Consider Philosophy;
Consider Philosophy

Offering a balance of theory and applications through a mix of text and readings, Consider Philosophy begins with chapters covering philosophical theory, each of which is foll...

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Offering a balance of theory and applications through a mix of text and readings, Consider Philosophy begins with chapters covering philosophical theory, each of which is followed by related, classical readings. 

 

Featuring selections from the world€s most influential philosophers, this combination of primary texts and explanatory pedagogy presents the material in a clear, accessible way that does not sacrifice rigor.  Making connections among different philosophical theories throughout, the text helps students to engage the subject matter and apply theories to important contemporary philosophical issues.



  • Table of Contents
  • Chapter One: Thinking Critically and Cordially About Philosophy
  • What is Philosophy?
  • Thinking Critically and Playing Fair
  • Deductive and Inductive Arguments
  • Thinking Critically and Cooperatively
  • Irrelevant Reason Fallacy
  • Ad Hominem Arguments
  • Strawman Fallacy
  • Appeal to Authority
  • Readings
  • Plato, Apology
  • Bertrand Russell, The Value of Philosophy
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Two: Philosophical Questions About Religion
  • Conceptions of God
  • Arguments for the Existence of God
  • The Cosmological Argument
  • The Ontological Argument
  • The Argument from Design
  • The Intuitive Argument
  • Pascal’s Wager
  • The Problem of Evil
  • Ockham’s Razor
  • Do Science and Religion Occupy Different Spheres?
  • Readings
  • From Genesis and Exodus
  • Spinoza, from A Theologico-Political Treatise
  • Aristotle, from The Metaphysics
  • St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (The Five Ways)
  • Leibniz, from Theodicy
  • Stephen Gould, “Non-Overlapping Magisteria”
  • Richard Dawkins, “You Can’t Have it Both Ways: Irreconcilable Differences?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Three: What Can We Know?
  • Skepticism
  • Descartes
  • Certainty
  • Descartes and Reason
  • Descartes’ Method of Doubt
  • I Think, Therefore I Exist
  • The Lasting Influence of Descartes
  • Readings
  • Descartes, Meditations, 1 and 2
  • Wittgenstein, from On Certainty
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Four: Rationalism, Empiricism, Kant
  • Rationalism
  • God said, Let Newton Be
  • Empiricism
  • John Locke
  • David Hume
  • Immanuel Kant
  • Readings
  • David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, sections 2 and 12
  • Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Five: Contemporary Epistemology
  • Permanence and Change
  • Evolution
  • Darwin
  • Pragmatism
  • Readings
  • William James, from Pragmatism
  • Bertrand Russell, “Transatlantic Truth”
  • John Dewey, from Reconstruction in Philosophy
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Six: What Is the Mind?
  • Mechanism and the Mind
  • Descartes and Mind-Body Dualism
  • Advantages of Mind-Body Dualism
  • Problems for Mind-Body Dualism
  • Interactionism
  • Preestablished Harmony
  • Occasionalism
  • Idealism
  • Materialism
  • Dual-Aspect Theory
  • Functionalism
  • Epiphenomenalism
  • Consciousness
  • Readings
  • Descartes, Meditations, 6
  • Daniel Dennett, “Where Am I?”
  • Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Seven: Personal Identity
  • Practical Implications of Personal Identity
  • Physical Identity
  • Souls and Personal Identity
  • Memory and Identity
  • Science Fiction and Personal Identity Problems
  • Beyond Personal Identity
  • Strains on Our Ordinary Concept of Personal Identity
  • Identity and the One
  • The Narrative Account of Personal Identity
  • Narrative Truth
  • Our Modular Brain
  • Narrative Accountability
  • Readings
  • John Locke, from Essay Concerning Human Understanding
  • David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
  • Derek Parfit, from Reasons and Persons
  • Alasdair MacIntyre, from After Virtue
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Eight: Fatalism, Determinism, Free Will
  • Fatalism
  • Fatalism and Determinism
  • Determinism
  • Reactions to Determinism
  • Readings
  • Lorenzo de Valla, “Dialogue on Free Will
  • Martin Luther, from Bondage of the Will
  • David Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 9: Is Free Will Compatible With Determinism?
  • Does Determinism Destroy Creativity?
  • Does Determinism Destroy Free Will?
  • Hard Determinism
  • Soft Determinism (Compatibilism)
  • Hume’s Compatibilism
