Philosophical Introductions

Philosophical Introductions PDF Author: Michael K Cundall, Jr
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781516582655
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Through an engaging collection of readings and articles, Philosophical Introductions: Introductory Readings in Philosophy introduces students to a variety of areas within the discipline. The text features examples and content students can easily relate to, as well as a section dedicated to humor. The anthology is organized into 15 chapters that cover a range of topics, including the concepts of evil, forgiveness and apology, free will and determinism, and the justification of human rights. Students read selections from Aristotle concerning the virtue of character, virtues of thought, and the individual virtues of character. Additional chapters cover the concept of race as it applies to social culture, utilitarianism, Kantianism, humor, and more. Designed to provide students with a thought-provoking reading experience, Philosophical Introductions is an ideal foundational resource for courses in philosophy.

Philosophical Introductions

Philosophical Introductions PDF Author: Michael K Cundall, Jr
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781516582655
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
Through an engaging collection of readings and articles, Philosophical Introductions: Introductory Readings in Philosophy introduces students to a variety of areas within the discipline. The text features examples and content students can easily relate to, as well as a section dedicated to humor. The anthology is organized into 15 chapters that cover a range of topics, including the concepts of evil, forgiveness and apology, free will and determinism, and the justification of human rights. Students read selections from Aristotle concerning the virtue of character, virtues of thought, and the individual virtues of character. Additional chapters cover the concept of race as it applies to social culture, utilitarianism, Kantianism, humor, and more. Designed to provide students with a thought-provoking reading experience, Philosophical Introductions is an ideal foundational resource for courses in philosophy.

An Introduction to Philosophical Methods

An Introduction to Philosophical Methods PDF Author: Christopher Daly
Publisher: Broadview Press
ISBN: 155111934X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
An Introduction to Philosophical Methods is the first book to survey the various methods that philosophers use to support their views. Rigorous yet accessible, the book introduces and illustrates the methodological considerations that are involved in current philosophical debates. Where there is controversy, the book presents the case for each side, but highlights where the key difficulties with them lie. While eminently student-friendly, the book makes an important contribution to the debate regarding the acceptability of the various philosophical methods, and so it will also be of interest to more experienced philosophers.

Knowledge and Mind

Knowledge and Mind PDF Author: Andrew Brook
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262261647
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This is the only contemporary text to cover both epistemology and philosophy of mind at an introductory level. It also serves as a general introduction to philosophy: it discusses the nature and methods of philosophy as well as basic logical tools of the trade. The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on knowledge, in particular, skepticism and knowledge of the external world, and knowledge of language. The second focuses on mind, including the metaphysics of mind and freedom of will. The third brings together knowledge and mind, discussing knowledge of mind (other minds and our own) and naturalism and how epistemology and philosophy of mind come together in contemporary cognitive science. Throughout, the authors take into account the needs of the beginning philosophy student. They have made very effort to ensure accessibility while preserving accuracy.

Philosophical Aesthetics

Philosophical Aesthetics PDF Author: Oswald Hanfling
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9780631180357
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
This volume contains surveys of the main issues in philosophical aesthetics, as discussed by thinkers from ancient Greece to modern times. It is written by members of the Open University and the intention throughout is to make the issues intelligible and interesting to as wide an audience as possible, including those readers with a general interest in the arts as well as more advanced students. The volume begins with questions about the nature of art and beauty. Are there any limitations to what may count as a work of art? Are imitations and forgeries really less valuable than original works? This is followed by discussions of aesthetic experience, truth and the 'imitation of nature' in works of art. In later chapters the emphasis is on the value and evaluation of art. Should art exist for the good of society? What justification is there for censorship in the case of pornography? The final chapters deal with Marxist theories of art, and with structuralist and post-structuralist views in recent continental writings.

