Praised for its accessibility and comprehensiveness,
Philosophy: The Quest for Truth provides an excellent selection of classical and contemporary readings on nineteen key problems in philosophy. Louis Pojman has carefully organized the essays in each section so that they present pro/con dialogues that allow students to compare and contrast the philosophers' positions. Topics covered include the nature of philosophy, the existence of God, immortality, knowledge, the mind-body question, personal identity, free will and determinism, ethics, political philosophy, and the meaning of life. The fifth edition offers selections from Plato, René Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, William James, Bertrand Russell, John Hick, John Hospers, and James Rachels--as well as essays by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, Thomas Hobbes, George Berkeley, Immanuel Kant, Gilbert Ryle, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, Alvin Plantinga, and many others.
In Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, 5th edition, Pojman offers substantial introductions to each of the nineteen philosophical problems. In addition, each of the seventy-three readings is accompanied by an individual introduction with a biographical sketch of the philosopher, study questions, and reflective questions that challenge students to analyze and critique the material. Short bibliographies following each major section, an appendix on how to read and write philosophy papers, and a detailed glossary further enhance the text's pedagogical value. Invaluable for introductory courses in philosophy, this highly acclaimed text inspires and guides students' quest for wisdom.
The fifth edition adds new study questions and nine new articles:
* Father F. C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell: "A Debate on the Argument from Contingency"
* Corliss Lamont: "Freedom of the Will and Human Responsibility"
* Richard Taylor: "Fate"
* Louis Pojman: "A Critique of Ethical Egoism"
* Robert Paul Wolff: "In Defense of Anarchism"
* Brian Barry: "A Cosmopolitan Theory of International Society"
* Thomas Nagel: "The Absurd"
* Thurgood Marshall: "The Death Penalty Is a Denial of Human Dignity"
* Burton Leiser: "The Death Penalty Is Permissible"
Parts II-IX end with Suggestions for Further Reading I. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Introduction
1. Plato: Socratic Wisdom
2. Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy
Excursus: A Little Bit of Logic
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Abductive Reasoning
Some Applications
Fallacies of Reasoning
Suggestions for Further Reading
II. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Is Belief in God Rationally Justified? Arguments for the Existence of God
The Cosmological Argument
Pro
3. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways
Contra
4. Paul Edwards: A Critique of the Cosmological Argument
The Teleological Argument
Pro
5. William Paley: The Watch and the Watchmaker
Contra
6. David Hume: A Critique of the Teleological Argument
The Ontological Argument
Pro et contra
7. St. Anselm and Gaunilo: The Ontological Argument
Why Is There Evil?
8. Fyodor Dostoevski: Why Is There Evil?
9. B.C. Johnson: Why Doesn't God Intervene to Prevent Evil?
10. John HIck: There Is a Reason Why God Allows Evil
Is Faith Compatible with Reason?
11. Blaise Pascal: Yes, Faith is a Logical Bet
12. W.K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief
13. William James: The Will to Believe
14. Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell: A Debate on the Rationality of Religious Belief
15. Alvin Plantinga: Religious Belief Without Evidence
III. KNOWLEDGE
What Can We Know? Classical Theories of Knowledge
16. Rene Descartes: Cartesian Doubt and the Search for Foundational Knowlege
17. John Locke: The Empiricist Theory of Knowledge
18. George Berkeley: An Idealist Theory of Knowledge
19. David Hume: The Origin of Our Ideas and Skepticism about Causal Reasoning
Skeptisim: Can We Know Anything?
Contra
20. Keith Lehrer: Why Not Skepticism?
Pro
21. John Hospers: Argument Against Skepticism
Truth, Rationality, and Cognitive Relativism
22. Bertrand Russell: The Correspondence Theory of Truth
23. William James: The Pragmatic Theory of Truth
24. Richard Rorty: Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity
25. Margarita R. Levin: Upholding Truth: Objectivity versus Solidarity
IV. PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
What Am I? A Mind or a Body?
26. Rene Descartes: Dualist Interactionism
27. Gilbert Ryle: Exorcizing Descartes' "Ghost in the Machine"
28. J.P. Moreland: A Contemporary Defense of Dualism
29. Paul Churchland: On Functionalism and Materialism
30. Thomas Nagel: What Is It Like To Be a Bat?
Who Am I? Do We Have Personal Identity?
Pro
32. John Locke: Our Psychological Properties Define the Self
Contra
33. David Hume: We Have No Substantial Self with Which We Are Identical
34. Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey: Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue
Is there Life After Death? Am I Immortal?
Pro
35. Plato: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul
Contra
36. Paul Edwards: An Argument Against Survival: The Dependence of Consciousness on the Brain
Pro
37. John Hick: In Defense of Immortality
V. FREEDOM OF THE WILL AND DETERMINISM
Determinism (Sometimes called "Hard Determinism" )
Libertarianism
Compatibilism (How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too)
Contra
38. Baron D'Holbach: We Are Completely Determined
39. William James: The Dilemma of Determinism
Pro and contra
40. W.T. Stace: Compatibilism
Contra
41. John Hospers: A Psychoanalytic Defense of Hard Determinism
Pro
42. Richard Taylor: A Contemporary Defense of Free Will
VI. ETHICS
What is Ethics?
Are There Any Moral Absolutes or Is Morality Completely Relative?
43. Ruth Benedict: Morality is Relative
44. James Rachels: Morality Is Not Relative
Ethics and Egoism: Why Should We Be Moral?
45. Plato: Why Should I Be Moral? Gyges' Ring and Socrates' Dilemma
46. Ayn Rand: In Defense of Ethical Egoism
47. James Rachels: A Critique of Ethical Egoism
Which Is the Correct Ethical Theory?
48. Aristotle: The Ethics of Virtue
49. Immanuel Kant: The Moral Law
50. John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
51. William Frankena: A Reconciliation of Two Systems of Ethics
52. Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Ethics
53. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Ethics of Nobility
VII. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Why Should I Obey the Government? What Is the Justification of Political Authority?
54. Thomas Hobbes: The Absolutist Answer
55. John Locke: The Democratic Answer
56. John Stuart Mill: A Classical Liberal Answer: Government Must Promote Freedom
57. John Hospers: The Libertarian Answer
58. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Answer
59. John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer
VIII. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?
60. Epicurus: Moderate Hedonism
61. Epictetus: Stoicism: Enchiridion
62. Albert Camus: Life is Absurd
63. Lois Hope Walker: Religion Gives Meaning to Life
64. W.T. Stace: There is Meaning in Absurdity
65. Bertrand Russell: Reflections on Suffering
IX. PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION
Is Abortion Morally Permissible?
Contra
66. John T. Noonan, Jr.: Abortion is Not Morally Permissible
Pro
67. Mary Anne Warren: Abortion is Morally Permissible
Pro et Contra
68. Jane English: The Moderate Position: Beyond the Personhood Argument
Is the Death Penalty Morally Permissible?
Pro
69. Louis P. Pojman: Yes, the Death Penaltiy Is Morally Permissible
Contra
70. Hugo Adam Bedau: No, the Death Penalty Is Not Morally Permissible
Do Animals Have Rights?
Pro
71. Peter Singer: The Case for Animal Liberation
Contra
72. Carl Cohen: The Case Against Animal Rights
Is Affirmative Action Morally Justified?
Pro
73. Albert Mosley: The Case for Affirmative Action
Contra
74. Louis P. Pojman: The Case Against Strong Affirmative Action
Conclusion
75. John Locke: Of Enthusiam and the Quest to Truth
Appendix: How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper
Glossary