Philosophy

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Philosophy Table of Contents	3
Chapter 1: The Nature of Philosophy	10
1.1 What is Philosophy?	10
1.2 Why Study Philosophy?	10
1.3 Having a Philosophy	11
1.4 Doing Philosophy (Thinking Philosophically)	11
1.5 Critical Thinking	11
1.6 Stages in Critical Thinking	12
1.7 Logical Reasoning	12
1.8 Argument Forms	12
1.9 Evaluating Arguments	13
1.10 Informal Fallacies	13
1.11 Branches of Philosophy	14
1.12 Bertrand Russell	15
1.13 Chapter One Terminology	17
1.14 Chapter One Practice Exam	18
Chapter 2: What is the Philosopher’s Way?	20
2.1 Birth of Philosophy	20
2.2 The Socratic Method	21
2.3 Socrates’ Central Concern: The Soul	22
2.4 The Trial and Death of Socrates	23
2.5 Socrates’ Legacy	24
2.6 Chapter Two Practice Exam	26
Chapter 3: Thinking Philosophically about Religious Beliefs	28
3.1 Introduction	28
3.2 What is Religion?	29
3.3 Feuerbach: God is a Human Projection	29
3.4 Nishitani: Religion is a Vital Quest	30
3.5 A Brief Survey of World Religions	31
3.6 Indigenous Sacred Ways	35
3.7 Can We Prove the Existence of God?	35
3.8 The Problem of Evil	37
3.9 John Hick: Philosophy of Religion	38
3.10 A Critique of Hick’s Theodicy	39
3.11 Faith and Religious Experience	39
3.12 Pascal: Religious Faith as a Wager	40
3.13 Clifford: Religious Beliefs Require Sufficient Evidence	40
3.14 James: Religious Belief is Legitimate and Compelling	40
3.15 Subjective Knowing: The Leap of Faith	41
3.16 Chapter Three Practice Exam	42
Chapter 4: Who Are You? Consciousness, Identity, and the Self	44
4.1 Know Thyself	44
4.2 The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato	44
4.3 Descartes’ Modern Perspective on the Self	45
4.4 Locke: The Self is Consciousness	46
4.5 Hume: There is No Self	46
4.6 Immanuel Kant: We Construct the Self	47
4.7 Freud: The Self is Multi-layered	48
4.8 Ryle: The Self is How You Behave	49
4.9 Physicalism: The Self is the Brain	49
4.10 Functionalism	49
4.11 Paul Churchland: Eliminative Materialism	50
4.12 Husserl and Merleau-Ponty: The Self is Embodied Subjectivity	50
4.13 Buddhist Concepts of Self	51
4.14 Making Connections: In Search of the Self	51
4.15 Chapter Four Practice Exam	52
Chapter 5: Are You Free? Freedom and Determinism	54
5.1 Introduction	54
5.2 Views of Free Will	55
5.3 Determinism	56
5.4 The System of Nature	56
5.5 Compatibilism	57
5.6 Indeterminism and Libertarianism	58
5.7 William James: The Will to Believe	58
5.8 Sartre: We Create Ourselves through Our Choices	59
5.9 A Feminist Analysis of Freedom	61
5.10 Making Connections: Creating a Synthesis	61
5.11 Chapter Five Practice Exam	63
Learning Objectives	54
Chapter 6: How Can We Know the Nature of Reality?	66
6.1 What is the Nature of Philosophy?	66
6.2 Pre-Socratic Philosophers	67
6.3 Plato: Reality is the Eternal Realm of the Forms	68
6.4 Aristotle: Reality is the Natural World	70
6.5 Descartes: Can Reality be known?	72
6.6 Making Connections: Your Beliefs about the World	73
6.7 Chapter Six Practice Exam	74
Chapter 7: What is Real? What is True?	76
7.1 Questioning Independent Reality	76
7.2 Locke: All Knowledge Comes from Experience	76
7.3 Leibniz’s Case against Locke	77
7.4 Locke’s Causal Theory of Perception	77
7.5 Berkeley: Reality Depends on Perception	78
7.6 Hume: Understanding Reality Demands Skepticism	78
7.7 Kant: We Constitute Our World	79
7.8 Two Realities: Phenomenal and Noumenal	81
7.9 Applying Kant’s Theories	82
7.10 Jaggar: Emotions Shape Our Understanding	82
7.11 Making Connections: Developing Informed Beliefs	83
7.12 Chapter Seven Practice Exam	84
Chapter 8: Are There Moral Truths?	86
8.1 Ethics and Values	86
8.2 Thinking Critically About Ethics	86
8.3 Ethical Relativism	87
8.4 Cultural Relativism: Each Culture Determines what is Morally Right	87
8.5 Ethical Absolutism: Some Moral Values are Universal	88
8.6 Egoism as a Universal Principle	89
8.7 Arguments for Egoism	89
8.8 Arguments against Egoism	90
8.9 Religion and Universal Values	91
8.10 Divine Command Theory	91
8.11 Natural Law Theory	92
8.12 Chapter Eight Practice Exam	93
Chapter 9: What are Right Actions? Constructing an Ethical Theory	95
9.1 Character: Virtue Ethics	95
9.2 Maxims: Duty to Moral Laws	96
9.3 Consequences: Utilitarianism	98
9.4 Bentham: The Greatest Happiness for the Greatest Number	99
9.5 Mill: Higher Pleasures have Greater Worth	100
9.6 Singer: Consider the Interests of Animals	100
9.7 Authenticity: Existentialist Ethics	101
9.8 Soren Kierkegaard	101
9.9 Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil	102
9.10 Sartre: Authenticity and Ethical Responsibility	103
9.11 De Beauvoir: Our Interplay with Others Defines Us	104
9.12 Camus: Courage is the Highest Value	105
9.13 Empathy: The Ethics of Care	105
9.14 Making Connections: Your Moral Compass Revisited	106
9.15 Chapter Nine Practice Exam	107
Chapter 10: What is Social Justice?	109
10.1 Elements of a Just Society	109
10.2 Classical Theories of Society: Confucius, Plato, and Aristotle	109
10.3 Plato: Society Should be Based on Function and Harmony	110
10.4 Aristotle: Society is the Natural State of Humanity	112
10.5 Justice Depends on a Social Contract	112
10.6 Hobbes: We Need a Social Contract to Coexist	113
10.7 Locke: The Social Contract Protects Natural Rights	114
10.8 The State of Nature: Assumptions and Questions	115
10.9 Rawls: The State of Nature is a Conceptual Tool	116
10.10 Marx and Engels: Justice is Based on Need and Ability	117
10.11 Mill: Justice is what Promotes the General Welfare	119
10.12 Okin: Justice is what Promotes Gender Equality	120
10.13 Making Connections: An Ideal Society	121
10.14 Chapter Ten Practice Exam	122
Reflection Essay Questions	124
Answer Keys for Chapters 1-10	127

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