Philosophical Dilemmas A Pro and Con Introduction to the Major Questions

by Washburn, Phil

• ISBN13: 9780195314649
• ISBN10: 0195314646
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

For Students with Little or no Background in the subject, the pursuit of philosophical knowledge can be a difficult and confusing enterprise. In order to formulate their own personal worldviews, students need to know how and where to begin, what choices they have, and why anyone would adopt one basic belief over another.

Author Biography

Phil Washburn is Master Teacher in the General Studies Program at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Third Edition	p. xvi
Preface	p. xvii
Historical Parallels	p. xx
Introduction	p. 1
God, Immortality, and Faith	p. 15
Does God Exist?	p. 16
Yes: Causal Theist. "In the Beginning"	p. 16
Critical Questions	p. 18
Yes: Design Theist. "Design or Chance?"	p. 19
Critical Questions	p. 22
No: Atheist. "The Retreat of the Gods"	p. 22
Critical Questions	p. 25
Methods and Techniques: Arguments	p. 25
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 26
Is God Like Human Beings?	p. 29
No: Abstractionist. "God Is Love"	p. 30
Critical Questions	p. 34
Yes: Personalist. "The Projection Theory"	p. 34
Critical Questions	p. 37
Methods and Techniques: Meanings of Words	p. 38
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 39
Can God Allow Innocent Suffering?	p. 41
No: Contradictor. "There Is No God"	p. 42
Critical Questions	p. 45
Yes: Reconciler. "Character and Contentment"	p. 45
Critical Questions	p. 48
Methods and Techniques: Consistent Beliefs	p. 48
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 49
Is the Soul Immortal?	p. 52
No: Mortalist. "Immortality"	p. 53
Critical Questions	p. 55
Yes: Survivor. "For and Against an Afterlife"	p. 55
Critical Questions	p. 58
Methods and Techniques: Facts and Concepts	p. 58
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 60
Is Faith an Answer?	p. 62
Yes: Believer. "Accepting Limits"	p. 63
Critical Questions	p. 67
No: Questioner. "Faith and Its Consequences"	p. 67
Critical Questions	p. 70
Methods and Techniques: Consequences	p. 71
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 73
Is Believing in God Necessary for a Meaningful Life?	p. 75
Yes: Meaning Theist. "The Meaning of Life Is the Submission to God"	p. 76
Critical Questions	p. 80
No: Existentialist. "The Myth of Ultimate Meaning"	p. 81
Critical Questions	p. 85
Methods and Techniques: Objectivity	p. 85
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 88
Current Controversy
Is Buddhism Philosophy?	p. 92
Yes: Buddhist. "The Philosophy of Buddhism"	p. 93
Critical Questions	p. 97
No: Specialist. "The Difference Between Religion and Philosophy"	p. 97
Critical Questions	p. 101
Methods and Techniques: Definitions	p. 101
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 103
Connections: Transcendentalist or Naturalist?	p. 107
Liberty, Equality, and Justice	p. 113
Is Society Based on a Contract?	p. 114
Yes: Contractor. "The Social Contract"	p. 115
Critical Questions	p. 117
No: Organicist. "The Social Organism"	p. 117
Critical Questions	p. 121
Methods and Techniques: Models	p. 121
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 124
Is Liberty the Highest Social Value?	p. 127
Yes: Libertarian. "Liberty, the Supreme Social Value"	p. 128
Critical Questions	p. 132
No: Paternalist. "Empty Phrases"	p. 133
Critical Questions	p. 136
Methods and Techniques: Goals	p. 136
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 137
Is Equality the Highest Social Value?	p. 141
Yes: Egalitarian. "Society and Property"	p. 141
Critical Questions	p. 145
No: Elitist. "What Elitists Believe"	p. 145
Critical Questions	p. 149
Methods and Techniques: Means and Ends	p. 149
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 150
Is Capitalism Just?	p. 153
Yes: Capitalist. "Capitalism, Democracy, and Justice"	p. 154
Critical Questions	p. 158
No: Socialist. "Capitalist Society"	p. 158
Critical Questions	p. 162
Methods and Techniques: Thinking and Emotion	p. 163
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 164
Should we Establish a World Government?	p. 168
Yes: Internationalist. "Choosing a Peaceful Future"	p. 169
Critical Questions	p. 173
No: Localist. "The Politics of World Government"	p. 173
Critical Questions	p. 177
Methods and Techniques: Comparing	p. 177
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 179
Current Controversy
Is Race Essential to Identity?	p. 182
Yes: Essentialist. "The Meaning of Being Black"	p. 183
Critical Questions	p. 187
No: Nonessentialist. "Race and Identity"	p. 187
Critical Questions	p. 192
Methods and Techniques: Identity	p. 193
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 194
Connections: Individualist or Relationist?	p. 198
Happiness, Obligations, and Values	p. 205
Is Pleasure the Only Value?	p. 206
Yes: Hedonist. "Hedonism"	p. 207
Critical Questions	p. 209
No: Pluralist. "A World of Values"	p. 210
Critical Questions	p. 215
Methods and Techniques: Facts and Values	p. 215
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 217
Can We Understand Happiness?	p. 221
Yes: Definer. "Happiness"	p. 222
Critical Questions	p. 224
No: Skeptic. "The Elusive Dream"	p. 225
Critical Questions	p. 227
Methods and Techniques: Essential Properties	p. 227
