The Philosopher's Way Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas, Books a la Carte Edition

by Chaffee, John

• ISBN13: 9780205841165
• ISBN10: 0205841163
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Loose-leaf
• Copyright: 2010-05-25
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

The Philosopher's Way:Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas, 3/e, inspires students to think like a philosopher. Integrated readings, interspersed with commentary, guide students in their understanding of the topics, while critical thinking activities challenge students to go beyond their reading and explore the connections philosophy has on their everyday lives. Full-color visuals bring topics to life, and writing examples give students a foundation for their own philosophical exploration.

Author Biography

John Chaffee, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy at The City University of New York where he has developed a program in Philosophy and Critical Thinking which involves 25 faculty and 3,000 students annually. He is a nationally recognized figure in the area of critical thinking, having authored several leading books, many professional articles and conducted numerous conference presentations and workshops throughout the country. In developing programs to teach people to think more effectively in all academic subjects and areas of life, he has received grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Ford Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He was selected as New York Educator of the Year (1992) and received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Diversity in Teaching in Higher Education (1998).

Table of Contents

Preface
    
    1    What Is Philosophy?
Thinking Philosophically About Life     
1.1    Why Study Philosophy?    
1.2    Defining Philosophy     
Philosophy Is the Pursuit of Wisdom     
Philosophy Begins with Wonder     
Philosophy Is a Dynamic Process     
The Ultimate Aim of Philosophy     
1.3    Thinking Philosophically: Becoming a Critical Thinker     
Thinking Philosophically What Is Your Philosophy of Life?     
Qualities of a Critical Thinker     
The Process of Critical Thinking     
Thinking Philosophically Who Are Your Models of Critical Thinking?    
Thinking Philosophically Applying the Critical Thinking Model     
1.4    Understanding Arguments     
The Structure of Arguments     
Evaluating Arguments     
Deductive Arguments     
Inductive Arguments
Informal Fallacies     
Thinking Philosophically Evaluating Arguments     
1.5    Branches of Philosophy     
Metaphysics     
Thinking Philosophically Are You Willing to Question Your Beliefs?     
Epistemology     
Thinking Philosophically How Do You Know What Is True?     
Ethics     
Political and Social Philosophy     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Have a Moral Philosophy?    
Aesthetics     
1.6    Reading Critically: Working with Primary Sources     
-  Bertrand Russell, from “The Value of Philosophy”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Russell on the Value of Philosophy     
1.7    Making Connections: The Search for a Meaningful Life     
Thinking Philosophically What Do You Hope to Learn?     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     

    2    What Is the Philosopher’s Way?
Socrates and the Examined Life     
2.1    Socrates: A Model for Humanity     
A Man of Greece     
A Midwife of Ideas     
The Wisest of Men?     
-  Plato, from The Apology    
Reading Critically Analyzing Socrates on Wisdom and Humility     
2.2    The Socratic Method     
-   Plato, from The Republic     
Reading Critically Analyzing a Socratic Dialogue     
2.3    Socrates’ Central Concern: The Soul     
-  Plato, from The Apology     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Core Teachings of Socrates     
2.4    The Trial and Death of Socrates     
-  Plato, from The Apology     
Thinking Philosophically Countering Personal Attacks     
Reading Critically Analyzing Socrates on Trial     
2.5    Making Connections: Socrates’ Legacy     
Thinking Philosophically Is Socrates Relevant Today?     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     
Writing About Philosophy: A Socratic Dialogue     

    3    Who Are You?
Consciousness, Identity, and the Soul     
3.1    Know Thyself?     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Know Yourself?     
3.2    The Soul Is Immortal: From Socrates and Plato to Augustine     
Socrates and Plato on the Self    
-  Plato, from Phaedo     
Reading Critically Analyzing Socrates on the Self     
-   Plato, from Phaedrus, “The Chariot Analogy”     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Chariot Analogy     
A Feminist Critique of Plato’s View of the Self     
-   Elizabeth V. Spelman, from “Woman as Body”    
Reading Critically Analyzing Spelman’s Critique of Plato     
St. Augustine’s Synthesis of Plato and Christianity     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Believe in an Immortal Soul?     
3.3    Descartes’ Modern Perspective on the Self     
-   René Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy     
Thinking Philosophically Are You a Seeker After Truth?     Reading Critically Analyzing Descartes on the Mind/Body Problem    
3.4    The Self Is Consciousness: Locke     
-   John Locke, from “On Personal Identity”     
Thinking Philosophically Applying Locke’s Ideas     
Reading Critically Analyzing Locke on the Conscious Self     
3.5    There Is No Self: Hume     
-   David Hume, from “On Personal Identity”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Hume on the Absence of Self     
3.6    We Construct the Self: Kant     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Pure Reason     
Thinking Philosophically Sense, Perception, and Your Self     
Reading Critically Analyzing Kant’s Unity of Consciousness     
3.7    The Self Is Multilayered: Freud     
-   Sigmund Freud, from “An Outline of Psychoanalysis”     
Thinking Philosophically Looking for Evidence of Your Unconscious     
Reading Critically Analyzing Freud’s Ideas about Mind     
3.8    The Self Is Embodied Subjectivity: Husserl and Merleau-Ponty     
-   Marcel Proust, from In Search of Lost Time and Within a Budding Grave     
Thinking Philosophically Applying Phenomenology     
3.9    The Self Is the Brain: Materialism     
-   Paul Churchland, from “On Eliminative Materialism”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Churchland’s Materialism     
3.10    Buddhist Concepts of the Self     
-   Milindapanha, “The Simile of the Chariot”     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Buddhist Chariot Analogy     
3.11    Making Connections: In Search of the Self     
Thinking Philosophically What Is Your Concept of the Self?     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     
Writing About Philosophy: Defining the Self     

