Philosophy: An Introduction to the Art of Wondering

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
CONTENTS......Page 12
PRELUDE......Page 4
CREDIT, BLAME, AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 6
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, PHILOSOPHY??......Page 20
Part One: THE FINE ART OF WONDERING......Page 24
Just In Case . . .......Page 26
The Human Condition......Page 27
The Search for Meaning......Page 30
Why-Questions......Page 33
The World-Riddle......Page 34
MARCUS AURELIUS: Philosopher-King......Page 39
Reflections......Page 43
The Love of Wisdom......Page 45
The Greek Miracle......Page 46
Freedom to Wonder and to Ask Questions......Page 47
A Western Dilemma......Page 48
Belief, Doubt, Critical Thinking, and Faith......Page 49
SOCRATES: The Wisest Man Alive......Page 53
Reflections......Page 57
1-3 CRITICAL ANALYSIS......Page 58
The Philosophic Mind......Page 59
Critical Skills......Page 60
Brief Skirmishes / Examples of Critical Thinking......Page 66
A Special Kind of Listening......Page 72
PLATO: The First Educator......Page 74
Reflections......Page 77
And He Wants to Understand It......Page 79
Life on a Picture-Puzzle......Page 80
The Annihilation of Boundaries......Page 81
How to Do Synoptic Philosophy......Page 83
The Synoptic Venture: Risks and Rewards......Page 86
“I Can Float Over the Orchard as in a Balloon"......Page 89
ARISTOTLE: The First Scientific Worldview......Page 91
Reflections......Page 95
Part Two: THE CONDITION AND THE ODYSSEY......Page 98
The Coherent Worldview......Page 100
The Egocentric Predicament......Page 101
Aristocentric Claims......Page 104
Egocentric Illusions in Time and Space......Page 106
We Live in Two Worlds......Page 109
ALBERT CAMUS: Man and the Absurd......Page 114
Reflections......Page 116
How Much of Me Is Me?......Page 118
A Sense of Self......Page 121
A Sense of Worth......Page 122
The Autonomous Self......Page 124
AYN RAND: The Productive Life......Page 130
Reflections......Page 135
When Things Go Wrong......Page 137
The Masks We Wear......Page 140
I Will Not Stop Till I Know......Page 142
Growth and Insecurity......Page 143
The Answer-Givers......Page 144
Crisis of Authority......Page 146
Developing Self-Awareness......Page 148
The Law of Pathei Mathos......Page 149
SIGMUND FREUD: Our Humanity Is Blocked by Our Pain......Page 151
Reflections......Page 155
All the World's a Stage . . .......Page 156
Mapping A Lifetime......Page 157
Infancy To Childhood......Page 158
The Adolescent Years......Page 161
The Maturing Years......Page 163
The Shriek of Ivan Ilytch......Page 173
VOLTAIRE: The Laughing Philosopher......Page 176
Reflections......Page 180
Part Three: THE REAL WORLD: KNOWING AND UNKNOWING......Page 182
Epistemic Awareness......Page 184
The Senses: Empirical Knowledge......Page 185
Knowledge from Others......Page 187
Reason: Using Known Facts......Page 188
Intuition: Knowledge from the Depths......Page 189
JOHN LOCKE: Reality And Appearance......Page 191
Reflections......Page 194
We Never See the Real World......Page 196
The Mind Manufactures Experience......Page 198
Our Senses Deceive......Page 201
Sensory Limitations and Reality......Page 202
The Pragmatic Nature of Knowing......Page 204
GEORGE BERKELEY: The Irish Immaterialist......Page 207
Reflections......Page 211
Why We Think in Abstractions......Page 213
Classifying and Labeling......Page 215
Our Mental Grids......Page 219
HENRI BERGSON: What It Means to Be a Hummingbird......Page 224
Reflections......Page 228
The Correspondence Test......Page 229
The Coherence Test......Page 230
The Pragmatic Test......Page 231
The Pragmatic Paradox......Page 233
WILLIAM JAMES: "Truth Happens to an Idea"......Page 236
Reflections......Page 239
Part Four: THE INNER WORLD: THE FANTASTIC JOURNEY......Page 242
The Exploration of Inner Space......Page 244
Huxley's Deep Reflection......Page 248
Mystical Unity......Page 249
Religious Ecstasy......Page 250
The Fantastic Journey......Page 251
THE BUDDHA: One Who Awakened......Page 253
Reflections......Page 257
A Philosophy of Time......Page 258
Psychological Time......Page 259
Real Time......Page 261
Newton: Absolute Time......Page 262
Time Future......Page 263
Time Present......Page 265
Time and Personal Existence......Page 267
IMMANUEL KANT: The Starry Heavens and the Moral Law......Page 272
Reflections......Page 278
The Feeling of Freedom......Page 279
The Dilemma of Determinism......Page 280
The Case for Determinism......Page 281
The Case for Freedom of Choice......Page 284
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE: Apostle of Freedom......Page 288
Reflections......Page 291
The Functions of Language......Page 293
The Many Roles of Language......Page 294
Communications Analysis......Page 296
Definitions and Contexts......Page 300
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN: Dissolving the Riddles of Life......Page 302
Reflections......Page 308
Part Five: DELICATE COEXISTENCE: THE HUMAN LOVE/HATE CONDITION......Page 310
Theater of the Absurd......Page 312
The Meaning of History......Page 314
Toynbee's Organismic Interpretation of History......Page 321
The Plight of Western Civilization......Page 324
The Roots of Violence......Page 326
Can We Learn from History?......Page 329
G.W. F. HEGEL: "Reason Is the Substance of the Universe"......Page 333
