Introducing Philosophy

by Robert C. Solomon; Kathleen M. Higgins; Clancy Martin

• ISBN13: 9780197773925
• ISBN10: 0197773923
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2024-03-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Academic US

Summary

Introducing Philosophy: A Text with Integrated Readings, Thirteenth Edition, is an exciting, accessible, and thorough introduction to the core questions of philosophy and the many ways in which they are, and have been, answered. The authors combine substantial selections from significant works in the history of philosophy with excerpts from current philosophy, clarifying the readings and providing context with their own detailed commentary and explanation. Spanning 2,500 years, the selections range from the oldest known fragments to cutting-edge contemporary essays. Organized topically, the chapters present alternative perspectives--including analytic, continental, feminist, and non-Western viewpoints--alongside the historical works of major Western philosophers.

DIGITAL LEARNING AND TEACHING TOOLS
Oxford Learning Link, accessible to adopting instructors, will provide a Test Bank with about thirty multiple-choice, ten essay/discussion, twenty true/false, and ten fill-in-the-blank questions per chapter; PowerPoint lecture outlines; an Instructor's Manual; and a glossary

A free, open-access Companion Website for students will include interactive flashcards of key terms from the text and self-quizzes with about fifteen multiple-choice, ten true/false, and five fill-in-the-blank questions per chapter

Author Biography

The late Robert C. Solomon was Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Business and Philosophy and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Kathleen M. Higgins is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.

Clancy Martin is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Table of Contents

*=New to this Edition

Philosopher Biographies
Preface
History of Philosophy

INTRODUCTION
*A. The Meaning of Life
*Viktor E. Frankl, from Man's Search for Meaning
*Albert Camus, from "The Myth of Sisyphus"
*Bertrand Russell, from "Impersonal Interests"
*Arindam Chakrabarti, from "Greed, Gadgets, or Guests"
B. Socrates
Plato, from Apology
Plato, from Crito
Plato, from Phaedo
Plato, from Republic
C. What Is Philosophy
Bertrand Russell, from The Problems of Philosophy
Plato, from Apology
Karl Jaspers, from "The Axial Period"
Laozi, from Dao De Jing
D. A Modern Approach to Philosophy
René Descartes, from Discourse on Method
E. A Brief Introduction to Logic
*Mary Astell, from "A Serious Proposal for the Ladies"
Key Terms
For Further Reading

Part One | The World and Beyond
CHAPTER 1 | REALITY
A. "The Way the World Really Is"
Aristotle, from Metaphysics
B. The First Greek Philosophers
C. Ultimate Reality in the East: India, Persia, and China
From Upanishads
From Zend-Avesta
From the Confucian Analects
Laozi, from Dao De Jing
Buddha (attributed), from "Fire-Sermon"
D. Two Kinds of Metaphysics: Plato and Aristotle
Plato, from Republic
Plato, from Meno
Aristotle, from Metaphysics
Aristotle, from Physics
Aristotle, from Metaphysics
E. Modern Metaphysics
René Descartes, on Substance from "Principles of Philosophy"
René Descartes, from "Meditation VI"
Benedictus de Spinoza, from Ethics
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from Monadology
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 2 | RELIGION
A. What Is Religion?
John Wisdom, from "Gods"
Albert Einstein, from "Religion and Science"
Keiji Nishitani, from "What Is Religion?"
B. Religion as a Way of Life
*Karen Armstrong, from The Great Transformation
*Roger T. Ames, from Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary
C. The Western Religions
D. Proving the Existence of God: The Ontological Argument
St. Anselm, from Proslogion
René Descartes, from "Meditation IV"
Immanuel Kant, from The Critique of Pure Reason
E. God as Creator: The Cosmological and Teleological Arguments
St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica
William Paley, from "The Teleological Argument"
St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica
David Hume, from Dialogues on Natural Religion
F. Other Reasons to Believe in God
Immanuel Kant, from The Critique of Practical Reason
William James, from "The Will to Believe"
Pascal's from Pensées
G. The Problem of Evil
St. Augustine, from Confessions
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, from The Brothers Karamazov
*Anthony B. Pinn, from Why, Lord?
From the Bhagavadgita
H. The Relation of Faith and Reason
*Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi, on Reason
Mohammad al-Ghazali, from The Deliverance from Error
Søren Kierkegaard, from Concluding Unscientific Postscript
Søren Kierkegaard, from Philosophical Fragments
Søren Kierkegaard, from Concluding Unscientific Postscript
I. Arguments against Religion and Theistic Responses
Karl Marx, from Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Antichrist
Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Gay Science
Sigmund Freud, from The Future of an Illusion
Alvin Plantinga, from Warranted Christian Belief
*Gustavo Gutiérrez, from A Theology of Liberation
J. Non-Traditional Conceptions of God and Religion
Mary Daly, from "The Qualitative Leap beyond Patriarchal Religion"
Paul Tillich, from "Symbols of Faith"
Robert C. Solomon, from Spirituality for the Skeptic
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 3 | TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE?
A. What Is Truth?
B. Theories of Truth?
Brand Blanshard, from The Nature of Thought
C. Distinguishing Reality from Appearance
Bertrand Russell, from The Problems of Philosophy
D. The Rationalist's Confidence: Descartes
René Descartes, from "Meditation I"
René Descartes, from "Meditation II"
René Descartes, from "Meditation VI"
E. Innate Ideas Concerning Human Understanding: John Locke
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from New Essays on Human Understanding
F. Two Empiricist Theories of Knowledge
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Bishop George Berkeley, from Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
G. The Congenial Skeptic: David Hume
David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
H. Kant's Revolution and the Issue of Relativism
Immanuel Kant, from The Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
I. The Analytic Turn
Bertrand Russell, from The Problems of Philosophy
W. V. O. Quine, from "Epistemology Naturalized"
J. Feminist Epistemology
Elizabeth Grosz, from Feminist Knowledge
Uma Narayan, from "The Project of Feminist Epistemology: Perspectives from a Non-Western Feminist"
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