    4    Are You Free?
Freedom and Determinism     
4.1    Are You the Master of Your Fate?     
Thinking Philosophically What Are Your Assumptions About Freedom?
4.2    Determinism     
-   Baron d’Holbach, from The System of Nature     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Choose Freely?     
Reading Critically Analyzing d’Holbach on the Illusion of Freedom     
4.3    Compatibilism     
External Constraints May Limit Freedom: Stace     
-   W.T. Stace, from Religion and the Modern Mind     
Internal Constraints May Also Limit Freedom: Schlick     
Free Will Is a Human Creation: Dennett     
Reading Critically Evaluating Compatibilism     
4.4    Indeterminism and Libertarianism     
We Live in a World of Possibilities: James     
-   William James, from The Will to Believe     
Reading Critically Analyzing James on Free Will     
We Create Ourselves Through Our Choices: Sartre     
-   Jean-Paul Sartre, from Existentialism Is a Humanism     
Reading Critically Analyzing Sartre on Freedom, Choice, and Responsibility
4.5    A Feminist Analysis of Freedom     
-   Jean Grimshaw, from “Autonomy and Identity in Feminist Thinking”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Grimshaw on Autonomy     
4.6    Making Connections: Creating a Synthesis     
Overcoming Limitations to Your Freedom     
Confronting External Constraints     
Confronting Internal Constraints     
Thinking Philosophically What Are the Limitations to Your Freedom?     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     

    5    How Can We Know the Nature of Reality?
Philosophical Foundations     
5.1    What Is the Nature of Reality?     
Thinking Philosophically What Is Your Concept of Reality?     
5.2    Reality Is the Eternal Realm of the Forms: Plato     
The Divided Line     
The Theory of Innate Ideas     
-   Plato, from Meno     
Reading Critically Analyzing Plato’s Theory of Innate Ideas    
The Path to Knowledge of Reality: The Cave Allegory     
-   Plato, from The Republic     
Reading Critically Analyzing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave     
5.3    Reality Is the Natural World: Aristotle     
Aristotle’s Two Categories: Matter and Form     
Entelechy     
The Four Causes     
-   Aristotle, from Metaphysics     
Reading Critically Analyzing Aristotle’s Concept of Reality     
5.4    Can Reality Be Known? Descartes     
-   René Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy     
Reading Critically Analyzing Descartes’ Radical Doubt     
5.5    Making Connections: Your Beliefs About the World     
Thinking Philosophically Evaluating the Accuracy of Your Beliefs     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     
Writing About Philosophy: Analyzing Philosophical Themes in a Fictional Work     

    6    What Is Real? What Is True?
Further Explorations     
6.1    Questioning Independent Reality     
-   Bertrand Russell, from “Appearance and Reality”     
Reading Critically How Do You Know What Is “Real”?     
6.2    All Knowledge Comes from Experience: Locke     
Locke’s Critique of “Universality”     
-   John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding     
Leibniz’s Case Against Locke     
-   Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from New Essays Concerning Human Understanding     
Locke’s Causal Theory of Perception     
-   John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding     
Reading Critically Analyzing Locke’s Empirical View     
6.3    Reality Depends on Perception: Berkeley     
-   George Berkeley, from A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge     
Reading Critically Analyzing Berkeley’s Subjective Idealism     
6.4    Independent Reality Is an Illusion: Hume     
-   David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding     
Reading Critically Analyzing Hume’s Case for Skepticism     
6.5    We Constitute Our World: Kant     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics     
Hume’s Challenge to Philosophy     
Kant’s Solution: Transcendental Idealism     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Future Metaphysics and Critique of Pure Reason     
Two Realities: Phenomenal and Noumenal     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Pure Reason     
Reading Critically Analyzing Kant’s Synthesizing Project     
Applying Kant’s Theory     
-   Three Accounts of the Assassination of Malcolm X     
Reading Critically How Is Knowledge Constructed?     
6.6    Emotions Shape Our Understanding: Jaggar     
-   Allison Jaggar, from “Love and Knowledge: Emotion in Feminist Epistemology”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Jaggar on the Role of Emotions     
6.7    Making Connections: Developing Informed Beliefs     
Thinking Philosophically What Are the Limits to Your Knowledge?    
Chapter Review    
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     

