The Continuing Quest: Introductory Readings in Philosophy

by O'Meara, William M.; Sweigart, John W.; Thomas, William W. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9780840331212
• ISBN10: 0840331215
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-05-01
• Publisher: Kendall Hunt Pub Co

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Acknowledgements	vii
Prologue: The Beginning of the Quest	1	(1)
The Apology	2	(5)
Plato
I. THE SEARCH FOR THE SELF: What Does It Mean to Be Human?	7	(46)
Introduction	8	(2)
Egoistic Man	10	(5)
Thomas Hobbes
Rational Man	15	(10)
Plato
Existential Man	25	(7)
Jean-Paul Sartre
Social Man	32	(5)
Karl Marx
Determinism, Freedom, and Man	37	(7)
B.F. Skinner
Carl Rogers
Man Transcending	44	(9)
Friedrich Nietzsche
Questions for Discussion	47	(3)
Suggested Readings	50	(3)
II. THE SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE: What Can We Justifiably Claim to Know?	53	(32)
Introduction	54	(1)
Skepticism and Certainty	55	(5)
Rene Descartes
Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact	60	(3)
David Hume
Reason and Experience	63	(2)
Immanuel Kant
Pragmatism and Truth	65	(5)
William James
Knowledge, Error, and Probable Opinion	70	(4)
Bertrand Russell
Personal Knowledge	74	(11)
Michael Polanyi
Questions for Discussion	80	(2)
Suggested Readings	82	(3)
III. THE SEARCH FOR MORALITY: How Can We Determine What Is Morally Right?	85	(44)
Introduction	86	(1)
Ethical Relativity	87	(9)
W.T. Stace
The Golden Mean	96	(5)
Aristotle
Duty as the Foundation of Morals	101	(6)
Immanuel Kant
Greatest Happiness as the Fundamental Principle	107	(7)
John Stuart Mill
The Method of Experiential Intelligence	114	(6)
John Deway
The Meaning of Responsibility	120	(9)
H. Richard Niebuhr
Questions for Discussion	125	(2)
Suggested Readings	127	(2)
IV. THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY: What Does It Mean To Be Religious?	129	(50)
Introduction	130	(1)
God Exists---The Ontological Argument	131	(2)
St. Snselm
God Exists---The Five Arguments	133	(4)
St. Thomas Aquinas
Religion Versus the Religious	137	(9)
John Dewey
Religious Faith as Interpretation	146	(9)
John Hick
What Is Mysticism?	155	(12)
W.T. Stace
Is Life after Death Possible?	167	(12)
C.J. Ducasse
Questions for Discussion	175	(2)
Suggested Readings	177	(2)
V. THE SEARCH FOR REALITY: Can We Achieve a Sense Of the Whole?	179	(28)
Introduction	180	(1)
Vision of the Absurd	181	(3)
Albert Camus
The Vision of the Good	184	(3)
Plato
Naturalism Reconsidered	187	(9)
Ernest Nagel
True and False in Metaphysics	196	(11)
W.H. Walsh
Questions for Discussion	203	(2)
Suggested Readings	205	(2)
EPILOGUE---The Value of the Quest	207	(6)
The Value of Philosophy	208	(2)
Bertrand Russell
Phaedo (Death Scene)	210	(3)
Plato
Appendix
Philosophy as Critical Thinking	213
John Sweigart