I. PLATO AND THE TRIAL OF SOCRATES.
What is Philosophy?
1. Euthyphro: Defining Philosophical Terms. 2. The Apology, Phaedo, and Crito: The Trial, Immortality, and Death of Socrates.
II. THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY.
What Is the Value of Philosophy?
3. Russell: The Value of Philosophy.
III. PHILOSOPHICAL METHODOLOGIES.
What Is the Best Approach to Philosophy?
4. Peirce: Four Approaches to Philosophy. 5. Feigl: The Scientific Approach.
IV. KNOWLEDGE.
What Is Knowledge?
6. Plato: Knowledge Is 'Warranted, True Belief.'How Do We Acquire Knowledge?
7. Descartes: Knowledge Is Not Ultimately Sense Knowledge. 8. Locke: Knowledge is Ultimately Sensed. 9. Kant: Knowledge Is Both Rational and Empirical.How Is Truth Established?
10. Russell: Truth Is Established by Correspondence.11. Bradley: Truth Is Established by Coherence.12. James: Truth Is Established on Pragmatic Grounds.Can We Know the Nature of Causal Relations?
13. Hume: Cause Means Regular Association.14. Hume: There Are No Possible Grounds for Induction.
V. METAPHYSICS.
Of What Does Reality Consist?
15. Descartes: Reality Consists of Mind and Matter.16. Taylor: Reality Consists of Matter.17. Berkeley: Reality Consists of Ideas.18. Heidegger: The Nature of Being.Is Reality General or Particular?
19. Plato: Universals Are Real.20. Hume: Particulars Are Real.Do Humans Have an Identical Self?
21. Locke: Human Beings Have an Identical Self.22. Hume: Human Beings Have No Identical Self.
VI. PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.
Can We Prove God Exists?
23. St. Anselm: The Ontological Argument.24. St. Thomas Aquinas: The Cosmological Argument.25. Paley: The Teleological Argument.26. Pascal: It Is Better to Believe in God's Existence Than to Deny It.27. Kierkegaard: Faith, Not Logic, Is the Basis of Belief.Does the Idea of a Good God Exclude Evil?
28. Hume: A Good God Would Exclude Evil.29. Hick: God Can Allow Some Evil.
VII. ETHICS.
Are Humans Free?
30. Holbach: Humans Are Determined.31. James: Humans Are Free.Are Ethics Relative?
32. Benedict: Ethics Are Relative.33. Stace: Ethics Are Not Relative.Are Humans Always Selfish?
34. Humans Are Always Selfish: Glaucon's Challenge to Socrates.35. Rachels: Humans Are Not Always Selfish.Which Is Basic in Ethics: Happiness or Obligation?
36. Aristotle: Happiness Is Living Virtuously.37. Bentham: Happiness Is Seeking the Greatest Pleasure for the Greatest Number of People.38. Kant: Duty Is Prior to Happiness.39. Nietzsche: Happiness Is Having Power.40. Sartre: Existentialist Ethics.41. Tong: Feminist Ethics Are Different.
VIII. SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY.
The Abortion Issue.
42. English: Most Abortions Are Moral.The Pornography Issue.
43. Ward: Should Pornography Be Censored?The Homosexuality Issue.
44. Gould: Is Homosexuality Unnatural or Immoral?
IX. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
What Is Freedom?
45. Dostoevski: Freedom and Authority.46. Mill: Freedom Is Independence from the Majority's Tyranny.47. King: Freedom and Racial Prejudice.48. Light: Race and Public Policy.49. Nussbaum: Women, Justice, and Freedom.Which Government Is Best?
50. Hobbes: Monarchy Is Best.51. Locke: Liberal Democracy Is Best.52. Marx: Communism and Nonalienated Labor Is Best.53. Dewey: Social Democracy Is Best.
X. AESTHETICS.
Are Artistic Judgments Subjective?
54. Ducasse: Tastes Cannot Be Disputed.55. Beardsley: Tastes Can Be Disputed.What Is the Function of Art?
56. Aristotle: Art Purges the Emotions.57. Collingwood: Magic or Amusement?
XI. THE MEANING OF LIFE.
What Gives Life Meaning?
58. Tolstoy: Faith Provides Life's Meaning.59. Camus: Each Person Determines His or Her Life's Meaning.Glossary.
