Roots of Wisdom (with InfoTrac)

by Mitchell, Helen Buss

• ISBN13: 9780534552992
• ISBN10: 0534552994
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-14
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

See the issues of philosophy come to life in ROOTS OF WISDOM with InfoTrac! Focusing on universal, current issues of concern to all people, this philosophy text uses popular culture to illustrate timeless philosophical problems. Historical Interludes, How Philosophy Works, The Making of a Philosopher, For Further Thought, People of the Americas, and Philosophers Speak for Themselves are just a few of the tools found throughout that give you the practice and understanding you need to succeed.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xix
Preface	xxi
PART ONE What Is Everything Really Like?	1	(480)
Questions of Metaphysics
Historical Interlude A A Worldwide Context for Western Philosophy	2	(12)
Why Philosophy?	14	(44)
Is This All There Is?
The Issue Defined	14	(1)
The Pre-Socratic Cosmologists	15	(9)
The Milesians	16	(3)
Other Monists	19	(2)
Pluralists	21	(1)
Cosmogony and Cosmology	22	(2)
The Sophists	24	(3)
How Philosophy Works Sophistic Logic, or Sophistry	25	(1)
Doing Philosophy Shapiro for the Defense	26	(1)
The Classical Period in Greek Philosophy	27	(13)
Socrates	28	(2)
How Philosophy Works The Dialectic	30	(2)
Plato	32	(2)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Plato	34	(3)
Perictyone	37	(1)
Aristotle	38	(2)
Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Axiology in Asian Thought	40	(5)
Buddhism	41	(3)
Pan Chao and the Confucian Tradition	44	(1)
Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Axiology in African Thought	45	(3)
The Peoples of the Americas	48	(1)
A Look Abead	48	(3)
Summary	51	(2)
For Further Thought	53	(2)
For Further Exploration	55	(1)
For Further Research	56	(1)
Notes	56	(2)
Reality and Being	58	(57)
Is What You See What You Get?
The Issue Defined	58	(2)
Reality and the Brain: The Visual World and Constructed Reality	60	(2)
How Philosophy Works Reductio Ad Absurdum	62	(1)
Ontology: What Is Real?	62	(8)
Ontology in Plato and Aristotle	63	(5)
How Philosophy Works The Categorical Syllogism	68	(2)
Doing Philosophy The Riddle of the Nature of Reality	70	(1)
Asian Views of Reality	70	(5)
Buddhism: Reality as Interdependence	70	(2)
Taoism: Reality as the Tao	72	(3)
Materialism: Reality as Purely Material	75	(2)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves The Four Causes	76	(1)
Progmatism: Reality as What We Can Know	77	(2)
Contemporary Physics and the Nature of Reality	79	(6)
Quantum Mechanics	80	(1)
Relativity Theory	81	(1)
String Theory	82	(2)
Science and Physical Reality	84	(1)
Cosmology: Is There Order and Purpose in the Universe?	85	(3)
Greek Cosmology	86	(1)
Quantum Theory and Astronomy	87	(1)
The Possibility of Eternal Dimensions	88	(8)
Hypatia of Alexandria and Neoplatonism	89	(2)
The Peoples of the Americas: A Sacred Cosmos	91	(2)
An African View of a Scared Cosmos	93	(2)
African-American Christianity and the Sacred Cosmos	95	(1)
Summary	96	(2)
For Further Thought	98	(2)
For Further Exploration	100	(1)
For Further Research	101	(1)
Notes	101	(3)
Historical Interlude B Philosophy and Early Christianity	104	(11)
Human Nature	115	(44)
Who or What Are We, and What Are We Doing Here?
