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In This Section:
I. Author Bio
II. Author Letter
I. Author Bio
Nils Ch. Rauhut studied philosophy and history at the University of Regensburg (Germany). He received an M.A. degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Washington in Seattle. He taught at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, and he is currently teaching at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.
Website: http://ww2.coastal.edu/nrauhut/
II. Author Letter
Dear Colleague,
I have taught Introduction to Philosophy in various class sizes and at various academic institutions for more than fifteen years. I enjoy it tremendously but I also know that teaching the course is challenging.
A genuine introduction to philosophy requires a conversation between us, the students, and the content. However, students are often reluctant to engage in genuine conversations about great ideas. Why think, argue, or speak in class if listening to lectures seems so much more convenient? My textbook, Ultimate Questions: Thinking about Philosophy 3e, is constructed to get students actively engaged in doing philosophy together with you in the classroom. More than 100 Food for Thought Exercises in the text are designed to generate lively classroom discussions and sharpen critical thinking. The exercises are designed to make the philosophy classroom more interactive and they help students realize whether they have grasped important concepts clearly.
My text does not presuppose that students already have a natural curiosity to think and talk about great philosophical questions. Instead, it is designed to awaken such curiosity by showing them how the great questions arise naturally in our ordinary ways of being. The book is an invitation for students to realize that the great questions of philosophy are invariably intertwined with the way all of us live every day. To study the great questions then, is ultimately an attempt to get to know ourselves.
Students read much less than we instructors hope. I have tried to write Ultimate Questions such that students are seduced into reading. I have tried to write clearly without oversimplifying any philosophical position or problem. My hope is that the book can provide for students partly what a lecture normally provides, so that instructors have more freedom to use class time for discussions, group work, role play or any other form of active learning.
I would be delighted to hear from anyone using this book in their classes, and would especially value any suggestions for improvement, my e-mail is nrauhut@coastal.edu.
Sincerely,
Nils Rauhut
Coastal Carolina University
Preface | p. xi |
What Is Philosophy? | p. 1 |
Making Sense of the World | p. 1 |
The Relationship Between Science and Philosophy | p. 6 |
The Main Branches of Philosophy | p. 10 |
Philosophical Tools | p. 15 |
Logical Consistency | p. 16 |
A Demand of Reason: Avoid Contradictions | p. 17 |
Logical Possibility | p. 19 |
Definitions | p. 20 |
Lexical vs. Real Definitions | p. 21 |
Challenging Definitions: Counterexamples and Thought Experiments | p. 23 |
The Basic Structure of Arguments | p. 25 |
Putting Arguments into Standard Form | p. 26 |
Deductive and Inductive Arguments | p. 28 |
Evaluating Deductive Arguments: Validity and Soundness | p. 30 |
Evaluating Deductive Arguments: Logical Form | p. 32 |
Evaluating Inductive Arguments: Probability | p. 35 |
What Do We Know? | p. 42 |
Why Knowledge Matters | p. 42 |
Searching for a Definition of Knowledge | p. 44 |
Three Different Theories of Knowledge | p. 47 |
Skepticism | p. 48 |
The Case for Skepticism | p. 48 |
Descartes' Quest for Certainty | p. 51 |
Empiricism | p. 57 |
The Case for Empiricism | p. 59 |
Problems with Perception | p. 60 |
The Problem of Induction | p. 65 |
Rationalism | p. 67 |
The Case for Rationalism | p. 70 |
Problems for Rationalism | p. 72 |
Final Remarks on Epistemology | p. 74 |
The Problem of Free Will | p. 77 |
Why Is There a Problem with Free Will? | p. 77 |
The Case for Hard Determinism | p. 82 |
Can Indeterminism Save Free Will? | p. 86 |
Compatibilism | p. 88 |
Traditional Compatibilism | p. 90 |
Deep Self-Compatibilism | p. 91 |
A Fundamental Problem for Compatibilism | p. 95 |
Libertarianism | p. 97 |
The Case for Libertarianism | p. 97 |
Problems for Libertarianism | p. 99 |
Final Remarks on the Problem of Free Will | p. 101 |
The Problem of Personal Identity | p. 104 |
What Is the Problem? | p. 104 |
The Illusion Theory | p. 110 |
The Case for the Illusion Theory | p. 110 |
Problems for the Illusion Theory | p. 112 |
The Body Theory, or Animalism | p. 113 |
The Case for the Body Theory | p. 113 |
Problems for the Body Theory | p. 115 |
The Soul Theory | p. 116 |
The Case for the Soul Theory | p. 116 |
Problems for the Soul Theory | p. 117 |
The Memory Theory | p. 118 |
The Case for the Memory Theory | p. 118 |
Problems for the Memory Theory | p. 119 |
Final Remarks on Personal Identity | p. 124 |
The Mind/Body Problem | p. 126 |
What Is the Problem? | p. 126 |
Possible Solutions to the Mind/Body Problem | p. 129 |
Substance Dualism | p. 131 |
Arguments for Substance Dualism | p. 132 |
Arguments Against Substance Dualism | p. 136 |
Varieties of Physicalism | p. 139 |
Behaviorism | p. 140 |
Logical Behaviorism | p. 141 |
Arguments Against Logical Behaviorism | p. 143 |
The Identity Theory | p. 144 |
Arguments Against the Identity Theory | p. 145 |
Functionalism | p. 146 |
Functional Concepts and ôStuffö Concepts | p. 146 |
Functionalism: Mind as Software | p. 147 |
Functionalism and Artificial Intelligence: The Turing Test | p. 147 |
Arguments Against Functionalism | p. 148 |
Eliminative Materialism | p. 152 |
Final Remarks on the Mind/Body Problem | p. 153 |
Does God Exist? | p. 156 |
God, Faith, and Reason | p. 156 |
What Do We Mean by the Word God? | p. 157 |
Arguments in Defense of Classical Theism | p. 161 |
Arguments from Religious Experiences | p. 161 |
The Cosmological Argument | p. 164 |
The Design Argument | p. 169 |
The Ontological Argument | p. 176 |
Pascal's Wager | p. 181 |
The Effect of These Arguments | p. 184 |
Arguments Against Classical Theism | p. 185 |
The Logical Problem of Evil | p. 186 |
The Evidential Problem of Evil | p. 189 |
Final Remarks on the Problem of God's Existence | p. 192 |
What Ought We to Do? | p. 197 |
Moral Intuitions and Moral Principles | p. 197 |
A Fundamental Challenge: Relativism | p. 199 |
The Case for Ethical Subjectivism | p. 200 |
Problems for Ethical Subjectivism | p. 202 |
The Case for Cultural Relativism | p. 203 |
Problems for Cultural Relativism | p. 204 |
Final Remarks on Cultural Relativism | p. 207 |
Some Important Ethical Theories | p. 208 |
Divine Command Theory | p. 209 |
Utilitarianism | p. 211 |
Duty-Based Theories | p. 220 |
Virtue-Based Theories | p. 226 |
Final Remarks on the Problem of Morality | p. 231 |
Credits | p. 234 |
Index | p. 235 |
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