  • Hierarchical Compatibilism
  • Challenges to Hierarchical Compatibilism
  • Rationalist Compatibilism
  • Readings
  • William James, from Pragmatism
  • Harry G. Frankfurt, “Freedom of Will and the Concept of a Person”
  • Susan Wolf, “Asymmetrical Freedom”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 10: Are We Morally Responsible?
  • Libertarian Free Will
  • What About Moral Responsibility?
  • Strong Feelings and Moral Responsibility
  • Readings
  • Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity of Man”
  • C. A. Campbell, from On Selfhood and Godhood
  • Thomas Nagel, “Moral Luck”
  • Daniel Dennett, from Elbow Room
  • Bruce N. Waller, “Uneven Starts and Just Deserts”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 11: Ethics: Reason and Emotion
  • Kantian Rationalist Ethics
  • Utilitarian Ethics
  • Criticisms of Utilitarianism
  • Readings
  • David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
  • Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals
  • Jonathan Bennett, “The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn”
  • John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 12: Ethical Theories
  • Divine Command Theory of Ethics
  • Relativism
  • Egoism
  • Social Contract Ethics
  • Care Ethics
  • Readings
  • James Rachels, “God and Human Attitudes”
  • George N. Schlesinger, from New Perspectives on Old-Time Religion
  • Elvin Hatch, “The Good Side of Relativism”
  • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
  • Jean Hampton,“Two Faces of Contractarian Thought”
  • Annette Baier,“What Do Women Want in a Moral Theory?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 13: Are There Objective Ethical Truths?
  • Intuitionism
  • Virtue Ethics
  • Ethical Nonobjectivism
  • The Argument from Diversity
  • The Argument from Queerness
  • Contemporary Moral Realism
  • Readings
  • W. D. Ross, from The Right and the Good
  • Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics
  • J. L. Mackie, from Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
  • Michael Smith, “Realism”
  • Richard Rorty, from Philosophy and Social Hope
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 14: Political Philosophy
  • Justification of Government
  • The Social Contract
  • Obeying or Disobeying the Law
  • Liberal and Conservative
  • Positive and Negative Liberty
  • Readings
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from “The Origin of Inequality”
  • Henry David Thoreau, from “Resistance to Civil Government”
  • John Stuart Mill, from On Liberty
  • Eric Mack, "Liberty and Justice"
  • Hugh LaFollette, "Why Libertarianism Is Mistaken"
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Table of Contents
  • Chapter One: Thinking Critically and Cordially About Philosophy
  • What is Philosophy?
  • Thinking Critically and Playing Fair
  • Deductive and Inductive Arguments
  • Thinking Critically and Cooperatively
  • Irrelevant Reason Fallacy
  • Ad Hominem Arguments
  • Strawman Fallacy
  • Appeal to Authority
  • Readings
  • Plato, Apology
  • Bertrand Russell, The Value of Philosophy
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Two: Philosophical Questions About Religion
  • Conceptions of God
  • Arguments for the Existence of God
  • The Cosmological Argument
  • The Ontological Argument
  • The Argument from Design
  • The Intuitive Argument
  • Pascal’s Wager
  • The Problem of Evil
  • Ockham’s Razor
  • Do Science and Religion Occupy Different Spheres?
  • Readings
  • From Genesis and Exodus
  • Spinoza, from A Theologico-Political Treatise
  • Aristotle, from The Metaphysics
  • St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (The Five Ways)
  • Leibniz, from Theodicy
  • Stephen Gould, “Non-Overlapping Magisteria”
  • Richard Dawkins, “You Can’t Have it Both Ways: Irreconcilable Differences?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Three: What Can We Know?
  • Skepticism
  • Descartes
  • Certainty
  • Descartes and Reason
  • Descartes’ Method of Doubt
  • I Think, Therefore I Exist
  • The Lasting Influence of Descartes
  • Readings
  • Descartes, Meditations, 1 and 2
  • Wittgenstein, from On Certainty
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Four: Rationalism, Empiricism, Kant
  • Rationalism
  • God said, Let Newton Be
  • Empiricism
  • John Locke
  • David Hume
  • Immanuel Kant
  • Readings
  • David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, sections 2 and 12
  • Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Five: Contemporary Epistemology
  • Permanence and Change
  • Evolution
  • Darwin
  • Pragmatism
  • Readings
