Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 458
•
Trim: 7⅜ x 10
978-1-4422-4282-1 • Paperback • March 2015 • $111.00 • (£85.00)
Andrew Pessin is professor of philosophy at Connecticut College. He is the author of Uncommon Sense, (R&L 2013), which was named a CHOICE Outstanding title for the year.
S. Morris Engel is professor emeritus at York University. Previously, he taught at the University of Southern California for twenty-five years.
PART I PHILOSOPHY AND ITS BEGINNINGSChapter 1: The Nature and Scope of PhilosophyHow Philosophy and Science DifferHow Philosophy and Religion DifferPhilosophy’s Three Main Subject AreasPhilosophy’s Main MethodSummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “The Philosopher within You”—Andrew PessinChapter 2: It Began Here: The Pre-SocraticsThe Problem of Being- Thales
- Anaximander
- Anaximenes
The Problem of BecomingThe Theory of Atomism: A SynthesisSummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “Ionian Science before Socrates”—F. M. CornfordReading: On the Nature of Things—LucretiusChapter 3: Socrates and PlatoThe SophistsSocrates the ManLife in Athens and Conquest by SpartaSocrates’ Chronicler: PlatoThe Dialogues: Socrates’ Trial and Death- Euthyphro
- Apology
- Crito
- Phaedo
Plato’s Forms- What Exactly Are Forms?
- Forms are Neither Perceivable, Changeable, Nor Even Here
- How Many Forms Are There?
- One More Important Implication
- Why Should We Believe in the Existence of Forms?
Philosophers and Cave-PersonsSummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: Apology—PlatoPART II PHILOSOPHY’S METHODChapter 4: Aristotle and the Science of LogicAristotleThe Sophists AgainThe Science of LogicLogic as the Study of ArgumentDistinguishing Arguments From Non-ArgumentsEliminating VerbiageSupplying Missing ComponentsDistinguishing Deductive and Inductive ArgumentsEvaluating Arguments: Truth, Validity, and Soundness- Some Classic Examples of Valid Deductive Arguments
- Evaluating Arguments: Strategy
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “What the Tortoise Said to Achilles”—Lewis CarrollReading: “Newcomb’s Problem and Two Principles of Choice”—Robert NozickChapter 5: Common FallaciesThe Fallacies of Ambiguity- Amphiboly
- Accent
- Equivocation
The Fallacies of Presumption- Overlooking the Facts
- Evading the Facts
- Distorting the Facts
Fallacies of Relevance- Genetic Fallacy
- Abusive ad Hominem
- Circumstantial ad Hominem
- Tu Quoque
- Poisoning the Well
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “A Mad Tea-Party”—Lewis CarrollPART III PHILOSOPHY’S MAIN QUESTIONSChapter 6: Ethics: What Are We Like, and What Should We Do?Aristotle’s Ethics- Goodness and Happiness
- Moral Virtues
- Intellectual Virtues
Kant’s Ethics- A Good Will
- The Categorical Imperative
- The Role of Reason
The Utilitarian Theory- Jeremy Bentham
- John Stuart Mill
Some Criticisms of UtilitarianismSummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: Nicomachean Ethics—AristotleReading: “Santa and Scrooge”—Andrew PessinReading: “Of what sort of Proof the Principle of Utility is Susceptible”—John Stuart MillReading: “The Experience Machine”—Robert NozickChapter 7: Religion: The Nature and Existence of GodA Brief History of Philosophical Theology, 427 B.C.E.–1600 C.E.Proofs for the Existence of God- St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument
- St. Thomas Aquinas’s Cosmological Arguments
- William Paley’s Biological Teleological Argument
- Immanuel Kant’s Moral Argument
- Blaise Pascal’s Prudential Argument
God’s Nature- God’s Power
- God’s Knowledge
- God’s Goodness, and the Problem of Evil
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “That God truly exists”—AnselmReading: From Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity—William PaleyReading: From City of God—AugustineReading: From “Abridgement of the Argument Reduced to Syllogistic Form”—G. W. LeibnizChapter 8: Epistemology and Metaphysics: The RationalistsBrief Overview of Early Modern PhilosophyRené Descartes- Descartes’ Dualism
- Descartes’ Theory of Mind
- Descartes’ Theory of Matter
Baruch Spinoza- Spinoza’s Pantheism and Monism
- Spinoza’s Necessitarianism, Determinism, and Ethics
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz- Leibniz’s Monads and Pre-Established Harmony
- The Truth Argument for Pre-Established Harmony
Rationalism, Intelligibility, and Causation- Rationalist Debates on the Nature of Causation
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: From Meditations on First Philosophy—René DescartesReading: “The Most Dangerous Error of the Philosophy of the Ancients”—Nicolas MalebrancheReading: From Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion—Nicolas MalebrancheReading: “New System of Nature” and “Clarification of the Difficulties Which Mr. Bayle Has Found in the New System of the Union of Soul and Body”—G.W. LeibnizChapter 9: Epistemology and Metaphysics: The Empiricists and KantJohn Locke- Locke’s Attack on Nativism
- The Structure and Contents of the Mind, and Substance
- The Distinction Between Primary and Secondary Qualities
George Berkeley- Three Lines of Argument Against Materialism and For Idealism
- Idealism, Materialism, and Common Sense
- Some Problems For Idealism
David Hume- Relations of Ideas and Matters of Fact
- Hume’s Critique of Causation
- Hume’s Critique of Inductive Reasoning
Immanuel Kant- Three Ways to Frame the Discussion
- A First Pass through Kant’s Answer
- Four Kinds of Judgments
- Synthetic A Priori Judgments
- How is Mathematics Possible?