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 229
Is Morality Relative?	p. 231
Yes: Relativist. "Moral Relativism"	p. 232
Critical Questions	p. 236
No: Absolutist. "Right for You, Wrong for Me?"	p. 236
Critical Questions	p. 240
Methods and Techniques: Ad Hominem	p. 240
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 242
Is Happiness the Standard of Morality?	p. 244
Yes: Utilitarian. "Utilitarianism"	p. 245
Critical Questions	p. 250
No: Formalist. "The Principle of Morality"	p. 251
Critical Questions	p. 255
Methods and Techniques: Moral Theories	p. 256
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 257
Is Society the Source of Values?	p. 260
Yes: Functionalist. "An Objective Basis for Morality"	p. 261
Critical Questions	p. 263
No: Moral Theist. "The Current Crisis and Its Solution"	p. 263
Critical Questions	p. 266
Methods and Techniques: Necessary Conditions	p. 266
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 267
Current Controversy
Should Doctors Ever End People's Lives?	p. 270
No: Protector. "Having Reasons for Moral Decisions"	p. 271
Critical Questions	p. 276
Yes: Euthanizer. "The Complex Issue of Euthanasia"	p. 276
Critical Questions	p. 280
Methods and Techniques: Justification	p. 281
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 283
Connections: Humanist or Objectivist?	p. 287
Free Will, Mind, and Human Nature	p. 293
Are We Free?	p. 294
No: Hard Determinist. "One World, Not Two"	p. 294
Critical Questions	p. 297
Yes: Metaphysical Libertarian. "Free Will and Common Sense"	p. 297
Critical Questions	p. 299
Yes: Soft Determinist. "Verbal Disputes, Facts, and Free Will"	p. 300
Critical Questions	p. 303
Methods and Techniques: Introspection	p. 303
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 305
Are We Responsible for Our Actions?	p. 308
No: Excuser. "Rejecting Responsibility"	p. 309
Critical Questions	p. 311
Yes: Judge. "No Excuse"	p. 312
Critical Questions	p. 315
Methods and Techniques: Infinite Regress	p. 315
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 317
Is the Mind Nothing But the Brain?	p. 320
Yes: Materialist. "Body and Soul"	p. 321
Critical Questions	p. 323
No: Dualist. "The Inner Life"	p. 324
Critical Questions	p. 326
Methods and Techniques: Possible and Impossible	p. 327
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 328
Can Computers Think?	p. 331
Yes: Mechanist. "Can Computers Think?"	p. 332
Critical Questions	p. 335
No: Mentalist. "People vs. Machines"	p. 336
Critical Questions	p. 339
Methods and Techniques: Analogies	p. 339
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 340
Are We Always Selfish?	p. 343
Yes: Psychological Egoist. "No Free Lunch"	p. 344
Critical Questions	p. 346
No: Psychological Altruist. "Is Love Selfish?"	p. 347
Critical Questions	p. 349
Methods and Techniques: Generalizations	p. 349
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 351
Does Personal Identity Depend on Memory?	p. 354
Yes: Lockean. "The Binding Thread of Memory"	p. 355
Critical Questions	p. 359
No: Sartrean. "The Essential Self"	p. 359
Critical Questions	p. 364
Methods and Techniques: False Dilemma	p. 365
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 368
Current Controversy
Are the Differences Between Men and Women Philosophically Significant?	p. 372
No: Unifier. "Men, Women, and People"	p. 373
Critical Questions	p. 377
Yes: Complementer. "Who's Afraid of Difference?"	p. 377
Critical Questions	p. 382
Methods and Techniques: Classification	p. 383
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 385
Connections: Reductionist or Spiritualist?	p. 389
Knowledge, Science, and Truth	p. 397
Can We Know About the External World?	p. 398
No: Internalist. "Knowledge of the External World"	p. 399
Critical Questions	p. 401
Yes: Perceiver. "The Limits of Ignorance"	p. 402
Critical Questions	p. 405
Methods and Techniques: Philosophy and Imagination	p. 405
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 406
Does Science Give Us Real Knowledge?	p. 409
Yes: Positivist. "Science as Knowledge"	p. 410
Critical Questions	p. 413
No: Romantic. "What Kind of Understanding?"	p. 414
Critical Questions	p. 416
Methods and Techniques: Making Assumptions	p. 416
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 418
Is Experience the Source of All Knowledge?	p. 421
Yes: Empiricist. "The Source of Knowledge"	p. 422
Critical Questions	p. 425
No: Rationalist. "The Strange Case of the Mathematician"	p. 426
Critical Questions	p. 429
Methods and Techniques: Analysis	p. 430
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 431
Is Certainty the Standard of Knowledge?	p. 434
Yes: Foundationalist. "Certainty"	p. 435
Critical Questions	p. 440
No: Pragmatist. "The Test of Knowledge"	p. 440
Critical Questions	p. 444
Methods and Techniques: Observation	p. 444
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 446
Current Controversy
Does Truth Exist?	p. 449
Yes: Representationalist. "True Beliefs and False Beliefs"	p. 451
Critical Questions	p. 454
No: Postmodernist. "Ten Theses on Language"	p. 454
Critical Questions	p. 458
Methods and Techniques: Proving a Negative	p. 458
Understanding the Dilemma	p. 459
Connections: Intuitionist or Externalist?	p. 463
How to Write an Essay	p. 469
Glossary of Contrasting Positions	p. 485
Index	p. 491
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