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Big Questions : A Short Introduction to Philosophy

ISBN: 9780534625504 | 0534625509
Edition: 7th
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Cengage High School
Pub. Date: 2/11/2005

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SummaryTable of Contents
Written by well-known and respected philosophy teacher Robert C. Solomon, this best-selling Introduction to Philosophy text has a student-friendly style and organization. All of philosophy?s central topics are arranged under big questions, with each chapter's discussion self-contained so instructors can choose which, and in what order, topics are presented. The writing style is concise and accessible, and coverage is comprehensive without being intimidating.
It's time for an introduction to philosophy textbook that... MORE
Prefacexiii
Introduction Doing Philosophy3(24)
Beyond Buzzwords
4(1)
... MORE
Articulation and Argument: Two Crucial Features of Philosophy
5(3)
Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks
8(7)
Doing Philosophy with Style
13(2)
A Little Logic
15(12)
Deduction
16(1)
Induction
17(3)
Criticizing Arguments
20(4)
Closing Questions
24(1)
Suggested Readings
25(2)
Chapter 1 Philosophical Questions27(16)
Philosophical Questions
28(1)
Opening Questions
29(12)
Suggested Readings
41(2)
Chapter 2 The Meaning of Life43(22)
Opening Questions
43(1)
The Meaning of Meaning
44(6)
Children as Meaning
46(1)
God as Meaning
46(1)
Afterlife as Meaning
47(1)
No Meaning at All
47(3)
The Meanings of Life
50(12)
Life as a Game
51(1)
Life as a Story
51(1)
Life as Tragedy
52(1)
Life as Comedy
52(2)
Life as a Mission
54(1)
Life as Art
54(1)
Life as an Adventure
55(1)
Life as Disease
56(1)
Life as Desire
57(1)
Life as Nirvana
57(1)
Life as Altruism
58(1)
Life as Honor
58(1)
Life as Learning
59(1)
Life as Suffering
60(1)
Life as an Investment
61(1)
Life as Relationships
61(1)
Closing Questions
62(1)
Suggested Readings
63(2)
Chapter 3 God65(42)
Opening Questions
65(1)
Believing in God
66(3)
Gods and Goddesses
69(1)
The Traditional Western Conceptions of God
70(11)
God as Transcendent
73(1)
God as Immanent
74(1)
God as Totally Immanent: Pantheism
75(2)
God as Universal Spirit
77(1)
God as Process
78(1)
God as Transcendent Creator: Deism
79(1)
God as the Unknown Object of Faith
80(1)
God as a Moral Being
81(1)
The Problem of Evil
81(6)
Denial of God
82(1)
Two Kinds of Evil
82(1)
Denial of Evil
83(1)
The Least of the Evils
84(1)
The Aesthetic Totality Solution
85(1)
The Free-Will Solution
85(1)
Justice in the Afterlife
86(1)
God's "Mysterious Ways"
86(1)
Working Out an Answer
87(1)
Faith and Reason: Ways of Believing
87(11)
The Cosmological Argument
89(1)
The Argument from Design
90(1)
The Ontological Argument
91(1)
Rational Faith
92(2)
Pascal's Wager
94(2)
Irrational Faith
96(2)
Religious Tolerance: Ritual, Tradition, and Spirituality
98(3)
Doubts
101(2)
Closing Questions
103(1)
Suggested Readings
104(3)
Chapter 4 The Nature of Reality107(38)
Opening Questions
107(1)
The Real World
108(2)
What Is Most Real?
110(4)
The Reality Behind the Appearances
111(1)
Dreams, Sensations, and Reason: What Is Real?
112(1)
The Basis of Metaphysics
113(1)
The First Metaphysicians
114(3)
Thales
114(1)
The Pre-Socratic Materialists
114(3)
Early Nonphysical Views of Reality
117(3)
Plato's Forms
120(2)
Aristotle's Metaphysics
122(2)
Mind and Metaphysics
124(6)
René Descartes
125(1)
Baruch Spinoza
126(3)
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
129(1)
Idealism
130(6)
Teleology
136(3)
Metaphysics and the Everyday World
139(2)
Closing Questions
141(1)
Suggested Readings
142(3)
Chapter 5 The Search for Truth145(38)
Opening Questions
145(1)
What Is True?
145(2)
Two Kinds of Truth
147(4)
Empirical Truth
147(1)
Necessary Truth
148(3)
Rationalism and Empiricism
151(2)
The Presuppositions of Knowledge
153(2)
Skepticism
155(8)
René Descartes and the Method of Doubt
157(2)
David Hume's Skepticism