Part Two | Know Thyself
CHAPTER 4 | MIND AND BODY
A. What Is Consciousness?
René Descartes, from "Meditation VI"
René Descartes, from "Meditation III"
B. The Problem of Dualism
René Descartes, from "The Passions of the Soul"
C. The Rejection of Dualism
Gilbert Ryle, from The Concept of Mind
J. J. C. Smart, from "Sensations and Brain Processes"
Jerome Shaffer, from Philosophy of Mind
David Braddon-Mitchell and Frank Jackson, from Philosophy of Mind and Cognition
John R. Searle, from Minds, Brains, and Science
*Jaegwon Kim, from "The Mind-Body Problem at Century's Turn"
D. The Problem of Consciousness
Sigmund Freud, from New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
Thomas Nagel, from Mortal Questions
E. Changing Our Minds: Holism and Consciousness
Aristotle, from De Anima
*Galen Strawson, from "Consciousness Isn't a Mystery. It's Matter."
F. The Politics of the Mind-Body Problem
Elizabeth V. Spelman, from "Woman as Body: Ancient and Contemporary Views"
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 5 | SELF
A. Consciousness and the Self: From Descartes to Kant
René Descartes, from "Meditation VI"
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature
Immanuel Kant, from Against the Soul as Substance
Meredith Michaels, from "Personal Identity"
Derek Parfit, from Reasons and Persons
B. Existentialism: Self-Identity and the Responsibility of Choice
Jean-Paul Sartre, from "Existentialism Is a Humanism"
Simone de Beauvoir, from The Second Sex
C. The Individual and the Community
Søren Kierkegaard, from Concluding Unscientific Postscript
David Reisman, from Individualism Reconsidered
Malcolm X, from "At the Audubon"
Sherry Ortner, from "Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?"
Dierdre McCloskey, from Crossing: A Memoir
D. One Self? Any Self? Questioning the Concept of Personal "Essence"
Hermann Hesse, from Steppenwolf
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 6 | FREEDOM
A. Fatalism and Predestination
Sophocles, from Oedipus the King
St. Augustine, from On Free Choice of the Will
Muhammad Iqbal, from The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
Jacqueline Trimier, On the Yoruba Ori from "African Philosophy"
B. Determinism and Liberty
Baron Paul Henri d'Holbach, from System of Nature
Daniel Dennett, from Elbow Room
Robert Kane, On Indeterminism
John Stuart Mill, from A System of Logic
David Hume, On Causation and Character
*Thomas Reid, from "The Liberty of Moral Agents"
Robert Kane, On "Wiggle Room"
Harry Frankfurt, from "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person"
C. Compulsion and Ignorance
Aristotle, On Voluntary Action
Judith Orr, "Sex, Ignorance, and Freedom"
John Hospers, from "What Means This Freedom?"
B. F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom
Robert Kane, Beyond Skinner
D. Freedom in Practice: Kant's Solution
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

