Pearson - Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy (Penguin Academics Series)

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Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy (Penguin Academics Series)
Nils Ch. Rauhut, Coastal Carolina University

ISBN-10: 0321108930
ISBN-13: 9780321108937

Publisher: Pearson
Copyright: 2004
Format: Paper; 272 pp
Published: 07/22/2003
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Description

Part of the Penguin Academic Series, this inexpensive and brief text examines the main problems in contemporary philosophy and uses more than 100 “Food for Thought” exercises that promote learning by helping students become true active learners of philosophy.

Vivid and engaging examples and cases further enhance this up-to-date examination of the main problems in contemporary philosophy. It is written for professors teaching a problems-oriented course.

Features

More than 100 “Food for Thought” exercises elicit student reaction to philosophical problems, give readers a chance to test whether they have grasped important philosophical concepts, and offer opportunities for genuine conversations about philosophy. Unlike review or discussion questions found at the end of chapters in other texts, “Food for Thought” exercises are presented throughout each chapter and most can be used in the classroom.

Chapter 1, “Philosophical Tools,” contains a comprehensive introduction that helps students understand what phiosophy is; the relationship between science and philosophy, the major fields of philosophy; basic methadology; basic arguments. This 45 page introduction provides the basic information students need to begin studying philosophy..

In each chapter, the author examines the significance and scope of each problem before introducing the main prominent responses to these problems, helping students understand the meaning of the problems before getting into the more complicated material. Chapters begin with careful explanations of how problems are connected to our contemporary thinking about the universe, and learning exercises give readers the opportunity to reflect on their own initial reactions to these problems.

A Companion Volume, Readings About the Ultimate Questions, will be available for summer 2004 classes.

Shows that everyday thinking leads directly to the questions and puzzles philosophers have tried to unravel for many centuries, and that philosophy does not deal with remote questions, but rather with issues that lie deep within ourselves.

Table of Contents

1. Philosophical Tools.

What Is Philosophy?

The Relationship Between Philosophy and Science.

The Main Branches of Philosophy.

Philosophical Methodology.

The Basic Structure of Arguments.

2. What Do We Know?

What Is Knowledge?

Three Different Theories of Knowledge.

Skepticism.

Empiricism.

The Case for Empiricism.

Rationalism.

Final Remarks on Epistemology.

3. The Problem of Free Will.

Why Is There a Problem with Free Will?

The Case for Hard-Determinism.

Can Indeterminism Save Free Will?

Soft Determinism.

Libertarianism.

Final Remarks on the Problem of Free Will.

4. The Problem of Personal Identity.

Do We Always Remain the Same?

The Illusion Theory of Personal Identity.

The Body Theory of Personal Identity.

The Soul Theory of Personal Identity.

The Memory Theory of Personal Identity.

Final Remarks on Personal Identity.

5. The Mind/Body Problem.

What Is the Problem?

Possible Solutions to the Mind/Body Problem.

Substance Dualism.

Varieties of Physicalism.

Behaviorism.

The Identity Theory.

Functionalism.

Final Remarks on the Mind Body Problem.

6. Does God Exist?

God, Faith, and Reason.

What Do We Mean By the Word “God”?

Arguments in Defense of a Classical Theistic God.

Arguments Against the Existence of a Classical Theistic God.

Final Remarks on the Problem of God's Existence.

7. What Ought We Do?

Moral Intuitions and Moral Principles.

A Fundamental Challenge: Relativism.

Some Important Ethical Theories.

Divine Command Theory.

Utilitarianism.

Duty-Based Theories.

Virtue-Based Theories.

Final Remarks on the Problem of Morality.

Courses

Introduction to Philosophy [TEXTS WITH READINGS] (Philosophy)

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For the Philosophy Discipline

Common Philosophical Terms
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Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy (Penguin Academics Series)