| Description |
xii, 178 pages ; 21 cm |
| Contents |
1. God. The Design Argument. Criticisms of the Design Argument. The Anthropic Principle. Criticism of the Anthropic Principle. The First Cause Argument. Criticisms of the First Cause Argument. The Ontological Argument. Criticisms of the Ontological Argument. Knowledge, proof, and the existence of God. The Problem of Evil. Attempted solutions to the Problem of Evil. The Free Will Defence. Criticisms of the Free Will Defence. The argument from miracles. Hume on miracles. The Gambler's Argument: Pascal's Wager. Criticisms of the Gambler's Argument. Non-realism about God. Criticisms of non-realism about God. Faith -- 2. Right and wrong. Duty-based theories. Christian ethics. Criticisms of Christian ethics. Kantian ethics. Criticisms of Kantian ethics. Consequentialisim. Utilitarianism. Criticisms of utilitarianism. Negative utilitarianism. Criticism of negative utilitarianism. Rule utilitarianism. Virtue theory. Criticisms of virtue theory. Applied ethics. Ethics and meta-ethics. Naturalism. Criticisms of naturalism. Moral relativism. Criticisms of moral relativism. Emotivism. Criticisms of emotivism -- 3. Politics. Equality. Equal distribution of money. Criticisms of equal distribution of money. Equal opportunity in employment. Reverse discrimination. Criticisms of reverse discrimination. Political equality: democracy. Direct democracy. Representative democracy. Criticisms of democracy. Freedom. Negative freedom. Criticisms of negative freedom. Removing freedom: punishment. Punishment as retribution. Criticisms of retributism. Deterrence. Criticisms of deterrence. Protection of society. Criticisms of protection of society. Reform. Criticisms of reform. Civil disobedience. Criticisms of civil disobedience -- 4. The external world. Commonsense realism. Scepticism about the evidence of the senses. The Illusion Argument. Criticisms of the Illusion Argument. Could I be dreaming? Hallucination. Memory and logic. I think therefore I am. Criticism of the Cogito. Representative realism. Criticisms of representative realism. Idealism. Criticisms of idealism. Phenomenalism. Criticisms of phenomenalism. Causal realism. Criticisms of causal realism -- 5. Science. The simple view of scientific method. Criticisms of the simple view. The Problem of Induction. Attempted solutions to the Problem of Induction. Falsificationism: conjecture and refutation. Criticisms of falsificationism -- 6. Mind. Philosophy of mind and psychology. The Mind/Body Problem. Dualism. Criticisms of dualism. Dualism without interaction. Physicalism. Type-identity theory. Criticisms of type-identity theory. Token-identity theory. Criticisms of token-identity theory. Behaviourism. Criticisms of behaviourism. Functionalism. Criticism of functionalism. Other Minds. The argument from analogy. Criticisms of the argument from analogy -- 7. Art. Can art be defined? The family resemblance view. Criticisms of the family resemblance view. The significant form theory. Criticisms of the significant form theory. The idealist theory. Criticisms of the idealist theory. The institutional theory. Criticisms of the institutional theory. Art criticism. Anti-intentionalism. Criticisms of anti-intentionalism. Performance, interpretation, authenticity. Historical authenticity in performance. Criticisms of historical authenticity in performance. Forgeries and artistic value |
| Summary |
"Philosophy: The Basics is an introduction to philosophy for anyone coming to the subject for the first time, particularly those studying it at school, college or university. It takes a topic-based approach, each chapter considering an area of philosophy (God, right and wrong, politics, the external world, science, mind, art) and outlining a number of key philosophical issues associated with the area. The chapters end with realistic suggestions for further reading." "The reader is encouraged to think philosophically. The book introduces important philosophical questions and the various responses that have been made to them. Though major philosophical figures are mentioned, the emphasis throughout is on the arguments for and against every idea discussed. In this way, readers can follow the course and development of a philosophical position and critically assess the position for themselves."--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Philosophy -- Introductions.
|
| LC no. |
00266189 |
| ISBN |
0415146933 (hbk) |
|
0415146941 (paperback) |
|