The Issue Defined	116	(3)
Who or What Are We?	119	(13)
Is There an Essential Human Nature?---The Avocado View	120	(9)
Is There an Essential Human Nature?---The Artichoke View	129	(3)
Non-Western Views of the Self	132	(10)
From Hinduism and Atman to Buddhism and Anatman	132	(3)
Doing Philosophy Oneness with Other Beings	135	(1)
Chinese Five-Element View of the Self	136	(2)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Tao Te Ching	138	(2)
African Synthesis Model	140	(2)
What Are We Doing Here?	142	(5)
Non-Western Views	142	(1)
Western Views	143	(2)
How Philosophy Works Inductive Reasoning	145	(2)
Issues of Human Identity and Freedom	147	(4)
Race and Ethnicity: One Aspect of Identity	147	(1)
Biological Sex and Gender: Another Aspect of Identity	148	(2)
Innate or Plastic: One Question in the Free Will Versus Determinism Debate	150	(1)
Summary	151	(2)
For Further Thought	153	(2)
For Further Exploration	155	(1)
For Further Research	156	(1)
Notes	156	(3)
Philosophy and God	159	(52)
Who's in Charge?
The Issue Defined	160	(4)
Atheism	162	(1)
Deism	162	(1)
Pantheism and Panentheism	162	(2)
Theism	164	(1)
Arguments for the Existence of God	164	(10)
Knowledge Based on Reason	165	(3)
Knowledge Based on Intuition	168	(6)
Traditional Images of God	174	(10)
God as Eternal	175	(1)
God as Omnipotent and Omniscient	175	(2)
God as Good	177	(1)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Augustine	178	(2)
How Philosophy Works The Hypothetical Syllogism	180	(1)
God as Source of Truth and Moral Law	181	(3)
Nontraditional Images of God	184	(5)
God as Mother, Jesus as Mestizo	184	(2)
God as Ground of Being	186	(2)
God as Cosmic Architect and Bagworm	188	(1)
Theological Implications for Human Nature and Cosmology	189	(4)
Atheistic Worldview	190	(1)
Deistic, Pantheistic, and Panentheistic Worldviews	190	(1)
Theistic Worldview	190	(1)
Is There Life After Death?	191	(1)
The Sacred and the Secular	192	(1)
Doing Philosophy Speculating on Life After Death	193	(1)
Summary	193	(1)
For Further Thought	194	(2)
For Further Exploration	196	(2)
For Further Research	198	(1)
Notes	198	(3)
PART TWO How Am I to Understand the World?
Questions of Epistemology	201	(1)
Historical Interlude C From the Medieval to the Modern World	202	(9)
Knowledge Sources	211	(43)
Do You See What I See?
The Issue Defined	211	(1)
The Peoples of the Americas: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz	212	(1)
The Rationalist Approach of Rene Descartes	213	(8)
The Use of Methodic Doubt to Examine Knowledge	213	(2)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Rene Descartes	215	(1)
How Philosophy Works Methodic Doubt (Zero-Based Epistemology)	216	(2)
Beyond Solipsism to Belief in a Material World	218	(1)
How Philosophy Works Circular Reasoning (Begging the Question)	219	(1)
Catholic Free Will in the ``Clockwork Universe'' of Science	220	(1)
The Mind-Body Problem	220	(1)
Responses to the Mind-Body Problem	221	(4)
Baruch (Benedictus) Spinoza	221	(1)
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Monads	222	(1)
Anne Finch, Viscountess Conway	223	(1)
The Akan of West Africa	224	(1)
The New Science Leads to Empiricism: Isaac Newton	224	(1)
British Empiricism	225	(9)
Creating a Mind-World Connection: John Locke	226	(2)
Reality as Mind Dependent: George Berkeley	228	(3)
Radical Skepticism: David Hume	231	(3)
Implications of Empiricism for Philosophy	234	(10)
Hume's Fork and Logical Positivism	235	(1)
Language Analysis and the Limits of Philosophy	236	(1)
Challenging the Myth of the Objective Observer	237	(1)
Broadening the Definition of Logic in Traditional Societies	238	(1)
How Philosophy Works Proverb as Method	239	(1)
Doing Philosophy Knowing How to Cure Malaria	240	(1)
Immanuel Kant	241	(2)
How Philosophy Works Before and After	243	(1)
The Knower and the Known	244	(3)
The Western Tradition	244	(1)
The Non-Western Tradition	245	(2)
Summary	247	(1)
For Further Thought	248	(2)
For Further Exploration	250	(1)
For Further Research	251	(1)
Notes	251	(3)
Truth Tests	254	(36)
Do You Swear to Tell the Truth...?
