Classic Philosophical Questions, Pearson New International Edition, 14th edition

Published by Pearson (1 November 2013) © 2014

  • Robert J. Mulvaney University of South Carolina
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Details

  • A print edition

Title overview

Classic and Contemporary Primary Source Readings. Classic Philosophical Questions has presented decades of students with the most compelling classic and contemporary primary source readings on the most enduring and abiding questions in philosophy.
Classic Philosophical Questions is a longstanding and highly respected anthology of basic readings in philosophy, taken from ancient, modern, and contemporary sources. Issues are treated in a fundamentally open manner with arguments pro and con for the various positions covered. All selections are taken from primary sources, with introductions and study guides to facilitate reading for the beginning student.

Teaching and Learning Experience

Personalize Learning - MySearchLab delivers proven results in helping students succeed, provides engaging experiences that personalize learning, and comes from a trusted partner with educational expertise and a deep commitment to helping students and instructors achieve their goals.

Improve Critical Thinking - Philosophical issues, "To Think About" questions and quotations, biographical sketches, and more, all help to encourage students to examine their assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence and assess their conclusions.

Engage Students - The selections within Classic Philosophical Questions contain explanatory introductions, study questions and a glossary of terms to facilitate easier reading for the beginning student.

Support Instructors- Teaching your course just got easier! You can create a Customized Text or use our PowerPoint Presentation Slides. Plus, Classic Philosophical Questions maintains the independence of each work. It does not make the assumption that a student has previously read the material when it presents issues of knowledge, metaphysics, ethics, etc. - thus allowing you to arrange the order of topics to your course needs.

Table of contents

IN THIS SECTION:

1.) BRIEF
2.) COMPREHENSIVE

 

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 

Part 1: Socrates and the Nature of Philosophy
Part 2: Philosophy of Religion
Part 3: Ethics
Part 4: Knowledge
Part 5: Metaphysics
Part 6: Social and Political Philosophy
Part 7: Aesthetics  
Part 8: Philosophy and the Good Life

 

COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 

Part 1: Socrates and the Nature of Philosophy

What is Philosophy?
The Euthyphro:  Defining Philosophical Terms
The Apology:  Socrates’ Trial and Defense
The Crito:  Socrates’ Refusal to Escape
The Phaedo:  Virtue and Socrates’ View of Death

Part 2: Philosophy of Religion

Can We Prove That God Exists?
St. Anselm:  The Ontological Argument
St. Thomas Aquinas:  The Cosmological Argument
William Paley:  The Teleological Argument
Blaise Pascal:  It is Better to Believe in God’s Existence Than to Deny it.

Does the Idea of a Good God Exclude Evil?
Boethius:  God Can Allow Some Evil.
David Hume:  A Good God Would Exclude Evil.
John Hick: Evil, Human Freedom and Moral Development

Part 3: Ethics

Are Ethics Relative?
Ruth Benedict:  Ethics Are Relative
W. T. Stace:  Ethics Are Not Relative

Are Humans Always Selfish? 
Humans Are Always Selfish:  Glaucon’s Challenge to  Socrates
James Rachels:  Humans Are Not Always Selfish

Which is Basic in Ethics: Happiness or Obligation? 
Aristotle:  Happiness Is Living Virtuously
Jeremy Bentham:  Happiness Is Seeking the Greatest Pleasure for the Greatest Number of People
Immanuel Kant:  Duty Is Prior to Happiness
Friedrich Nietzsche:  Happiness Is Having Power
Jean-Paul Sartre:  Existentialist Ethics
Virginia Held:  Feminist Ethics Are Different

Part 4: Knowledge

What is Knowledge?
Plato:  Knowledge Is “Warranted True Belief”

What Method is Best For Acquiring Knowledge?
Charles Sanders Peirce:  Four Approaches to Philosophy

How Do We Acquire Knowledge?
René Descartes:  Knowledge Is Not Ultimately Sense Knowledge
John Locke:  Knowledge is Ultimately Sensed
Immanuel Kant:  Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical.

How Is Truth Established?
Bertrand Russell:  Truth Is Established By Correspondence
Brand Blanshard:  Truth Means Coherence
William James:  Truth Is Established by Pragmatic Means

Can We Know the Nature of Causal Relations?
David Hume:  Cause Means Regular Association
David Hume:  There Are No Possible Grounds for Induction

Part 5: Metaphysics

Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
Parmenides:  Being Is Uncaused
Lao-Tzu:  Non-Being Is the Source of Being

Is Reality General Or Particular?
Plato: Universals Are Real
David Hume:  Particulars Are Real

Of What Does Reality Consist?
René  Descartes:  Reality Consists of Mind and Matter
Paul Churchland:  Reality Consists of Matter
George Berkeley:  Reality Consists of Ideas
John Dewey:  Reality Consists of Mental and Physical Qualities

Are Humans Free?
Holbach:  Humans Are Determined
John  Stuart Mill:  Determinism and Freedom Are Compatible
Richard Taylor:  Humans Are Free

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