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Philosophy The Pursuit of Wisdom

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ISBN-10: 0534605524

ISBN-13: 9780534605520

Edition: 4th 2004

Authors: Louis P. Pojman

List price: $66.95
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Capturing the inimitable enthusiasm of Louis Pojman's much acclaimed teaching, PHILOSOPHY: THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM introduces students to all of the core topics in philosophy. Beginning with an inquiry into the nature and purpose of philosophy, this text moves through many traditional discussions?such as the existence of God, the problems of knowledge, the freewill/determinism debate, and the foundations of ethics?and concludes with an exploration into existentialism and the meaning of life.
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Book details

List price: $66.95
Edition: 4th
Copyright year: 2004
Publisher: Wadsworth
Publication date: 2/7/2003
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 384
Size: 6.25" wide x 9.00" long x 0.75" tall
Weight: 1.100
Language: English

Louis P. Pojman (1935-2005) was Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at the United States Military Academy and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He received an M.A. and Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary/Columbia University. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Copenhagen and a Rockefeller Fellow at Hamburg University. He received his D.Phil. in Philosophy from Oxford University in 1997.His first position was at the University of Notre Dame, after which he taught at the University of Texas at Dallas. Later, at the University of Mississippi, he served for three years as Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. In 1995, he became Professor of Philosophy…    

Prefacep. xi
A Personal Word to the Studentp. xiv
Introduction to Philosophyp. 1
What Is Philosophy?p. 2
Philosophy Begins with Wonderp. 2
Pythagorasp. 4
The Eleaticsp. 5
Heracleitusp. 8
Other Significant Philosophersp. 9
Philosophy: The Love of Wisdomp. 10
A Little Bit of Logicp. 20
Deductive and Inductive Reasoningp. 20
Abductive Reasoningp. 24
Some Applicationsp. 27
Fallacies of Reasoningp. 28
Box: Necessary and Sufficient Conditionsp. 30
The Rise of the Sophists and Socratesp. 34
The Rise of the Sophistsp. 34
Socrates: The Father of Ethicsp. 39
Box: Platop. 47
Philosophy of Religionp. 51
Arguments for the Existence of Godp. 54
The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God: A First Causep. 56
The Argument from Contingencyp. 58
The Teleological Argument for the Existence of Godp. 63
A Designerp. 63
Hume's Critiquep. 64
The Darwinian Objectionp. 66
The Ontological Argument for the Existence of Godp. 70
Anselm's Argumentp. 71
Criticism of Anselm's Argumentp. 72
The Second Version of Anselm's Argumentp. 74
The Argument from Religious Experiencep. 78
Encounters with Godp. 78
An Analysis of Religious Experiencep. 79
A Critique of the Strong-Justification Thesisp. 82
The Problem of Evilp. 91
The Mystery of Evilp. 91
The Argument from Evilp. 92
The Free-Will Defensep. 94
The Theodicy Defensep. 96
Problems with the Theodicy Defensep. 97
Evolution and Evilp. 99
Faith and Reasonp. 103
The Challenge to Faith: An Outline of the Central Issuesp. 103
Pragmatic Justification of Religious Beliefp. 104
Fideism: Faith Without/Against Reasonp. 107
Alvin Plantinga's Theory of Reformed Epistemologyp. 110
The Theory of Knowledgep. 119
What Can We Know?p. 120
Knowledge and Its Typesp. 120
Theories of Truthp. 122
Knowledge and Beliefp. 129
Skepticismp. 138
The Challenge of Skepticismp. 138
Descartesp. 139
Humep. 142
Do We have Knowledge of the External World?p. 146
The Relevant Alternatives Modelp. 147
Moore's Defense of Common Sensep. 149
Weak versus Strong Knowledgep. 150
Perception: Our Knowledge of the External Worldp. 156
Appearance and Realityp. 156
Theories of Perceptionp. 157
Philosophy of Mindp. 169
The Mind-Body Problemp. 170
Dualistic Interactionismp. 170
Materialismp. 173
A Critique of Dualistic Interactionismp. 175
Dualism Revivedp. 178
Box: The Mind-Body Problemp. 179
Materialist Monismp. 183
Functionalism and Biological Naturalismp. 191
Box: Intentionalityp. 196
The Problem of Personal Identityp. 199
What Is It to Be a Person?p. 200
What Is Identity?p. 201
What Is Personal Identity?p. 202
Is There Life after Death? Personal Identity and Immortalityp. 208
Box: Reincarnationp. 213
Freedom of the Will and Determinismp. 217
Determinismp. 219
Universal Causalityp. 220
Teleological Determinismp. 223
Libertarianismp. 225
The Argument from Deliberationp. 225
The Argument from Moral Responsibilityp. 230
Compatibilism: How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Toop. 233
A Reconciling Projectp. 233
A Critique of Compatibilism: A "Quagmire of Evasion"?p. 236
The Argument Against Compatibilism from Moral Responsibilityp. 236
The Compatibilist Responsep. 240
Ethicsp. 245
What Is Morality?p. 246
Why Do We Need Morality?p. 246
The Purposes of Moralityp. 251
Ethical Relativism versus Ethical Objectivismp. 255
An Analysis of Ethnical Relativismp. 257
Subjective Ethnical Relativism (Subjectivism)p. 258
Conventional Ethical Relativism (Conventionalism)p. 259
The Case for Ethical Objectivismp. 262
Egoism, Self-Love, and Altruismp. 268
Arguments for Ethical Egoismp. 271
Arguments Against Ethical Egoismp. 273
Evolution and Altruismp. 275
Utilitarianism and the Structure of Ethicsp. 280
What is Utilitarianism?p. 283
The Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianismp. 286
Utilitarian Responses to the Standard Objectionsp. 288
Kantian Deontological Ethicsp. 294
Immanuel Kant's Rationalist Deontological Systemp. 295
The Goodwillp. 297
Duty and the Moral Lawp. 297
Kant's Second Formulation of the Categorical Imperativep. 302
The Principle of Autonomyp. 304
Religion and Ethicsp. 308
Does Morality Depend on Religion?p. 309
Is Religion Irrelevant or Even Inimical to Morality?p. 313
Does Religion Enhance the Moral Life?p. 316
Existentialism and the Meaning of Lifep. 323
Existentialismp. 324
What Is Existentialism?p. 324
Box: Soren Aabye Kierkegaardp. 326
Box: Friedrich Nietzschep. 327
Three Theses of Existentialismp. 330
Box: Jean-Paul Sartrep. 334
Assessmentp. 336
How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paperp. 341
Glossaryp. 343
Indexp. 351
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