The Issue Defined	255	(1)
Truth Tests	256	(11)
Warrantability	256	(1)
How Philosophy Works Informal Fallacies---Part One	257	(3)
The Correspondence Test	260	(2)
The Coherence Test	262	(1)
The Pragmatic Test	263	(3)
The Ewe Creativity Test	266	(1)
Truth and the Really Real	267	(4)
Truth in Zen	267	(3)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Hadewijch of Antwerp (a mystical vision)	270	(1)
Truth in Religions of the Book	270	(1)
Truth in Science	271	(3)
The Nature of Paradigms	272	(1)
Truth Tests	273	(1)
Truth in History	274	(5)
The Changing Definition of History	275	(1)
Race, Class, and Gender in Historical Interpretation	275	(1)
Research Methods of Social History	276	(1)
Truth Tests	277	(2)
Truth in Texts: The Deconstruction Test of Truth	279	(3)
Doing Philosophy Deconstruction: Where Do We Stop?	280	(2)
The Elusive Nature of Truth	282	(2)
Truth and Time	282	(1)
Truth and ``Gut Feelings''	283	(1)
Summary	284	(1)
For Further Thought	285	(2)
For Further Exploration	287	(1)
For Further Research	288	(1)
Notes	288	(2)
Aesthetic Experience	290	(49)
Is Truth Beauty and Beauty Truth?
The Issue Defined	290	(2)
How Philosophy Works Informal Fallacies---Part Two	292	(1)
Functions of Art in Society	292	(9)
Art as Representation of Reality	293	(1)
The Role of the Artist in Western Society	294	(1)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Plato and Aristotle	295	(2)
The Role of the Artist in Asian Society	297	(2)
The Role of the Artist in African Society	299	(2)
Art and Beauty	301	(1)
Socrates and Diotima	301	(1)
Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder?	302	(1)
Truth and Beauty	303	(5)
Truth and Beauty in the West	304	(1)
Truth and Beauty in Asia	305	(3)
Truth and Beauty in Western Philosophy	308	(9)
Overcoming the Subject-Object Split: Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling	308	(2)
Escaping the Force of Will: Arthur Schopenhauer	310	(3)
The Merging of Dionysus and the Separation of Apollo: Friedrich Nietzsche	313	(2)
Truth as Unconcealment: Martin Heidegger	315	(2)
Art as a Vehicle for Seeing the World Differently	317	(5)
Impressionism	318	(1)
Doing Philosophy Artist as Philosopher	319	(1)
Cubism	319	(2)
Mining the Museum	321	(1)
Opening a Wider World	321	(1)
Summary	322	(2)
For Further Thought	324	(1)
For Further Exploration	325	(1)
For Further Research	326	(1)
Notes	326	(3)
PART THREE By What Values Shall I Live in the World?
Questions of Axiology	329	(1)
Historical Interlude D From the Modern to the Postmodern World	330	(9)
Political Philosophy	339	(39)
Is Big Brother Watching?
The Issue Defined	339	(2)
Theories of the Right to Rule	341	(14)
The Philosopher-King: Plato	342	(2)
How Philosophy Works The Hypothetical Chain Argument	344	(1)
Natural Law: The Stoics, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas	345	(3)
Social Contract Theory	348	(1)
Doing Philosophy The Fuzzy Social Contract	349	(4)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves John Locke	353	(2)
Natural Rights and Feminism	355	(4)
Gender Equality: Mary Wollstonecraft	355	(1)
``Declaration of Sentiments'': Elizabeth Cady Stanton	356	(2)
The Struggle for Suffrage: Susan B. Anthony	358	(1)
The Right to Govern	359	(8)
The Absolute: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel	360	(3)
The Mandate of Heaven: Rule in China	363	(2)
The Divine Right to Rule	365	(2)
Political Theory	367	(5)
Liberalism and Conservatism	367	(3)
American Constitutional Theory and Civil Rights	370	(1)
The U.S. Government and Human Rights	371	(1)
Summary	372	(2)
For Further Thought	374	(1)
For Further Exploration	375	(1)
For Further Research	375	(1)
Notes	375	(3)
Social Philosophy	378	(44)
Am I My Brother's or Sister's Keeper?