Mereology: A Philosophical Introduction

Mereology: A Philosophical Introduction PDF Author: Giorgio Lando
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472583671
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Parthood and composition are everywhere. The leg of a table is part of the table, the word "Christmas" is part of the sentence "I wish you a merry Christmas", the 13th century is part of the Middle Ages. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg compose Benelux, the body of a deer is composed of a huge number of cells, the Middle Ages are composed of the Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, and Late Middle Ages. Is there really a general theory covering every instance of parthood and composition? Is classical mereology this general theory? Are its seemingly counter-intuitive features serious defects? Mereology: A Philosophical Introduction addresses the multifaceted and lively philosophical debates surrounding these questions, and defends the idea that classical mereology is indeed the general and exhaustive theory of parthood and composition in the domain of concrete entities. Several examples of parthood and composition, involving entities of different kinds, are scrutinised in depth. Incidentally, mereology is shown to interact in a surprising way with metaontology. Presenting a well-organized and comprehensive discussion of parthood and related notions, Mereology: A Philosophical Introduction contributes to a better understanding of a subject central to contemporary metaphysics.

Philosophical Introductions

Philosophical Introductions PDF Author: Jürgen Habermas
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509506756
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
On the occasion of Habermas’s 80th birthday, the German publisher Suhrkamp brought out five volumes of Habermas’s papers that spanned the full range of his philosophical thought, from the theory of rationality to the critique of metaphysics. For each of these volumes, Habermas wrote an introduction that crystallized, in a remarkably clear and succinct way, his thinking on the key philosophical issues that have preoccupied him throughout his long career. This new book by Polity brings together these five introductions and publishes them in translation for the first time. The resulting volume provides a unique and comprehensive overview of Habermas’s philosophy in his own words. In the five chapters that make up this volume, Habermas discusses the concept of communicative action and the grounding of the social sciences in the theory of language; the relationship between rationality and the theory of language; discourse ethics; political theory and problems of democracy and legitimacy; and the critique of reason and the challenge posed by religion in a secular age. The volume includes a substantial introduction by Jean-Marc Durand-Gasselin, which offers a synoptic view of the development of Habermas’s thought as a whole followed by concise accounts of his contributions in each of the areas mentioned. Together they provide the reader with the necessary background to understand Habermas’s distinctive and original contribution to philosophy. Philosophical Introductions will be an indispensable text for students and scholars in philosophy and in the humanities and social sciences generally, as well as anyone interested in the most important developments in philosophy and critical theory today.

Wittgenstein's Tractatus

Wittgenstein's Tractatus PDF Author: Alfred Nordmann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521850865
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
This introduction, first published in 2005, considers the philosophical and literary aspects of Wittgenstein's 'Tractatus' and shows how they are related.

Thinking Through Food

Thinking Through Food PDF Author: Alexandra Plakias
Publisher: Broadview Press
ISBN: 1770486917
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
This book offers a wide-ranging yet concise introduction to the many philosophical issues surrounding food production and consumption. It begins with discussions of the metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetics of food, then moves on to debates about the ethics of eating animals, the environmental impacts of food production, and the role of technology in our food supply, before concluding with discussions of food access, health, and justice. Throughout, the author draws on cross-disciplinary research to engage with historical debates and current events.

Testimony

Testimony PDF Author: Joseph Shieber
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317449657
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The epistemology of testimony has experienced a growth in interest over the last twenty-five years that has been matched by few, if any, other areas of philosophy. Testimony: A Philosophical Introduction provides an epistemology of testimony that surveys this rapidly growing research area while incorporating a discussion of relevant empirical work from social and developmental psychology, as well as from the interdisciplinary study of knowledge-creation in groups. The past decade has seen a number of scholarly monographs on the epistemology of testimony, but there is a dearth of books that survey the current field. This book fills that gap, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of all major competing theories. All chapters conclude with Suggestions for Further Reading and Discussion Questions.

A Philosophical Introduction to Human Rights

A Philosophical Introduction to Human Rights PDF Author: Thomas Mertens
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108244394
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
While almost everyone has heard of human rights, few will have reflected in depth on what human rights are, where they originate from and what they mean. A Philosophical Introduction to Human Rights – accessibly written without being superficial – addresses these questions and provides a multifaceted introduction to legal philosophy. The point of departure is the famous 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides a frame for engagement with western legal philosophy. Thomas Mertens sketches the philosophical and historical background of the Declaration, discusses the ten most important human rights with the help of key philosophers, and ends by reflecting on the relationship between rights and duties. The basso continuo of the book is a particular world view derived from Immanuel Kant. 'Unsocial sociability' is what characterises humans, i.e. the tension between man's individual and social nature. Some human rights emphasize the first, others the second aspect. The tension between these two aspects plays a fundamental role in how human rights are interpreted and applied.