Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings, Third Edition, is a highly acclaimed, topically organized collection that covers five major areas of philosophy--theory of knowledge, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, freedom and determinism, and moral philosophy. Editor Louis P. Pojman enhances the text's topical organization by arranging the selections into a pro/con format to help students better understand opposing arguments. He also includes accessible introductions to each part, subsection, and individual reading, a unique feature for an anthology of this depth. While the book focuses on a compelling sampling of classical material--including selections from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant--it also incorporates some of philosophy's best twentieth-century and contemporary work, featuring articles by Bertrand Russell, Richard Taylor, John Searle, Thomas Nagel, and others.
This third edition contains an expanded glossary, more extensive section introductions, and twelve new selections:
Karl Popper: "Epistemology without a Knowing Subject"
Richard Rorty: "Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity"
Daniel Dennett: "Postmodernism and Truth"
Bruce Russell: "The Problem of Evil: Why is There So Much Suffering?"
David Chalmers: "Against Materialism: Can Consciousness Be Reductively Explained?"
Baron Paul Henri d'Holbach: "A Defense of Determinism"
Michael Levin: "A Compatibilist Defense of Moral Responsibility"
Plato: "Socratic Morality: Crito"
Herodotus: "Custom Is King"
J. L. Mackie: "The Subjectivity of Values"
Louis P. Pojman: "A Critique of Mackie's Theory of Moral Subjectivism"
Thomas Nagel: "Moral Luck"
The seventy-seven readings in this acclaimed topically organized collection cover five major areas of philosophy--philosophy of religion, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind, freedom and determinism, and ethics. Editor Louis P. Pojman enhances this topical organization by arranging the selections into a pro/con format to help readers better understand opposing arguments. He also includes comprehensive introductions to each chapter, subsection, and individual reading. The third edition features twelve new selections.
Preface
I. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Plato, Socratic Wisdom: The Trial of Socrates (from the Apology)
John Locke, Philosophy as the Love of Truth versus Enthusiasm
Bertrand Russell, The Value of Philosophy
II. THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
Plato, The Theory of Ideas and Doctrine of Recollection (from the Meno)
Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (complete)
John Locke, An Empiricist Theory of Knowledge (from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding)
George Berkeley, An Idealist Theory of Knowledge (from Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous)
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Immanuel Kant, The Copernican Revolution in Knowledge
John Maynard Smith, Science and Myth
Norman Malcolm, Two Types of Knowledge
Karl Popper, Epistemology without a Knowing Subject
Richard Rorty, Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity
Daniel Dennett, Postmodernism and Truth
III. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
A. Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God
Saint Thomas Aquinas, The Five Ways
Samuel Clarke, The Argument from Contingency
F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell, A Debate on The Argument from Contingency
William Paley, The Watch and the Watchmaker
David Hume, A Critique of the Teleological Argument
Anselm versus Gaunilo, The Ontological Argument
F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell, A Debate on The Argument from Religious Experience
C.D. Broad, The Argument from Religious Experience
B. The Problem of Evil
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Why Is There Evil?
Bruce Russell, The Problem of Evil: Why Is There So Much Suffering?
Richard Swinburne, A Theistic Response to the Problem of Evil
C. Faith and Reason
Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell, A Debate on Rationality and Religious Belief
Blaise Pascal, Faith Is a Rational Wager
W.K. Clifford, The Ethics of Belief
William James, The Will to Believe
Alvin Plantinga, Religious Belief without Evidence
IV. PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
A. The Mind-Body Problem
Rene Descartes, Dualism
Jerome Shaffer, Consciousness and the Mind-Body Problem
Paul Churchland, A Critique of Dualism
Paul Churchland, On Functionalism and Materialism
Thomas Nagel, What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
David Chalmers, Against Materialism: Can Consciousness Be Reductively Explained?
John Searle, Minds, Brains, and Computers
B. Who Am I? The Problem of Personal Identity
John Locke, Our Psychological Properties Define the Self
David Hume, We Have No Substantial Self with Which We Are Identical
Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey, Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue
C. Personal Identity and Survival: Will I Survive My Death?
Plato, Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul (from the Phaedo)
Bertrand Russell, The Illusion of Immortality
John Hick, In Defense of Life after Death
V. FREEDOM OF THE WILL, RESPONSIBILITY, AND PUNISHMENT
A. Free Will and Determinism
Baron Paul Henri d'Holbach, A Defense of Determinism
Richard Taylor, Libertarianism: Defense of Free Will
W.T. Stace, Compatibilism: Free Will Is Consistent with Determinism
John Hospers, Determinism: Free Will and Psychoanalysis
Harry Frankfurt, Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
B. Moral Responsibility
Aristotle, Voluntary Action and Responsibility
Galen Strawson, The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility
Michael Levin, A Compatibilist Defense of Moral Responsibility
Lois Hope Walker, A Libertarian Defense of Moral Responsibility
C. Punishment
Immanuel Kant, The Right to Punish: Retributivism
Jonathan Glover, Utilitarianism and Punishment
Karl Menninger, The Crime of Punishment: The Humanitarian Theory
C.S. Lewis, Against the Humanitarian Theory of Rehabilitation
John Rawls, Two Concepts of Punishment
VI. MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Plato, Socratic Morality: Crito
A. Moral Relativism
Herodotus, Custom Is King
Ruth Benedict, In Defense of Moral Relativism
Louis P. Pojman, Ethical Relativism versus Ethical Objectivism
J.L. Mackie, The Subjectivity of Values
Louis P. Pojman, A Critique of Mackie's Theory of Moral Subjectivism
B. Morality and Self-Interest
Plato, Gyges' Ring, or Is the Good Good for You?
James Rachels, Ethical Egoism
J.L. Mackie, The Law of the Jungle: Moral Alternatives and Principles of Evolution
C. Religion and Ethics
Plato, The Divine Command Theory of Ethics
Bertrand Russell, A Free Man's Worship
George Mavrodes, Religion and the Queerness of Morality
Kai Nielsen, Ethics without Religion
D. Which Moral Theory Is Correct?
Aristotle, The Ethics of Virtue
Thomas Hobbes, Contractualism
John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism
Immanuel Kant, The Moral Law
E. Challenges to Traditional Moral Theories
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
William Gass, The Case of the Obliging Stranger
Thomas Nagel, Moral Luck
Appendix I. How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper
Appendix II. A Little Bit of Logic
Glossary
Suggestions for Further Readings