    7    Is There a Spiritual Reality?
Exploring the Philosophy of Religion     
7.1    Thinking Philosophically about Religious Beliefs     
Thinking Philosophically What Are Your Religious Beliefs?     
7.2    What Is Religion?     
Ways of Defining Religion     
-   Frederick Streng, from “What Is Religion?”    
Reading Critically Analyzing Streng on Definitions of Religion     
God Is a Human Projection: Feuerbach     
-   Ludwig Feuerbach, from The Essence of Christianity    
Reading Critically Analyzing Feuerbach on Religion as Anthropomorphism     
Religion Is an Opiate: Marx     
-   Karl Marx, from “Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right”    
Reading Critically Analyzing Marx on Religion as an Illusion     
Religion Reflects Patriarchy: Daly     
-   Mary Daly, from “The Qualitative Leap Beyond Patriarchal Religion”    
Reading Critically Analyzing Daly on Patriarchal Religion    
Religion Is a Vital Quest: Nishitani     
-   Keiji Nishitani, from Religion and Nothingness     
Reading Critically Analyzing Nishitani on the Religious Quest     
7.3    The Question of Religious Diversity     
A Brief Survey of Major Religions     
Thinking Philosophically Expanding Your Religious Understanding     
Must There Be One True Religion?    
-   John Hick, from “Religious Pluralism and Salvation”    
Reading Critically Analyzing the Argument for Religious Plurality     
7.4    Does God Exist?     
The Ontological Argument     
-   St. Anselm and Gaunilo, The Ontological Argument     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Ontological Argument     
The Cosmological Argument     
-   St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Cosmological Argument     
The Argument from Gradations of Perfection     
The Argument from Design     
-   William Paley, from Natural Theology     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Argument from Design    
The Argument from Morality     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Practical Reason     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Argument from Morality     
7.5    The Problem of Evil     
-   John Hick, from Philosophy of Religion     
Reading Critically Analyzing Hick on the Problem of Evil     
7.6    Faith and Religious Experience     
Subjective Knowing: The Leap of Faith     
-   Søren Kierkegaard, from “The Leap of Faith and the Limits of Reason” and Concluding Unscientific Postscript    
Reading Critically Analyzing Kierkegaard on Faith and Reason     
Mystical States of Consciousness     
-   William James, from The Varieties of Religious Experience    
Reading Critically Analyzing James on Mysticism     
7.7    Making Connections: Reflections on the Philosophy of Religion     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     

    8    Are There Moral Truths?     
Thinking About Ethics
8.1    Your Moral Compass     
Ethics and Values     
Thinking Philosophically What Are Your Moral Values?     
Thinking Critically About Ethics     
Thinking Philosophically Making Moral Decisions     
8.2    Ethical Relativism     
Ethical Subjectivism: Each Person Decides What Is Morally Right     
Thinking Philosophically How Subjective Are Your Ethics?     
Cultural Relativism: Each Culture Determines What Is Morally Right     
-   Ruth Benedict, from “Anthropology and the Abnormal”     
Thinking Philosophically Cultural Relativism and Your Moral Perspective     
Reading Critically Analyzing Benedict on Culture and Values     
8.3    Ethical Absolutism: Some Moral Values Are Universal     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Believe in Universal Values?     
-   W.T. Stace, from The Concept of Morals     
Reading Critically Analyzing Stace’s Critique of Ethical Relativism     
8.4    Egoism as a Universal Principle     
Arguments for Egoism    
-   Plato, from The Republic, The Myth of Gyges     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Myth of Gyges     
-   Ayn Rand, from The Virtue of Selfishness     
Reading Critically Analyzing Rand on the Virtue of Selfishness     
Arguments against Egoism    
-   James Rachels, from “Egoism and Moral Skepticism”     
Reading Critically Analyzing Rachels’ Critique of Egoism     
8.5    Religion and Universal Values     
Divine Command Theory     
Thinking Philosophically Religion and Your Ethical Values     
-   The Story of Abraham and Isaac, from The Bible     
Natural Law Theory     
Thinking Philosophically Do You Believe in Natural Laws?     
-   Martin Luther King, Jr., from Letter from a Birmingham Jail     
Reading Critically Analyzing King on Universal Values     
8.6    Making Connections: On Becoming an Ethical Person     
-   Robert Coles, The Disparity Between Intellect and Character    
Thinking Philosophically Can Morality Be Learned in College?    
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     
Writing About Philosophy: Moral Issues in Multiculturalism     

