Synopsis:
REASON AND RESPONSIBILITY: READINGS IN SOME BASIC PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY, 15E, International Edition has a well-earned reputation for clarity and breadth, with a proven selection of high-quality readings that cover centuries of philosophical debate. The anthology includes the central issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, and ethics, as well as debates over the value of philosophy and the meaning of life. The book is clearly organized so that the readings complement each other, guiding readers through contrasting positions on key philosophical issues. Clear, concise introductions provide reading tips and background information to help readers engage directly and meaningfully with the primary sources.
Review:
Joel Feinberg (1926-2004): In Memoriam. Preface. The Nature and Value of Philosophy. Joel Feinberg: A Logic Lesson. Plato: "Apology." Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy. PART I: REASON AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 1. The Existence and Nature of God. Anselm of Canterbury: The Ontological Argument, from Proslogion. Gaunilo of Marmoutiers: On Behalf of the Fool. L. Rowe: The Ontological Argument. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways, from Summa Theologica. Samuel Clarke: A Modern Formulation of the Cosmological Argument. William L. Rowe: The Cosmological Argument. William Paley: The Argument from Design. David Hume: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. 2. The Problem of Evil. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Rebellion. J. L. Mackie: Evil and Omnipotence. Peter van Inwagen: The Argument from Evil. John Hick The Soul-Making Defense. B. C. Johnson: God and the Problem of Evil. 3. Reason and Faith. W. K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief. William James: The Will to Believe. Kelly James Clark: Without Evidence or Argument. Blaise Pascal: The Wager. Simon Blackburn: Miracles and Testimony. PART II: HUMAN KNOWLEDGE: ITS GROUNDS AND LIMITS. 4. Skepticism. John Pollock: A Brain in a Vat. Michael Huemer: Three Skeptical Arguments. Roderick M. Chisholm: The Problem of the Criterion. 5. The Nature and Value of Knowledge. Plato: Knowledge as Justified True Belief. Edmund Gettier: Is Justified True Belief Knowledge? James Cornman, Keith Lehrer, and George Pappas: An Analysis of Knowledge. Gilbert Ryle: Knowing How and Knowing That. Plato: "Meno". Duncan Pritchard: The Value of Knowledge. 6. Our Knowledge of the External World. Bertrand Russell: Appearance and Reality and the Existence of Matter. Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. John Locke: The Causal Theory of Perception. George Berkeley: Of the Principles of Human Knowledge. G. E. Moore: Proof of an External World. 7. The Methods of Science. David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Wesley C. Salmon: An Encounter with David Hume. Karl Popper: Science: Conjectures and Refutations. Philip Kitcher: Believing Where We Cannot Prove. PART III: MIND AND ITS PLACE IN NATURE. 8. The Mind-Body Problem. Brie Gertler: In Defense of Mind-Body Dualism. Frank Jackson: The Qualia Problem. Peter Carruthers: The Mind Is the Brain. Paul Churchland: Functionalism and Eliminative Materialism. 9. Can Non-Humans Think? Alan Turing: Computing Machinery and Intelligence. John R. Searle: Minds, Brains, and Programs. William G. Lycan: Robots and Minds. 10. Personal Identity and the Survival of Death. Ted Sider: Personal Identity. John Locke: The Prince and the Cobbler. Thomas Reid: Of Mr. Locke's Account of Our Personal Identity. David Hume: The Self. Derek Parfit: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons. John Perry: A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality. PART IV: DETERMINISM, FREE WILL, AND RESPONSIBILITY. 11. The Mysteries of Free Will. Peter van Inwagen: Freedom of the Will. 12. Libertarianism: The Case for Free Will and Its Incompatibility with Determinism. Roderick M. Chisholm: Human Freedom and the Self. Robert Kane: Free Will: Ancient Dispute, New Themes. 13. Hard Determinism: The Case for Determinism and its Incompatibility with Its Incompatibility with Any Important Sense of Free Will. Paul Holbach: The Illusion of Free Will. Derk Pereboom: Why We Have No Free Will and Can Live Without It. (Modified in this edition) 14. Compatibilism: The Case for Determinism and Its Compatibility with the Most Important Sense of Free Will. David Hume: Of Liberty and Necessity. A. J. Ayer: Freedom and Necessity. 15. Freedom and Moral Responsibility. Galen Strawson: The Maze of Free Will. Harry Frankfurt: Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility. Thomas Nagel: Moral Luck. Susan Wolf: Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility. PART V: MORALITY AND ITS CRITICS. 16. Changes to Morality. Joel Feinberg: Psychological Egoism. Plato: The Immoralist's Challenge. Friedrich Nietzche: Master and Slave Morality. Richard Joyce: The Evolutionary Debunking of Morality. 17. Proposed Standards and Right of Conduct. Russ Shafer-Landau: Ethical Subjectivism. Martha Nussbaum: Judging Other Cultures: The Case of Genital Mutilation. Aristotle: Virtue and the Good Life. Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan. John Rawls: Justice as Fairness. Plato: Euthyphro. Immanuel Kant: The Good Will and the Categorical Imperative. J.S. Mill: Utilitarianism, Chapters 2 and 4. W. D. Ross: What Makes Right Acts Right? Hilde Lindemann: What Is Feminist Ethics? 18. Ethical Problems. Plato: Crito. Peter Singer: The Singer Solution to World Poverty. John Harris: The Survival Lottery. James Rachels: Active and Passive Euthanasia. Judith Jarvis Thomson: A Defense of Abortion. Don Marquis: Why Abortion Is Immoral. 19. The Meaning of Life. Epicurus: Letter to Menoeceus. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World. Leo Tolstoy: My Confession. Erik Wielenber: The Meaning of Life without God. Thomas Nagel: The Absurd.
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