Reflections......Page 337
Conflicting Loyalties......Page 339
Good Laws and Bad Laws......Page 341
Loyalty to Higher Authority......Page 342
Obedience to the Rule of Law......Page 344
The Personal Dilemma......Page 345
HENRY DAVID THOREAU: "I Will Breathe After My Own Fashion"......Page 349
Reflections......Page 353
The Bonds of Culture......Page 354
Prisoners......Page 355
Alternatives to Remaining Prisoners......Page 357
Cultural Relativity......Page 358
Personal Alienation......Page 359
"I Learned This, at Least . . ."......Page 364
DIOGENES THE CYNIC: The Hound-Dog Philosopher......Page 365
Reflections......Page 368
We Are Political Animals......Page 370
What Form of Government Is Best?......Page 371
Observations......Page 377
Three Contemporary World-Systems......Page 378
NELSON MANDELA: The Long Road to Freedom......Page 385
Reflections......Page 389
Debatable and Nondebatable Value Judgments......Page 392
The Morality of Ethics / The Ethics of Morality......Page 395
Three Ethical Questions......Page 397
Who Really Makes Decisions?......Page 398
What Makes a Decision Right or Wrong?......Page 400
Whom (and What) Should I Care About?......Page 404
THE DALAI LAMA: Courage and Compassion in the Modern World......Page 412
Reflections......Page 416
Part Six: THE PROTOPLASMIC VENTURE......Page 418
Four Great Etiological Questions......Page 420
Biochemical Evolution......Page 421
The Beginning of Life on Earth......Page 424
Biogenetic Theories......Page 425
Can "Life" Be Defined?......Page 426
Evolution as a Field Theory......Page 427
Evolution and Meaning......Page 429
Evolution and Progress......Page 431
Philosophic Implications......Page 435
CHARLES DARWIN: The Grandest Synthesis......Page 438
Reflections......Page 442
The Sculptor-Gods......Page 444
The Story of Human Origins......Page 446
Still Trying to Define "Human"......Page 451
The Killer-Ape Theory......Page 454
The Immense Journey......Page 456
SØREN KIERKEGAARD: "That Individual"......Page 458
Reflections......Page 461
Our Place in the Scheme of Things......Page 463
An Ecospheric Ethic......Page 465
Coexistence—In Life and Death......Page 471
"No Man Is an Iland"......Page 474
ALBERT SCHWEITZER: Reverence for Life......Page 476
Reflections......Page 480
The Theoretical Life......Page 481
Research into the Future......Page 482
The Futurists and the Future......Page 485
A New Kind of Realism......Page 488
A Special Kind of Hope......Page 493
Many Futures: A Common Vision......Page 497
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: The Glory of Becoming Human......Page 499
Reflections......Page 506
Part Seven: MICROCOSM/MACROCOSM/COSMOS......Page 508
Empirical Knowledge......Page 510
A Priori Knowledge......Page 512
Other Ways of Knowing?......Page 513
Realities beyond Appearances......Page 514
This World—What Is It?......Page 515
The Dematerialization of Matter......Page 518
What Is the Origin of Matter?......Page 519
PYTHAGORAS: The Universe Is Made of Numbers......Page 521
Reflections......Page 525
What Physics Is and Isn't......Page 527
Classical Physics......Page 530
Relativity Physics......Page 531
Quantum Mechanics......Page 537
ALBERT EINSTEIN: The Second Scientific Revolution......Page 542
Reflections......Page 546
Ancient Cosmologies......Page 548
Today's Universe......Page 550
The Expanding Universe......Page 551
The Story of the Universe......Page 555
There Are Still Mysteries......Page 559
What Does It All Mean (if Anything)?......Page 560
GALILEO GALILEI: "The Noblest Eye Is Darkened"......Page 563
Reflections......Page 567
We Are Not Alone......Page 568
A Cosmic Context for Mankind......Page 570
Our Expanding Consciousness......Page 571
Consequences......Page 572
The Human Preserve......Page 574
CARL SAGAN: The Encyclopaedia Galactica......Page 577
Reflections......Page 580
Part Eight: OF ULTIMATE CONCERN......Page 582
Greek Tragedy......Page 584
Transformation......Page 585
The Role of Myth......Page 591
The Anthropomorphic Spirits......Page 594
Spirit Possession......Page 595
Apocalyptic Dramas......Page 596
The Eschaton—End of Drama......Page 599
All Religion Is One......Page 600
JOSEPH CAMPBELL: The Hero with a Thousand Faces......Page 603
Reflections......Page 607
Ultimate Questions......Page 609
The Problem of Divine Knowledge......Page 610
Arguments for the Existence of God......Page 613
The Death(s) of God(s)......Page 615
THOMAS MERTON: The Other Side of Kanchenjunga......Page 619
Reflections......Page 623
All Graves are Wrong......Page 624
Death Is a Nonexperience......Page 626
Fear of Nonbeing......Page 628
The Denial of Death......Page 632
Arguments for Immortality......Page 633
Arguments Against Immortality......Page 635
The Future of Death......Page 636
OMAR KHAYYAM: "One Thing at Least Is Certain—This Life Flies"......Page 639
Reflections......Page 644
The Knowledge That Hurts Most......Page 646
What Did I Want?......Page 647
Existence and the Real: Persistent Confusion......Page 648
Trivialities......Page 650
Work, Work . . . to Kill the Flowers......Page 651
The World-Riddle......Page 654
NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS: "I Know Not If I Shall Ever Anchor"......Page 656
Reflections......Page 661
POSTLUDE......Page 662
GLOSSARY......Page 664
CREDITS......Page 671
INDEX TO MARGINAL QUOTATIONS......Page 676
NAME/SUBJECT INDEX......Page 679