    9    What Are Right Actions?
Constructing an Ethical Theory     
9.1    Expanding Your Knowledge of Moral Philosophy     
9.2: Virtue Ethics     
Thinking Philosophically What Is Your Moral Character?     
-   Aristotle, from The Nicomachean Ethics     
Reading Critically Analyzing Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics     
9.3    Maxims: Duty to Moral Laws     
-   Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals     
Thinking Philosophically The Categorical Imperative and Your Moral Compass     
Reading Critically Analyzing Kant on Duty and Reason     
9.4    Consequences: Utilitarianism     
The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number: Bentham     
-   Jeremy Bentham, from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation     
Thinking Philosophically Applying the Hedonistic Calculus     
Higher Pleasures Have Greater Worth: Mill     
-   John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism     
Reading Critically Analyzing Utilitarianism     
Consider the Interests of Animals: Singer     
-   Peter Singer, from Animal Liberation     
Reading Critically Analyzing Singer on Animal Rights     
9.5    Authenticity: Existentialist Ethics     
“The Crowd Is Untruth”: Kierkegaard    
-   Søren Kierkegaard, from On the Dedication to ‘That Single Individual’ and The Present Age    
Reading Critically Analyzing Kierkegaard on Authenticity     
Beyond Good and Evil: Nietzsche    
-   Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Gay Science and Beyond Good and Evil    
Reading Critically Analyzing Nietzsche on Morality     
Authenticity and Ethical Responsibility: Sartre    
-   Jean-Paul Sartre, from Existentialism Is a Humanism     
Reading Critically Analyzing Sartre on Moral Responsibility     
Our Interplay with Others Defines Us: de Beauvoir     
-   Simone de Beauvoir, from Ethics of Ambiguity     
Reading Critically Analyzing de Beauvoir on Moral Choices     
Courage Is the Highest Value: Camus     
-   Albert Camus, “The Myth of Sisyphus”     
Reading Critically Analyzing the Myth of Sisyphus     
9.6    Empathy: The Ethics of Care     
-   Nel Noddings, from “Caring: A Feminist Approach to Ethics and Moral Education”    
Reading Critically Analyzing Noddings on the Ethics of Care     
9.7    Making Connections: Your Moral Compass Revisited     
Thinking Philosophically Constructing an Ethical Theory     
Chapter Review     
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     

    10    What Is Social Justice?
Creating a Just State     
10.1    Elements of a Just Society     
Thinking Philosophically Examining Our Society     
10.2    Classical Theories of Society: Confucius, Plato, and Aristotle     
Society Should Be Based on Virtue: Confucius     
Reading Critically Analyzing Confucius on the Social Order     
Society Should Be Based on Function and Harmony: Plato    
-   Plato, from The Republic     
Reading Critically Analyzing Plato on Social Harmony     
Society Is the Natural State of Man: Aristotle     
-   Aristotle, from Politi    
Reading Critically Analyzing Aristotle on Community     
10.3    Justice Depends on a Social Contract: From Hobbes and Locke to Rawls     
We Need a Social Contract to Co-Exist: Hobbes     
-   Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan     
Reading Critically Analyzing Hobbes on the Social Contract    
The Social Contract Protects Natural Rights: Locke     
-   John Locke, from The Second Treatise of Government     
-   Thomas Jefferson, from The Declaration of Independence     
Reading Critically Analyzing Locke on Natural Rights    
The State of Nature: Assumptions and Questions     
The State of Nature Is a Conceptual Tool: Rawls     
-   John Rawls, from A Theory of Justice     
Thinking Philosophically Creating a Just Society     
Reading Critically Analyzing Rawls on Justice and Equality     
10.4    Justice Is Based on Need and Ability: Marx and Engels     
-   Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, from Manifesto of the Communist Party     
Reading Critically Analyzing Marx and Engels on Social Justice     
10.5    Justice Is What Promotes the General Welfare: Mill     
Thinking Philosophically Analyzing Mill’s Concept of Justice     
-   John Stuart Mill, from On Liberty     
Reading Critically Analyzing Mill on Liberty     
10.6    Justice Is What Promotes Gender Equality: Okin     
-   Susan Moller Okin, from Justice, Gender, and the Family     
Reading Critically Analyzing Okin on Gender Equality     
10.7    Making Connections: An Ideal Society     
Thinking Philosophically Your Ideal Society    
Chapter Review    
For Further Reading, Viewing, and Research     
Writing About Philosophy: Your Ideal Society     
Credits    
Index