Part Three | The Good and the Right
CHAPTER 7 | ETHICS
A. Morality
B. Is Morality Relative?
Gilbert Harman, from "Moral Relativism Defended"
St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Contra Gentiles
John Corvino, from Same Sex: Debating the Ethics, Science, and Culture of Homosexuality
C. Egoism and Altruism
Plato, from Republic
Tara Smith, from Viable Values
Mencius, from "Human Nature"
Xunzi, Human Nature Is Evil
Joseph Butler, from Sermons
D. Morality as Virtue: Aristotle
Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics
E. Morality and Sentiment: Hume and Rousseau
David Hume, from Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from Émile
F. Morality and Practical Reason: Kant
Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals
G. Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham, from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
H. The Creation of Morality: Nietzsche and Existentialism
Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Gay Science
Friedrich Nietzsche, from Beyond Good and Evil
*Friedrich Nietzsche, from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Jean-Paul Sartre, from Existentialism Is a Humanism
Simone de Beauvoir, from The Ethics of Ambiguity
I. Feminist Ethics and Care
Virginia Held, from "Feminist Transformations of Moral Theory"
*Eva Feder Kittay, from "The Ethics of Care, Dependence, and Disability"
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 8 | JUSTICE
A. Retributive and Distributive Justice
B. Two Ancient Theories of Justice: Plato and Aristotle
Plato, from Republic
Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics
C. Two Modern Theories of Justice: Hume and Mill on Utility and Rights
David Hume, from Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals.
John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
D. The Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from The Social Contract
Thomas Jefferson et al., from The Declaration of Independence
E. Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau, from "Resistance to Civil Government"
("Civil Disobedience")
Martin Luther King Jr., from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
F. Fairness and Entitlement
John Rawls, from "Justice as Fairness"
Robert Nozick, from Anarchy, State, and Utopia
John Locke, from The Second Treatise on Government
*Bernard R. Boxill, from "A Lockean Argument for Black Reparations"
G. Individual Rights and Freedom
Malcolm X, On Civil and Human Rights
John Stuart Mill, from On Liberty
Amartya Sen, from "Property and Hunger"
*Martha C. Nussbaum, from Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach
*Peter Singer, from Animal Liberation
H. Limitations of Rights-Based Conceptions of Justice
Annette C. Baier, from "The Need for More Than Justice"
*William E. Rees and Laura Westra, from "When Consumption Does Violence: From Consciousness to Responsibility"
*Ben Almassi, from "Climate Change and the Need for Intergenerational Reparative"
*Miranda Fricker, from "Testimonial Injustice"
María Lugones, from "Playfulness, 'World'-Traveling, and Loving Perception"
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

CHAPTER 9 | AESTHETICS
A. The Power of Beauty
Plato, from Symposium
B. Plato's Case against Imitative Art
Plato, from Republic X
C. How Good Art Is Made
*Aristotle, from Poetics
D. Puzzles about Art and Emotion
*Anna Christina Ribeiro, from "Heavenly Hurt"
*Catherine Wilson, from "Grief and the Poet"
E. Disputes about Taste
David Hume, from "Of the Standard of Taste"
Kendall L. Walton, from "Categories of Art"
F. Aesthetic Experience
G. Taste and Social Exclusion
*Monique Roelofs, from "Racialization as an Aesthetic Production"
H. The Nature of Art
*G.W.F. Hegel, from The Philosophy of Fine Art
*Arthur C. Danto, from "The Artworld"
I. Aesthetics in Everyday Life
*John Dewey, from Art as Experience
*Katya Mandoki, from "The Sense of Earthiness"
*Yuriko Saito, from "Living with Everyday Objects"
*Cheng Xiangzhan, from "Ecoaesthetics and Ecocriticism"
*Cheng Xiangzhan, from "Ecophilosophy and Ecoaesthetics: A Chinese Perspective"
Summary and Conclusion
Chapter Review Questions
Key Terms
For Further Reading

Glossary
Index