For one-semester courses in Introductory Philosophy.
In addition to providing detailed content coverage and critical reasoning skills development, this text pays serious
attention to the personal and practical relevance of philosophy by focusing on its experiential, therapeutic, and
social applications. The "applied focus,"intended to inspire students to further their studies in philosophy,
is complemented by a built-in study guide and substantial excerpts from classical original sources. By combining
the theoretical with the practical through the integration of descriptive outlines, readings, and numerous pedagogical
aids, this book strikes an educationally productive balance between accessibility and academic rigor.
Features :
Cutting-edge emphasis on personal applications of philosophy--e.g., ancient wisdom applied to modern life;
stoicism and stress management; Buddha the Higher Reality Therapist; Existentialism and the meaning of life; and
Bentham and how to make moral decisions.
Gives students a lively, clear appreciation of why philosophy is important and relevant to them in their everyday
lives.
Substantial treatments of logic and reasoning.
Introduces students to some of the basic structures and procedures of logic that they will use across their
studies.
A built-in study guide--Based on the SQ3R system of learning.
Helps students master the content and skills of the course through the proven Survey, Question, Read, Recite,
and Review method.
A focus on diversity--Features women, blacks, Asian philosophy, and Native North American perspectives.
Offers students a varied sampling of alternative philosophical viewpoints.
Excerpts from major original sources.
Allows students to sample the "real thing,"and prepares them for second level courses.
Accessible format.
Enables students to understand the text without being "talked down to."
A practical, experiential orientation.
Makes it unnecessary for instructors to try to justify the need for a course in philosophy.
Table of Contents
(NOTE: Each chapter begins with "Take It Personally" and concludes with a Study Guide, Key Terms,
Progress Check, Summary of Major Points, Source References, Philosophy in Cyberspace and End Notes)
1. What Is Philosophy?
What's in It for Me?
Know Thyself Diagnostic: My Preconceptions about Philosophy
Philosophy and Philosophers: Caricatures, Myths, and Realities
The Philosopher's Profile
Wisdom: The Object of Love
The Practical Value of Philosophy
Therapeutic Applications of Philosophy: Back to the Future
Philosophy's Relevance in an Age of Information and Emerging Technologies
Fields of Philosophy
Approaches to Philosophy
Historical Periods of Philosophy
Original Sourcework: Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy
2. Philosophies of Life
Know Thyself Diagnostic: The Philosophy of Life Preference Indicator
Stoicism: A Prescription for Peace of Mind
Original Sourcework: Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Existentialism: Born Free, Let Me Be Me
Original Sourcework: Jean-Paul Sartre, The Humanism of Existentialism
Philosophical Segue: Fate, Free Will and Determinism
Hedonism: Pleasure Is the Measure
Original Sourcework: Epicurus, Letter to Menoceus
Buddhism: A Way of Life
Original Sourcework: John Keller, Basic Characteristics of (Asian) Buddhist Culture
3. Philosophical Argument�That Sounds Logical!
Original Sourcework: Plato, Euthyphro featuring The Socratic Method
Know Thyself Diagnostic: How Rational Am I? Opinions versus Arguments
Factual Claims versus Value Judgments
Deductive Arguments
Inductive Arguments
Informal Logical Fallacies
4. Epistemology, Metaphysics, and God
Know Thyself Diagnostic: My Philosophical Presuppositions about Knowledge and Reality
Preliminary Questions and Definitions
Plato's Metaphysical Epistomology
Original Sourcework: Plato, The Republic: Simile of the Sun
Original Sourcework: Plato, The Republic: Allegory of the Cave
Rationalism: René Descartes
Original Sourcework: Descartes, The First Meditation on Things that can be Doubted
Original Sourcework: Descartes, Second Meditation of the Nature of the Human Mind, and that it is more easily known
than the Body
Original Sourcework: Descartes, The Wax Example
British Empiricism: Locke, Berkeley, and Hume
Original Sourcework: David Hume, Skeptical Doubts concerning the Operation of the Understanding
Original Sourcework: Patricia Hill Collins, An Afrocentric/Feminist Standpoint Challenges the Tradition of Positivism
Immanuel Kant's Synthesis of Rationalism and Empiricism
Original Sourcework: Kant, "Introduction" in the Critique of Pure Reason
Original Sourcework: Benjamin Whorf, The Language of the Hopi Provides a Metaphysics without Space and Time
Philosophical Segue: Proofs for the Existence of God
5. Ethics and Moral Decision-Making
Know Thyself Diagnostic: The Ethical Perspective Indicator
Character Ethics: Plato
Original Sourcework: Plato, Virtue and Justice in the Individual and in the State
Utilitarian Ethics: Jeremy Bentham
Original Sourcework: Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
Deontological Ethics: Immanuel Kant
Original Sourcework: Kant, "Preface" to the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals
Feminine Ethics: Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings
Original Sourcework: Noddings, "Introduction" to Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education
Existentialist Ethics: Friedrich Willhelm Nietzsche
Original Sourcework: Nietzsche, The Gay Science
Ethical Egoism: Ayn Rand
Original Sourcework: Rand, "The Objectivist Ethics" in The Virtue of Selfishness
Philosophical Segue: Religion and Ethics
6. Political Philosophy
Know Thyself Diagnostic: My Political Outlook
Political Philosophy versus Politics and Political Science
Plato's Republic
Original Sourcework: Plato, The Nature of Women
Social Contract Theorists: Hobbes and Locke
Thomas Hobbes
Original Sourcework: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
John Locke
Original Sourcework: John Locke, The Second Treatise of Government
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts
Appendix: Answers to Progress Checks
