Presented in an engaging lecture-style format, this anthology leads readers through a series of discussions on the basic issues and ideas in philosophy, with lectures supported by related readings from historically important sources. The discussions emphasize the logic of philosophical arguments--and in particular, how they relate to the content of scientific theories such as evolution. This five-part book, made up of lectures and readings, covers an introduction to philosophy; the philosophy of religion; theory of knowledge; philosophy of mind; and ethics. For anyone looking for adequate answers to enduring questions.
(NOTE:
Each section concludes with Suggestions for Further Reading.)
I. INTRODUCTION. Lectures.
1. What Is Philosophy?
2. Deductive Arguments.
3. Inductive and Abductive Arguments.
II. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Lectures.
4. Aquinas' First Four Ways.
5. The Design Argument.
6. Evolution and Creationism.
7. Can Science Explain Everything?
8. The Ontological Argument.
9. Is the Existence of God Testable?
10. Pascal and Irrationality.
11. The Argument from Evil.
Readings.
Five Ways to Prove That God Exists, Saint Thomas Aquinas.
The Design Argument, William Paley.
Critique of the Design Argument, David Hume.
The Ontological Argument, Saint Anselm and Gaunilo.
The Will to Believe, William James.
The Meaninglessness of Religious Discourse, Alfred Jules Ayer.
Defending Atheism, Ernest Nagel.
III. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE. Lectures.
12. What Is Knowledge?
13. Descartes' Foundationalism.
14. The Reliability Theory of Knowledge.
15. Justified Belief and Hume's Problem of Induction.
16. Can Hume's Skepticism Be Refuted?
17. Beyond Foundationalism.
18. Introduction to Probability -- Bayes Theorem.
Readings.
Knowledge Is Something More than True Belief, Plato.
Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes.
Induction Cannot Be Rationally Justified, David Hume.
IV. PHILOSOPHY OF MIND. Lectures.
19. Dualism and the Mind/Body Problem.
20. Logical Behaviorism.
21. MethodologicalBehaviorism.
22. The Mind/Brain Identity Theory.
23. Functionalism.
24. Freedom, Determinism, and Causality.
25. A Menu of Positions on Free Will.
26. Compatibilism.
27. Psychological Egoism.
Readings.
Other Minds Are Known by Analogy from One's Own Case, Bertrand Russell.
Mental Processes Are Physical, J.J.C. Smart.
Of Liberty and Necessity, David Hume.
Has the Self “Free Will?” C.A. Campbell,
Determinism Rules out Freedom, B.F. Skinner.
V. ETHICS. Lectures.
28. Ethics–Normative and Meta.
29. The Is/Ought Gap and the Naturalistic Fallacy.
30. Observation and Explanation in Ethics.
31. Conventionalist Theories.
32. Utilitarianism.
33. Kant's Moral Theory.
34. Aristotle on the Good Life.
Readings.
Critique of the Divine Command Theory, Plato.
Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre.
Defense of Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill.
Ethics Founded on Reason, Immanuel Kant.
Morality and Human Nature, Aristotle.
Suggestions for Further Reading.
Glossary.
Index.