM.

2. Robert Blatchford, The Delusion of Free Will.
3. Corliss Lamont, Freedom of Choice and Human Responsibility.
4. W. T. Stace, The Problem of Free Will.
5. B. F. Skinner, Walden Two: Selections.
6. Joseph Wood Krutch, Ignoble Utopias.
7. Clarence Darrow, An Address Delivered to the Prisoners in the Chicago County Jail.
8. C. S. Lewis, The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment.
9. Jonathan Harrison, God, the Arch-Hypnotist.
10. Richard Taylor, Fate.

II. GOD AND RELIGION.

11. A. Cressy Morrison, Seven Reasons Why a Scientist Believes in God.
12. Clarence Darrow, The Delusion of Design and Purpose.
13. D. E. Trueblood, The Evidential Value of Religious Experience.
14. C. S. Lewis, The Basis of the Moral Law.
15. Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not a Christian.
16. B. C. Johnson, God and the Problem of Evil.
17. John Hick, The Problem of Evil.
18. W. K. Clifford, The Ethics of Belief.
19. William James, The Will to Believe.
20. Leo Tolstoy, My Confession.
21. Steven M. Cahn, Cacodaemony: A Puzzle about God.

III. MORALITY AND SOCIETY.

22. W.T. Stace, Ethical Relativism.
23. Harry Browne, The Morality Trap.
24. Jeremy Bentham, Utilitarianism.
25. R. M. Maclver, The Deep Beauty of the Golden Rule.
26. Garrett Hardin, Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor.
27. Peter Singer, Insiders and Outsiders.
28. John T. Noonan, Jr., An Almost Absolute Value in History.
29. Judith Jarvis Thompson, A Defense of Abortion.
30. Michael Levin, The Case for Torture.
31. Robert Nozik, R.S.V.P.,—A Story.

IV. STATE AND SOCIETY.

32. Sidney Hook, The Philosophical Presuppostions of Democracy.
33. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democratic Tyranny.
34. Ayn Rand, Man's Rights.
35. Kai Nielson, A Moral Case for Socialism.
36. Murray Rothbard, The State.
37. Helen E. Longino, Pornography, Oppression, and Freedom: A Closer Look.
38. Jan Narveson, Pornography.
39. Thomas Szasz, The Ethics of Addiction: An Argument in Favor of Letting Americans Take Any Drug They Want.
40. Gerald Dworkin, Paternalism.
41. Morton Davis, The Prisoner's Dilemma.
42. Anthony Downs, Is It Rational to Be an Informed Voter?

V. MIND AND BODY.

43. Hugh Elliot, Materialism.
44. C. E. M. Joad, The Mind as Distinct from the Body.
45. A. A. Luce, Sense Without Matter.
46. John Hospers, The Problem of Other Minds.
47. Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey, Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue.
48. Christopher Evans, Can a Machine Think?
49. Jenny Teichman, Human Beings and Machines.
50. Durant Drake, Considerations Against the Belief in Immortality.
51. John Searle, Parable of the Chinese Room.

VI. KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE.

52. René Descartes, Meditations I and II.
53. Friedrich Paulsen, Empiricism.
54. David Hume, Skepticism.
55. Irving M. Copi, The Detective as Scientist.
56. Morris R. Cohen and Ernest Nagel, The Limits and the Value of Scientific Method.
57. Duane T. Gish, The Nature of Science and of Theories on Origins.
58. A. David Kline, Theories, Facts, and Gods: Philosophical Aspects of the Creation Evolution Controversy.
59. William Poundstone, Brains in Vats.
60. Sextus Empiricus, The Problem of the Criterion.
Epilogue.
Glossary.