The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy

Cover......Page 1
Statement......Page 2
Title Page\n......Page 3
Copyright......Page 4
Dedication......Page 5
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 15
Introduction......Page 25
Beyond Buzzwords......Page 26
Articulation and Argument: Two Crucial Features of Philosophy......Page 27
Concepts and Conceptual Frameworks......Page 30
Doing Philosophy with Style......Page 35
Introduction......Page 37
Deduction......Page 38
Induction......Page 39
Criticizing Arguments......Page 41
Closing Questions......Page 45
Suggested Readings......Page 46
Introduction......Page 49
What Is Philosophy?......Page 50
Opening Questions......Page 51
Suggested Readings......Page 62
Opening Questions......Page 65
What Kind of Meaning?......Page 66
The Meanings of Life......Page 72
Closing Questions......Page 84
Suggested Readings......Page 85
Opening Questions......Page 87
Believing in God......Page 88
Gods and Goddesses......Page 91
The Traditional Western Conceptions of God......Page 92
The Problem of Evil......Page 105
Faith and Reason: Grounds for Believing......Page 110
Religious Tolerance: Ritual, Tradition, and Spirituality......Page 120
Doubts......Page 123
Closing Questions......Page 125
Suggested Readings......Page 126
Opening Questions......Page 129
The Real World......Page 130
What Is Most Real?......Page 133
The First Metaphysicians......Page 136
Early Nonphysical Views of Reality......Page 139
Plato’s Forms......Page 142
Aristotle’s Metaphysics......Page 145
Mind and Metaphysics......Page 146
Idealism......Page 153
Teleology......Page 158
Metaphysics and the Everyday World......Page 161
Closing Questions......Page 163
Suggested Readings......Page 164
What Is True?......Page 167
Two Kinds of Truth......Page 170
Rationalism and Empiricism......Page 174
The Presuppositions of Knowledge......Page 176
Skepticism......Page 178
Knowledge, Truth, and Science......Page 187
The Nature of Truth......Page 192
Rationality......Page 196
Subjective Truth and the Problem of Relativism......Page 199
Closing Questions......Page 204
Suggested Readings......Page 205
Opening Questions......Page 207
The Essential Self......Page 208
The Self and Its Emotions......Page 215
The Egocentric Predicament......Page 219
The Mind-Body Problem......Page 221
Other Theories of the Self......Page 228
Closing Questions......Page 241
Suggested Readings......Page 242
Opening Questions......Page 245
Freedom and the Good Life......Page 246
Free Will and Determinism......Page 256
Suggested Readings......Page 270
Opening Questions......Page 273
Moral Philosophy......Page 274
The Good Life......Page 275
Egoism Versus Altruism......Page 283
Morality and Theories of Morality......Page 288
Duty-Defined Morality......Page 291
Consequentialist Theories......Page 294
Aristotle and the Ethics of Virtue......Page 298
Feminist Ethics: The Ethics of Care......Page 300
Morality—Relative or Absolute?......Page 302
Friedrich Nietzsche and the Attack on Morality......Page 305
Closing Questions......Page 308
Suggested Readings......Page 309
Opening Questions......Page 311
Morals and Society......Page 312
The Nature of Society......Page 313
Who Should Rule? The Question of Legitimacy......Page 314
Anarchism, the Free Market, and the Need for Government......Page 317
What Is Justice?......Page 320
The Meaning of Equality......Page 323
The Origins of Justice and the Social Contract......Page 326
Justice beyond Our Borders......Page 329
Rights and the Self......Page 332
Justice Denied: The Problem of Race......Page 334
Sexual Politics: The Rise of Feminist Philosophy......Page 338
Closing Questions......Page 348
Suggested Readings......Page 349
Beyond the Western Tradition......Page 353
The Challenges of Broadening Our Horizons......Page 355
Other Cultures, Other Philosophies......Page 356
Closing Questions......Page 382
Suggested Readings......Page 383
Aesthetics......Page 385
Beauty and Truth......Page 386
Enjoying Tragedy......Page 390
Arguing About Taste......Page 392
Art, Ethics, and Religion......Page 395
Why Is It Art?......Page 398
The Aesthetics of Popular Culture......Page 400
Suggested Readings......Page 404
Appendix A: Writing Philosophy......Page 405
Appendix B: Deductive Logic Valid Argument Forms......Page 425
Appendix C: Common Informal Fallacies......Page 431
Glossary......Page 437
Index......Page 457