Ultimate Questions Thinking about Philosophy

by Rauhut, Nils Ch.

• ISBN13: 9780205731978
• ISBN10: 020573197X
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780133851830, 9780321412980
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-09-05
• Publisher: Pearson
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

This inexpensive and brief text offers careful explanations of how problems are connected to our thinking about the universe, then uses vivid and engaging examples to further enhance this up-to-date examination of the main problems in contemporary philosophy. More than 100 "Food for Thought" exercises elicit reaction to philosophical problems, give readers a chance to test whether they have grasped important philosophical concepts, and offer opportunities for genuine conversations about philosophy.Readers interested in contemporary philosophy.

Author Biography

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 [e-mail].

 

Sincerely,

 

Nils Rauhut

 

Coastal Carolina University

Table of Contents

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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