Philosophizing: Creating a World of Ideas
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2019
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2019
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Philosophizing: Creating a World of Ideas is a special book. It introduces students to philosophy in a balanced way. With regard to the approach to learning, it balances content and method. With respect to content, it balances a problem centered approach with an historical emphasis. With regard to the selected problems, it balances theoretical issues with practical issues. With respect to the assignments, it balances individual reflection with social collaboration.
Although the text deals with philosophy as an academic discipline, its emphasis on philosophizing allows students to feel the excitement of philosophy as a dialogical activity. Critical, comprehensive, controversial questions are tackled: What is a “good life”? What is a “good society”/ What makes a belief count as “knowledge”? What is “ultimate reality”? Can we know if there is a “God”? These intellectual questions are seen in a logical and historical light. Keeping an open mind is prized as multiple perspectives are explored. Analytical skills are developed by searching for distinctions and connections between theories. Critical thinking competencies are nurtured by defining concepts, articulating objections, and constructing arguments. Practical topics are used to reinforce these skills as students work collaboratively in teams on their chosen projects. Philosophizing: Creating a World of Ideas approaches philosophy as a personal and social activity ideally suited to enrich the quality of our thoughts and, consequently, the quality of our lives.
CHAPTER 1 • INTRODUCTION
1. Meanings: Personal, Institutional, Professional, and Intellectual
2. Motivations: Intrinsic and Extrinsic
3. Areas: Morality, Society, Reality, Knowledge, and God
4. Methods: Questions, Theories, Distinctions, Definitions, Objections, and Arguments
5. Applications: What makes an X a “good X”?
CHAPTER 2 • ETHICS
6. Key Questions
7. Theories: Platonism, Aristotelianism, Hedonism, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Augustinianism, Thomism, Hobbesian Egoism, Hume’s Sentimentalism, Kantian Rationalism, Utilitarianism, Existentialism, Darwinian Naturalism, and Care Ethics
8. Metaethics: What does “good” mean? What does “right” mean?
9. Applications: Short Exercises and Long Essays
CHAPTER 3 • POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
10. Key Questions
11. Theories: Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, Mussolini, Rawls, and Nozick
12. Applications: Short Exercises and Long Essays
CHAPTER 4 • METAPHYSICS AND EPISTEMOLOGY
13. Key Questions
14. Theories: Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Dewey, Russell, Wittgenstein, Rorty, and Quine
15. Applications: Short Exercises and Long Essays
CHAPTER 5 • PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
16. Key Questions
17. Arguments: St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Juliana, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Paley, Newman, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, James, Flew, Plantinga, and Daly
18. Applications: Short Exercises and Long Essays
CHAPTER 6 • PHILOSOPHICAL SKILLS AND SYSTEMS
19. Key Questions
20. Representative Systems
21. A Personal System
CHAPTER 7 • REVISITING PHILOSOPHICAL WORLDS
22. The World of Philosophizing
23. The Ethical World
24. The Political World
25. The Metaphysical World
26. The Epistemological World
27. The World of Religion
28. The Place of Philosophy in the Academic and Professional Worlds
GLOSSARY
INDEX