Description
Book SynopsisA practical, hands-on introduction to philosophy written in jargon-free language, this book introduces philosophy using a step-by-step approach. It both engages the reader in philosophical activity and explains the subject matter of philosophy without diluting it.
Table of ContentsHOW TO USE THIS BOOK; CHAPTER 1: Laying the Foundations - The Philosopher's Stone; The Philosopher's Stone; The Structure of the Chapters; The Order of the Chapters; PART I: WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?; CHAPTER 2: Philosophy as an Activity; 'Philosophy' - Two meanings; Understanding Philosophy as an Activity - A first step; A Philosophical Question about Philosophy; CHAPTER 3: The Origins of European Philosophy in Ancient Greece; Setting the scene; What Exists (i) - Thales' problem; What Exists (ii) - The Primary Substance and its Transformation; What Exists (iii)- The search for Reality; What Exists (iv)- 'Justice' and the search for Values; CHAPTER 4: Philosophy as a Subject; The Study of what Really Exists; The Study of the Values Associated with Reality; (i) Moral Values and their Associated Fields of Study; (ii) Aesthetic values; PART I: A SUMMARY; REVISION EXERCISES PART I; Further Reading; PART II: REALITY, PERCEPTION and BELIEF; CHAPTER 5: The Senses, Action and Reality; Real Things; Methods (i) Assessing claims about what really exists; Seeing and Hearing Real Things; Sensing Real Things; Touching Real Things; CHAPTER 6: Philosophical Analysis and Reality; Methods (ii) Answering real questions; Methods (iii) Transcendental analysis: a first step*; CHAPTER 7: Thought, Belief and Reality; You are a metaphysician. Bah!; Thought and Reality*; Belief and Reality*; The story so far: a brief review; Ontological Commitment*; CHAPTER 8: The Reality of People and Ideas; Real People - Introducing Existentialism*; Real Ideas and Plato's Theory of Forms; PART II: A SUMMARY; REVISION EXERCISES PART II; Further Reading; PART III: VALUES and OBLIGATIONS; CHAPTER 9: Value and Values; Value and the Search for Values; Types of Values (Principles); Intrinsic and Extrinsic Value; Summary of Chapter; CHAPTER 10: Theories of Art, Beauty and Taste; The Birth of Aesthetics; What is Beauty?; What is Art?; CHAPTER 11: Moral Value, Moral Values and Duty; Aristotle - a Background; Aristotle - Virtue and Moral Value; Kant - Duty and Moral Values; J S Mill - Utilitarianism and Moral Values; Henry Sidgwick - Ethical Egoism; Nietzsche and Sartre - Moral Value as Freedom; Methods (iv) Assessing Theories in Ethics*; PART III: A SUMMARY; REVISION EXERCISES PART III; Further Reading; PART IV: KNOWLEDGE and BELIEF; CHAPTER 12: EPISTEMOLOGY - The Sources and Status of Knowledge; The Sources of Knowledge; Knowledge and Belief; Analytic and Synthetic Judgements*; A priori and a posteriori Knowledge; Epistemology - a Summary; CHAPTER 13: The Philosophy of Science; Science distinguished from non-science; Explanation in Science; The Development of Science; CHAPTER 14: The Existence of God; The Ontological Argument; The Argument from Design (Teleological Argument); The Cosmological Argument*; Transcendent and Transcendental Arguments; PART IV: A SUMMARY; REVISION EXERCISES PART IV; Further Reading; PART V: PEOPLE and FREEDOM; CHAPTER 15: Personal Identity; What is a person?; Dualism - mind and body; Continuity - body and consciousness; Materialism - mind as body; Summary; CHAPTER 16: Freedom and Responsibility*; Freedom of thought and action; Responsibility; PART V: A SUMMARY; REVISION EXERCISES PART V; Further Reading; SUGGESTED ANSWERS - PART I; SUGGESTED ANSWERS - PART II; SUGGESTED ANSWERS - PART III; SUGGESTED ANSWERS - PART IV; SUGGESTED ANSWERS - PART V; GLOSSARY OF NAMES; GLOSSARY OF TERMS; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX.