- How is Science Possible?
- Why Metaphysics is Impossible
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: From “First Dialogue”—George BerkeleyReading: “Sceptical Doubts concerning the Operations of the Understanding”—David HumePART IV CONTEMPORARY DIRECTIONSChapter 10: 20th-21st Century DevelopmentsExistentialism- Søren Kierkegaard and Religious Existentialism
- Friedrich Nietzsche and Nihilistic Existentialism
- Jean-Paul Sartre and Humanistic Existentialism
Some Developments in Ethics- A. J. Ayer and Logical Positivism
Some Developments in Philosophy of Religion - Alvin Plantinga on Science and Theism
Some Developments in Epistemology- The Traditional Definition of Knowledge
- The Gettier Problem
Some Developments in Metaphysics- The Attack on Descartes’ Dualism
- Consciousness and Dualism
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “A Panegyric upon Abraham”—Sören KierkegaardReading: From Nausea—Jean-Paul SartreReading: “Critique of Ethics and Theology”—A. J. AyerReading: “Is Atheism Irrational?”—Alvin PlantingaReading: “What Mary Didn't Know”—Frank JacksonChapter 11: Contemporary Moral Problems, and Peter SingerPeter Singer- “All Animals are Equal”
- “Is the Sanctity of Life Ethic Terminally Ill?”
- The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty
SummaryKey TermsReview QuestionsReading: “Of Duties to Animals …”—Immanuel KantReading: “Abortion and Infanticide” and “Taking Life: Humans”—Peter SingerReading: “Life after God? The Ethics of Peter Singer”—Peter MayGlossaryIndex
Maintaining superb readability, the seventh edition adds key ingredients: more contemporary philosophy, impressive selections of primary sources, and excellent choices of additions within the chapters. There is much to commend in this newest edition.
— Dominic Prianti, Gannon University
The seventh edition of The Study of Philosophy is a great new version. In addition to offering a new chapter on contemporary moral problems, the authors have revised their work on logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion. Lively and engaging, The Study of Philosophy should remain an important resource for every undergraduate.
— William P. Haggerty, Gannon University
The new edition of The Study of Philosophy retains the impressive coverage of topics of earlier editions—along with the excellent chapters on logic (including a superb treatment of the informal fallacies), and the student-friendly narrative—and adds many new, well-chosen topical readings, and a whole chapter on contemporary moral problems. The best introductory philosophy textbook on the market just got better!
— Michael Latzer, Gannon University
—Comprehensive coverage of ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion, plus two chapters devoted to the study of logic and reasoning.
—Over 100 logic and reasoning exercises for students (answers included in text)—unique among introductory philosophy texts!—NEW chapters on the philosophy of religion, early modern rationalism and empiricism, twentieth- and twenty-first-century philosophy, and contemporary moral problems—End-of-chapter readings to highlight themes and provide students with primary source materials—Discussion questions, key terms, and an end-of-book glossary aid in student comprehensionNew features—New instructor's manual with teaching tips, discussion questions, and media links. E-mail textbooks@rowman.com for access to the ancillary instructor's materials.—Completely updated test bank available in Respondus computerized test bank format. Respondus LE is available for free and can be used to automate the process of creating print tests. Respondus 3.5 (available for purchase or via a school site license) can prepare tests to be uploaded to online course management systems like Blackboard. Visit the <a
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Instructor's Manual. For each chapter, this valuable resource provides a variety of tools such as lecture outlines, student learning objectives, discussion questions, and other resources to simplify classroom preparation.
Test Bank. The Test Bank includes a variety of test questions and is available in either Word or PDF formats. For every chapter in the text, the Test Bank includes a complete test with a variety of question types, including multiple choice, true false, and essay formats.