159(3)
The Resolution of Skepticism: Immanuel Kant
162(1)
Knowledge, Truth, and Science
163(5)
The Nature of Truth
168(4)
The Coherence Theory of Truth
170(1)
The Pragmatic Theory of Truth
171(1)
Rationality
172(3)
Why Be Rational?
174(1)
Subjective Truth and the Problem of Relativism
175(5)
Closing Questions
180(1)
Suggested Readings
181(2)
Chapter 6 Self183(34)
Opening Questions
183(1)
The Essential Self
184(2)
Self as Body, Self as Consciousness
186(10)
The Self and Its Emotions
190(3)
The Egocentric Predicament
193(3)
The Mind-Body Problem
196(2)
Behaviorism
198(16)
Identity Theory
198(2)
Functionalism
200(2)
The Self as a Choice
202(4)
No Self, Many Selves
206(2)
The Self as Social
208(3)
Self and Relationships
211(3)
Closing Questions
214(1)
Suggested Readings
215(2)
Chapter 7 Freedom217(26)
Opening Questions
217(1)
Freedom and the Good Life
218(9)
Why Is Freedom So Important to Us?
219(3)
What Is Freedom?
222(5)
Free Will and Determinism
227(13)
Determinism Versus Indeterminism
230(4)
The Role of Consciousness
234(1)
Soft Determinism
235(2)
In Defense of Freedom
237(3)
Closing Questions
240(1)
Suggested Readings
240(3)
Chapter 8 Morality and the Good Life243(34)
Opening Questions
243(2)
The Good Life
245(8)
Hedonism
245(2)
Success
247(2)
Asceticism
249(1)
Freedom
249(1)
Power and Creativity
250(1)
Religion
250(1)
Happiness
251(2)
Egoism Versus Altruism
253(5)
Morality and Theories of Morality
258(3)
Duty-Defined Morality
261(3)
Immanuel Kant and the Authority of Reason
261(3)
Consequentialist Theories
264(3)
Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
264(3)
Aristotle and the Ethics of Virtue
267(1)
Morality-Relative or Absolute?
268(3)
Friedrich Nietzsche and the Attack on Morality
271(3)
Closing Questions
274(1)
Suggested Readings
275(2)
Chapter 9 Justice and the Good Society277(24)
Opening Questions
277(1)
Morals and Society
278(1)
The Nature of Society
279(1)
Who Should Rule? The Question of Legitimacy
280(3)
Anarchism, the Free Market, and the Need for Government
283(3)
What Is Justice?
286(3)
The Meaning of Equality
289(3)
The Origins of Justice and the Social Contract
292(3)
Rights and the Notion of the Self
295(2)
Libertarianism
296(1)
Liberalism
296(1)
Communitarianism
297(1)
Closing Questions
297(1)
Suggested Readings
298(3)
Chapter 10 Philosophy, Sex, Race, and Culture301(36)
Opening Questions
301(1)
Expanding the Philosophical Canon
302(3)
Beyond the Western Tradition
305(1)
Other Cultures, Other Philosophies
306(17)
South Asian Philosophy
308(5)
East Asian Philosophy
313(3)
The Middle East
316(1)
Hispanic Philosophy
317(3)
Native American and African Philosophy
320(3)
Sexual Politics: The Rise of Feminist Philosophy
323(8)
Women and Nature
326(2)
Plato: Patriarch or Early Feminist?
328(1)
Reason Versus Passion in Ethics: The Ethics of Care
329(2)
Feminist Epistemology and Feminist Science
331(1)
The Revival of African American Philosophy
331(3)
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
332(2)
Closing Questions
334(1)
Suggested Readings
334(3)
Chapter 11 Beauty337(18)
Opening Questions
337(1)
Beauty and Truth
338(3)
Enjoying Tragedy
341(2)
Arguing About Taste
343(3)
Art, Ethics, and Religion
346(2)
The Aesthetics of Popular Culture and Everyday Life
348(4)
Closing Questions
352(1)
Suggested Readings
353(2)
Appendix A Writing Philosophy355(22)
Opening Questions
355(1)
The Rules of Good Writing in Philosophy
356(12)
Organize
356(1)
Write Simply
357(1)
Be Clear
358(1)
Be Human
359(1)
Use Examples
360(2)
Argue Your Point
362(3)
Consider the Objections and Alternatives
365(1)
Define Your Specialized Terms
366(1)
Use the History of Philosophy
367(1)
Indirect Styles
368(15)
Dialogue Style
368(4)
Ironic Style
372(2)
Aphoristic Style
374(3)
Appendix B Deductive Logic Valid Argument Forms377(6)
Appendix C Common Informal Fallacies383(6)
Informal Fallacies
383(6)
Glossary389(16)
Index405

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