About Philosophy

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with The Main Points ... and Questions for Discussion and Review.)

1. What Is Philosophy?


What Do Philosophers Do? The Study of Human Nature. What Do Philosophers Do? The Study of the Universe. What Do Philosophers Do? Human Nature and the Universe. Rationality, Universality, Objectivity. The Limitations of the Western Philosophical Tradition. The Main Points in Chapter One. Questions for Discussion and Review.



2. Theory of Knowledge.


Descartes' Method of Doubt. Rationalism and Empiricism: Two Responses to Cartesian Doubt. Leibniz and Rationalism. Hume and Empiricism. Kant's Resolution of the Rationalism/Empiricism Debate. The Challenge of Subjectivity. The Main Points in Chapter Two. Contemporary Application: Virtual Reality. Questions for Discussion and Review.



3. Metaphysics and Philosophy of Mind.


What Is Metaphysics? Hobbes' Materialism. Free Will and Determinism. The Mind and the Body. The Main Points in Chapter Three. Contemporary Application: Do Computers Think? Questions for Discussion and Review.



4. Philosophy of Science.


The Place of Science in the Modern World. Francis Bacon and the Foundations of Scientific Method. The Relation Between Theory and Observation. Thomas Kuhn's Theory of Scientific Revolutions. Science as a Social Institution. The Main Points in Chapter Four. Contemporary Application: Is Traditional Medicine Scientific? Questions for Discussion and Review.



5. Ethical Theory.


The Varieties of Ethical Theory. Kant and the Commands of Duty. Three Reasons to Think About Ethics. Ethical Disagreement and the Categorical Imperative. Utilitarianism and the Calculation of Pleasures and Pains. The Theory of the Health Personality. The Feminist Critique of Ethical Theory. The Main Points in Chapter Five. Contemporary Application: Same-Sex Marriage. Questions for Discussion and Review.

 

The Ethical Dimensions of Medicine.


The Ethical Dimensions of Medical Decisions. Withholding Food and Water. The Buying and Selling of Human Organs. What Should the Doctor Tell the Patient. Contemporary Application: The Ethics of Cloning Human Beings. Questions for Discussion and Review.

6. Social and Political Philosophy.

Mill and Classical Laissez-Falre Liberalism. The Socialist Attack on Capitalism. Rousseau and the Theory of the Social Contract. The Pluralist Theory of the State. The Main Points in Chapter Six. Contemporary Application: Affirmative Action. Questions for Discussion and Review.

7. Philosophy of Art.

Plato's Attack on the Poets. Aristotle's Defense of the Poets. Tolstoy's Religious Defense of Art. Marcuse and the Uses of Negation. The Main Points in Chapter Seven. Contemporary Application: Pornography, Art, and Censorship. Questions for Discussion and Review.

8. Philosophy of Religion.

Kierkegaard's Encounter with Faith. Can We Prove That God Exists? William Paley: The Argument from Design. St. Thomas Aquinas: The Cosmological Argument. St. Anselm: The Ontological Argument. The Problem of Evil. The Main Points in Chapter Eight. Contemporary Application: Withholding Medical Care for Reasons of Faith. Questions for Discussion and Review.

Appendix: How to Write a Philosophy Paper.Glossary.Suggested Readings.Index.