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 P. 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 sixth 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, Alvin Plantinga, and many others.
In Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, Sixth Edition, Pojman offers substantial introductions to each of the nineteen philosophical problems. In addition, each of the seventy-six 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 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.
New to the Sixth Edition::
* Six selections:
William Lane Craig: The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the Anthropic Principle
William Rowe: An Analysis of the Ontological Argument
Daniel Dennett: Postmodernism and Truth
William James: The Dilemma of Determinism
Harry Frankfurt: Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer
* More exercises in the excursus on logic
* New to this edition
Each Part opens with an Introduction and ends with Suggestions for Further Reading.
Preface
I. WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
1. Plato: Socratic Wisdom
2. John Locke: Of Enthusiasm and the Quest for Truth
3. Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy
Excursus: A Little Bit of Logic
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Abductive Reasoning
Some Applications
Fallacies of Reasoning
Logic Exercises
II. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
II.A. Is Belief in God Rationally Justified? Arguments for the Existence of God
The Cosmological Argument
Pro
4. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways
* 5. William Lane Craig: The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the Anthropic Principle
Contra
6. Paul Edwards: A Critique of the Cosmological Argument
The Teleological Argument
Pro
7. William Paley: The Watch and the Watchmaker
Contra
8. David Hume: A Critique of the Teleological Argument
The Ontological Argument
Pro et Contra
9. St. Anselm and Gaunilo: The Ontological Argument
* 10. William Rowe: An Analysis of the Ontological Argument
II.B. Why Is There Evil?
11. Fyodor Dostoevsky: Why Is There Evil?
12. B.C. Johnson: Why Doesn't God Intervene to Prevent Evil?
13. John Hick: There Is a Reason Why God Allows Evil
II.C. Is Faith Compatible with Reason?
14. Blaise Pascal: Yes, Faith Is a Logical Bet
15. W.K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief
16. William James: The Will to Believe
17. Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell: A Debate on the Rationality of Religious Belief
18. Alvin Plantinga: Religious Belief Without Evidence
III. KNOWLEDGE
III.A. What Can We Know? Classical Theories of Knowledge
19. Rene Descartes: Cartesian Doubt and the Search for Foundational Knowledge
20. John Locke: The Empiricist Theory of Knowledge
21. George Berkeley: An Idealist Theory of Knowledge
22. David Hume: The Origin of Our Ideas and Skepticism about Causal Reasoning
23. John Hospers: An Argument Against Skepticism
III.B. Truth, Rationality, and Cognitive Relativism
24. Bertrand Russell: The Correspondence Theory of Truth
25. William James: The Pragmatic Theory of Truth
26. Richard Rorty: Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity
* 27. Daniel Dennett: Postmodernism and Truth
IV. PHILOSOPHY OF MIND: THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
IV.A. What Am I? A Mind or a Body?
28. Rene Descartes: Dualistic Interactionism
29. Gilbert Ryle: Exorcising Descartes' "Ghost in the Machine"
30. J.P. Moreland: A Contemporary Defense of Dualism
31. Paul Churchland: On Functionalism and Materialism
32. Thomas Nagel: What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
33. John Searle: Minds, Brains, and Computers
IV.B. Who Am I? Do We Have Personal Identity?
34. John Locke: Our Psychological Properties Define the Self
35. David Hume: We Have No Substantial Self with Which We Are Identical
36. Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey: Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue
IV.C. Is There Life after Death? Am I Immortal?
37. Plato: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul
38. Paul Edwards: An Argument Against Survival: The Dependence of Consciousness on the Brain
39. John Hick: In Defense of Immortality
V. FREEDOM OF THE WILL AND DETERMINISM
Contra
40. Baron d'Holbach: We Are Completely Determined
Pro
* 41. William James: The Dilemma of Determinism
42. Corliss Lamont: Freedom of the Will and Human Responsibility
Pro et Contra
43. W.T. Stace: Compatibilism
* 44. Harry Frankfurt: Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
Contra
45. Richard Taylor: Fate
VI. ETHICS
VI.A. Are There Any Moral Absolutes or Is Morality Completely Relative?
46. Ruth Benedict: Morality Is Relative
47. James Rachels: Morality Is Not Relative
VI.B. Ethics and Egoism: Why Should We Be Moral?
48. Plato: Why Should I Be Moral?: Gyges' Ring and Socrates' Dilemma
49. Ayn Rand: In Defense of Ethical Egoism
50. Louis P. Pojman: A Critique of Ethical Egoism
VI.C. Which Is the Correct Ethical Theory?
51. Aristotle: The Ethics of Virtue
52. Immanuel Kant: The Moral Law
53. John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
54. Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Ethics
VII. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
55. Robert Paul Wolff: In Defense of Anarchism
56. Thomas Hobbes: The Absolutist Answer
57. John Locke: The Democratic Answer
58. John Stuart Mill: A Classical Liberal Answer
59. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Answer
* 60. John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer
VIII. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?
61. Epicurus: Moderate Hedonism
62. Epictetus: Stoicism
63. Albert Camus: Life is Absurd
64. Lois Hope Walker: Religion Gives Meaning to Life
65. Thomas Nagel: The Absurd
66. Bertrand Russell: Reflections on Suffering
IX. PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION
IX.A. Is Abortion Morally Permissible?
Contra
67. John T. Noonan, Jr.: Abortion Is Not Morally Permissible
Pro
68. Mary Anne Warren: Abortion Is Morally Permissible
Pro et Contra
69. Jane English: The Moderate Position
IX.B. Is the Death Penalty Morally Permissible?
Contra
70. Thurgood Marshall: The Death Penalty Is a Denial of Human Dignity
Pro
71. Burton Leiser: The Death Penalty Is Permissible
Contra
72. Hugo Adam Bedau: No, the Death Penalty Is Not Morally Permissible
IX.C. Do Animals Have Rights?
Pro
73. Peter Singer: The Case for Animal Liberation
Contra
74. Carl Cohen: The Case Against Animal Rights
IX.D. Is Affirmative Action Morally Justified?
Pro
75. Albert Mosley: The Case for Affirmative Action
Contra
76. Louis P. Pojman: The Case Against Affirmative Action
Appendix: How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper
Glossary