The Issue Defined	378	(3)
Doing Philosophy Freedom Versus Tradition	381	(1)
Classical Theories of Justice	381	(3)
Justice in the Polis: Plato	381	(2)
Molding Citizens for Society: Aristotle	383	(1)
Utilitarianism as a Means of Justice	384	(6)
Jeremy Bentham	385	(2)
John Stuart Mill	387	(1)
Harriet Taylor Mill	388	(2)
Justice Expressed as Fairness	390	(8)
The Alienation of Workers: Karl Marx	390	(2)
The Equal Liberty and Difference Principles: John Rawls	392	(3)
The Theory of Entitlement: Robert Nozick	395	(1)
Justice in Buganda	396	(2)
African-American Political Philosophy	398	(7)
Assimilation or Separatism?	398	(1)
How Philosophy Works The Disjunctive Syllogism	399	(2)
The Dilemma of Being Both an African and an American: W. E. B. Du Bois	401	(1)
The Nineteenth-Century Debate: Martin Delany and Frederick Douglass	402	(2)
A Twentieth-Century Approach: Cornel West, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.	404	(1)
Feminist Social Philosophy	405	(5)
Woman as the Other: Simone de Beauvoir	406	(2)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Mary Wollstonecraft	408	(1)
An Approach to Economic Independence: Charlotte Perkins Gilman	408	(1)
Women Redefining Difference: Audre Lorde	409	(1)
Communitarianism	410	(4)
Human Rights in a Communitarian Perspective: Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J.	410	(2)
The Ethics of Authenticity: Charles Taylor	412	(1)
A Covenanted Society	413	(1)
Communitarianism in Africa	413	(1)
Summary	414	(2)
For Further Thought	416	(2)
For Further Exploration	418	(1)
For Further Research	419	(1)
Notes	419	(3)
Ethics	422	(59)
What Will It Be: Truth or Consequences?
The Issue Defined	424	(2)
Western Ethical Theories	426	(12)
Consequentialist, or Teleological, Ethical Theories	426	(1)
Nonconsequentialist, or Deontological, Ethical Theories	427	(1)
Doing Philosophy Cultural Relativism: Has It Gone Too Far?	428	(1)
Philosophers Speak for Themselves Immanuel Kant	429	(1)
Natural Law Theory	430	(1)
How Philosophy Works Fuzzy Logic	431	(3)
The Interest View	434	(1)
Virtue Ethics	435	(3)
Asian and African Ethical Theories	438	(5)
Buddhist Ethics	439	(2)
African Ethical Theories	441	(2)
The Question of Human Freedom: How Much Do We Have?	443	(7)
Determinism	443	(1)
Existentialism: A Radical Concept of Freedom	444	(3)
Excusability	447	(1)
Radical Evil and the Question of Punishment	448	(2)
The Question of Human Freedom: How Much Should We Have?	450	(8)
The Human Genome Project, Cloning, and In Vitro Fertilization	450	(3)
Maternal Obligations to Fetuses	453	(1)
Our Obligations to One Another	454	(1)
Everyday Ethics	455	(2)
The Global Community	457	(1)
Environmental Ethics: Healing the Greek Division	458	(3)
Ecocentrism and Ecofeminism	460	(1)
Summary	461	(1)
For Further Thought	462	(2)
For Further Exploration	464	(2)
For Further Research	466	(1)
Notes	466	(3)
Historical Interlude E A Revolution in Philosophy?	469	(12)
Appendix	481	(4)
Glossary	485	(5)
Index	490