  • William James, from Pragmatism
  • Bertrand Russell, “Transatlantic Truth”
  • John Dewey, from Reconstruction in Philosophy
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Six: What Is the Mind?
  • Mechanism and the Mind
  • Descartes and Mind-Body Dualism
  • Advantages of Mind-Body Dualism
  • Problems for Mind-Body Dualism
  • Interactionism
  • Preestablished Harmony
  • Occasionalism
  • Idealism
  • Materialism
  • Dual-Aspect Theory
  • Functionalism
  • Epiphenomenalism
  • Consciousness
  • Readings
  • Descartes, Meditations, 6
  • Daniel Dennett, “Where Am I?”
  • Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Seven: Personal Identity
  • Practical Implications of Personal Identity
  • Physical Identity
  • Souls and Personal Identity
  • Memory and Identity
  • Science Fiction and Personal Identity Problems
  • Beyond Personal Identity
  • Strains on Our Ordinary Concept of Personal Identity
  • Identity and the One
  • The Narrative Account of Personal Identity
  • Narrative Truth
  • Our Modular Brain
  • Narrative Accountability
  • Readings
  • John Locke, from Essay Concerning Human Understanding
  • David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
  • Derek Parfit, from Reasons and Persons
  • Alasdair MacIntyre, from After Virtue
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter Eight: Fatalism, Determinism, Free Will
  • Fatalism
  • Fatalism and Determinism
  • Determinism
  • Reactions to Determinism
  • Readings
  • Lorenzo de Valla, “Dialogue on Free Will
  • Martin Luther, from Bondage of the Will
  • David Hume, Enquiry Concerning the Human Understanding
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 9: Is Free Will Compatible With Determinism?
  • Does Determinism Destroy Creativity?
  • Does Determinism Destroy Free Will?
  • Hard Determinism
  • Soft Determinism (Compatibilism)
  • Hume’s Compatibilism
  • Hierarchical Compatibilism
  • Challenges to Hierarchical Compatibilism
  • Rationalist Compatibilism
  • Readings
  • William James, from Pragmatism
  • Harry G. Frankfurt, “Freedom of Will and the Concept of a Person”
  • Susan Wolf, “Asymmetrical Freedom”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 10: Are We Morally Responsible?
  • Libertarian Free Will
  • What About Moral Responsibility?
  • Strong Feelings and Moral Responsibility
  • Readings
  • Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity of Man”
  • C. A. Campbell, from On Selfhood and Godhood
  • Thomas Nagel, “Moral Luck”
  • Daniel Dennett, from Elbow Room
  • Bruce N. Waller, “Uneven Starts and Just Deserts”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 11: Ethics: Reason and Emotion
  • Kantian Rationalist Ethics
  • Utilitarian Ethics
  • Criticisms of Utilitarianism
  • Readings
  • David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
  • Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals
  • Jonathan Bennett, “The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn”
  • John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 12: Ethical Theories
  • Divine Command Theory of Ethics
  • Relativism
  • Egoism
  • Social Contract Ethics
  • Care Ethics
  • Readings
  • James Rachels, “God and Human Attitudes”
  • George N. Schlesinger, from New Perspectives on Old-Time Religion
  • Elvin Hatch, “The Good Side of Relativism”
  • Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
  • Jean Hampton,“Two Faces of Contractarian Thought”
  • Annette Baier,“What Do Women Want in a Moral Theory?”
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 13: Are There Objective Ethical Truths?
  • Intuitionism
  • Virtue Ethics
  • Ethical Nonobjectivism
  • The Argument from Diversity
  • The Argument from Queerness
  • Contemporary Moral Realism
  • Readings
  • W. D. Ross, from The Right and the Good
  • Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics
  • J. L. Mackie, from Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
  • Michael Smith, “Realism”
  • Richard Rorty, from Philosophy and Social Hope
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading
  • Chapter 14: Political Philosophy
  • Justification of Government
  • The Social Contract
  • Obeying or Disobeying the Law
  • Liberal and Conservative
  • Positive and Negative Liberty
  • Readings
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from “The Origin of Inequality”
  • Henry David Thoreau, from “Resistance to Civil Government”
  • John Stuart Mill, from On Liberty
  • Eric Mack, "Liberty and Justice"
  • Hugh LaFollette, "Why Libertarianism Is Mistaken"
  • Exercises
  • Additional Reading

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