REASON AND RESPONSIBILITY: READINGS IN SOME BASIC PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY has a well-earned reputation for excellence, with a proven selection of high-quality readings that cover centuries of thought and wisdom and include all major issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and ethics. The book's clear organization structures selections so that readings complement each other guiding you through contrasting positions on key concepts in philosophy. Clear, concise introductions to each Part provide just the right amount of guidance, letting you learn primarily from the readings themselves.

This anthology contains readings illustrating some of philosophy's fundamental questions. Taken from both classical and contemporary sources, the selections include major works such as Descartes' Meditations and Plato's Crito as well as several recent articles written specifically for beginning students. Thirteen new articles have been added for this edition. A glossary of terms completes the volume. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Joel Feinberg (Professor Emeritus, late of University of Arizona) is recognized as a leading political and social philosopher. He was well known both as a leading scholar and as an excellent teacher. He published widely on moral issues such as capital punishment, the treatment of the mentally ill, civil disobedience, and environmental ethics. Before joining the University of Arizona faculty, he served on the faculties of Brown, Princeton, and Rockefeller Universities. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1987-88 to work in Japan. He was chairman of the National Board of Officers in the American Philosophical Association for three years in the mid-1980s.Russ Shafer-Landau received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he focuses on ethical theory and philosophy of the law.

JOEL FEINBERG (1926 & 2004): IN MEMORIAM PREFACE PART ONE: REASON AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF. THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD. Anselm of Canterbury, The Ontological Argument, from Proslogion. Gaunilo of MAarmoutiers, On Behalf of the Fool. William L. Rowe, The Ontological Argument . Saint Thomas Aquinas, The Five Ways, from Summa Theologica. Samuel Clarke, A Modern Formulation of the Cosmological Argument. William L. Rowe, The Cosmological Argument. William Paley, The Argument from Design. David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL. Fyodor Dostoevsky, Rebellion. J. L. Mackie, Evil and Omnipotence. George Schlesinger, The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Suffering. Richard Swinburne, Why God Allows Evil. B. C. Johnson, God and the Problem of Evil. REASON AND FAITH. W. K. Clifford, The Ethics of Belief. William James, The Will to Believe. Kelly James Clark, Without Evidence or Argument. Blaise Pascal, The Wager. Simon Blackburn, Miracles and Testimony. PART TWO: HUMAN KNOWLEDGE: ITS GROUNDS AND LIMITS. SKEPTICISM. John Pollock, A Brain in a Vat. Peter Unger, An Argument for Skepticism. Roderick M. Chisholm, The Problem of the Criterion. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD. Bertrand Russell, Appearance and Reality and the Existence of Matter. René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy. John Locke, The Causal Theory of Perception. George Berkeley, Of the Principles of Human Knowledge. Thomas Reid, Of the Existence of a Material World. G. E. Moore, Proof of an External World. THE METHODS OF SCIENCE. David Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Wesley C. Salmon, An Encounter with David Hume. Karl Popper, Science: Conjectures and Refutations. Philip Kitcher, Believing Where We Cannot Prove. PART THREE: MIND AND ITS PLACE IN NATURE. Brie Gertler, In Defense of Mind & Body Dualism. Frank Jackson, The Qualia Problem. Peter Carruthers, The Mind Is the Brain. Paul M. Churchland, Behaviorism, Materialism and Functionalism. CAN NON-HUMANS THINK? Alan Turing, Computing Machinery and Intelligence. John R. Searle, Minds, Brains, and Programs. William G. Lycan, Robots and Minds. Peter Carruthers, Brute Experience. John Searle, Animal Minds. PERSONAL IDENTITY AND THE SURVIVAL OF DEATH 365 John Locke, The Prince and the Cobbler. Thomas Reid, Of Mr. Lockes Account of Our Personal Identity. David Hume, The Self. Derek Parfit, Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons. Daniel C. Dennett, Where Am I? John Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. PART FOUR: DETERMINISM, FREE WILL, AND RESPONSIBILITY. COMPATIBILISM: THE CASE FOR DETERMINISM AND ITS COMPATIBILITY WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT SENSE OF FREE WILL. A. J. Ayer, Freedom and Necessity. Walter T. Stace, The Problem of Free Will. John Martin Fischer, My Compatibilism. LIBERTARIANISM: THE CASE FOR FREE WILL AND ITS INCOMPATIBILITY WITH DETERMINISM. Roderick M. Chisholm, Human Freedom and the Self. Robert Kane, Free Will: Ancient Dispute, New Themes. HARD DETERMINISM: THE CASE FOR DETERMINISM AND ITS INCOMPATIBILITY WITH ANY IMPORTANT SENSE OF FREE WILL. Paul Holbach, The Illusion of Free Will. Derk Pereboom, Why We Have No Free Will and Can Live Without It. FREEDOM AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY. James Rachels, The Debate over Free Will. Harry Frankfurt, Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility. Thomas Nagel, Moral Luck. Susan Wolf, Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility. PART FIVE: MORALITY AND ITS CRITICS CHALLENGES TO MORALITY. Joel Feinberg, Psychological Egoism. James Rachels, Ethical Egoism. Plato,The Immoralists Challenge. Friedrich Nietzsche, Master and Slave Morality. PROPOSED STANDARDS OF RIGHT CONDUCT. Russ Shafer-Landau, Ethical Subjectivism. Mary Midgley, Trying Out Ones New Sword. Aristotle, The Nature of Virtue, from Nicomachean Ethics. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan. John Rawls, Justice as Fairness. Philip L. Quinn, God and Morality. Immanuel Kant, The Good WillandThe Categorical Imperative. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism. W. D. Ross, What Makes Right Acts Right? ETHICAL PROBLEMS. Plato, Crito. Martha Nussbaum, Judging Other Cultures: The Case of Genital Mutilation. Peter Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Onora ONeill, Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems. John Harris, The Survival Lottery. James Rachels, Active and Passive Euthanasia. Peter Singer, All Animals Are Equal. GLOSSARY.