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Philosophy for Dummies

✍ Scribed by Tom Morris


Publisher
For Dummies
Year
2022
Tongue
English
Leaves
403
Edition
2
Category
Library

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✦ Synopsis


You think, therefore you are. Get a straightforward rundown on philosophy from the ancient world to today

If you've ever pondered your existence over your morning coffee or considered the nature of crime and punishment, you're an amateur philosopher. From everyday questions about happiness and responsibility to deep, spiritual examinations about God and the cosmos, philosophy pervades every part of our lives. And even though it might seem complex at first glance, these questions that affect everyone on the planet can be understood and talked about by anyone!

In Philosophy For Dummies, Dr. Tom Morris delivers a refreshing and engaging exploration of the fundamentals of philosophy and shows you that philosophy can be fascinating and fun at the same time. You'll be introduced to topics like the meaning of life, religious belief, and ways to live in the most satisfying ways. You'll also learn about the insights of some of history's greatest philosophers.

This book is full of the questions--and proposed solutions--to the questions that keep philosophers up at night, like:

When should we doubt our beliefs and knowledge? Is there a God? What is His/Her/Their nature? Do we have free will or are we simply acting out physical imperatives? Whether you're interested in the nature of the mind/soul versus the body, or you want to learn more about morals and ethics, Philosophy For Dummies will be your personal guide to some of life's most enduring problems and questions.

✦ Table of Contents


Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I What Is Philosophy, Anyway?
Chapter 1 Great Thinkers, Deep Thoughts
Listening to the critics
Consulting Socrates on What Counts
Asking The Deeper Questions
Chapter 2 Philosophy as an Activity
Adventuring for the Mind
Mapping Our Way Forward
Understanding the Power of Belief
The image of Plato’s Cave
The philosophical Houdini
Chapter 3 The Love of Wisdom
Identifying Some Skills of Philosophy
Mastering analysis
Improving assessment
Using argument
Seeing How Wisdom Rules
Embarking on the Socratic Quest for Wisdom
Part 2 How Do We Know Anything?
Chapter 4 Belief, Truth, and Knowledge
Understanding Belief
The Importance of Belief
The Ideal of Knowledge
The truth about truth
The complete definition of knowledge
Truth and rationality
Chapter 5 The Challenge of Skepticism
Introducing the Ancient Art of Doubt
Asking Questions We Can’t Answer
The questions of source skepticism
The questions of radical skepticism
What the skeptics show us
When it’s good to doubt your doubts
Where Do You Go from Here?
Chapter 6 The Amazing Reality of Basic Beliefs
The Foundations of Knowledge
Empiricism and rationalism
What’s lurking at the foundations
Evidentialism
The Principle of Belief Conservation
Belief conservation and radical skepticism
Belief conservation and source skepticism
The basic status of belief conservation
Evidentialism refuted and revised
William James on Precursive Faith
Leaps of Faith
Part 3 What Is the Good?
Chapter 7 What’s Good?
Looking at Ethics and Morality
Defining the Good
Evaluating Three Views on Evaluation
The philosophy of noncognitivism: The boo/yay theory
Ethical subjectivism
Moral objectivism
Taking Teleological Target Practice
Chapter 8 Happiness, Excellence, and the Good Life
Memo to the Modern World
Exploring The Idea of Good
Divine command theory
Social contract theory
Utilitarianism
Deontological theory
Sociobiological theory
Virtue theory
Four Dimensions of Human Experience
The intellectual dimension
The aesthetic dimension
The moral dimension
The spiritual dimension
The ultimate context of good
Chapter 9 Ethical Rules and Moral Character
Weighing Rules and Virtues
The Golden Rule and what it means
The precise role of the Golden Rule
Character, wisdom, and virtue
Teaching the Path of Goodness
Who am I? — A test of character
What should I do? — A test of action
The answer to the question
Part 4 Are We Ever Really Free?
Chapter 10 Fate, Destiny, and You
Appreciating Free Will
Revealing the Theological Challenge
Considering the Logical Challenge
Determining the Scientific Challenge
Chapter 11 Standard Views of Freedom
Pondering God, Logic, and Free Will
The theological challenge answered
The Logical Challenge answered
Taking on The Scientific Challenge
Scientific determinists
Metaphysical libertarians
Compatibilism
Which approach is the right one?
Chapter 12 Doing: Human Agency in the World
Gaining Wisdom on Freedom
Being an Agent and Getting Your Due
Part 5 The Incredible, Invisible You
Chapter 13 What Is a Person?
Learning about Guitars and Ghosts
Glimpses of the Mind
Views of the Person
Monism
Dualism
The Contenders
Interactionism
Epiphenomenalism
Parallelism
Narrowing the Options
Chapter 14 The Case for Materialism
Analyzing The Positive Arguments
The man-is-an-animal argument
The artificial intelligence argument
The brain chemistry argument
Considering The Negative Arguments
The superfluity argument
The mystery objection
The problem of other minds
Arriving at a Verdict on the Materialist Case
Chapter 15 The Case for Dualism
Examining Dualism
Being a Soul, Man
The introspection argument
The discernibility argument
The Cartesian argument
The Platonic argument
The parapsychology argument
Needing More Evidence
Part 6 What’s the Deal with Death?
Chapter 16 From Dust to Dust: Fear and the Void
Exiting Life and the Four Fears
Fear of the process of dying
Fear of punishment
Fear of the unknown
Fear of annihilation
Chapter 17 Philosophical Consolations on Death
Calming Us, Philosophically
The stoic response to fear of the process
The Natural Process Argument
The Necessity Argument
The Agnostic Argument
The Two Eternities Argument
Epicurus’ argument
Considering Materialist Consolations
Social immortality
Cultural immortality
Cosmic immortality
Scientific immortality
Chapter 18 Is There Life after Death?
Considering Doubts and Denials
The psychological origin argument
The silence argument
The trumpet analogy argument
The brain damage argument
Identifying Arguments for Survival
Plato’s indestructibility argument
The nature analogy argument
The argument from desire
Moral arguments
Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel
Claims of former lives
Apparent contact with the dead
Near-death experiences
Part 7 Is There a God?
Chapter 19 Two Worldviews
Finding a Lost Beach Ball
The Great Divide
The mainline theistic worldview
The naturalistic worldview
How the two worldviews compare
The Great Debate
Chapter 20 Theistic Visions
Reasoning to God’s Existence
The Ontological Argument
Cosmology and God
Living in a Designer Universe
Having Experience Beyond Argument
Chapter 21 The Problem of Evil
Expecting Things of a God
Understanding the Problem
The main argument against theism
The alleged incompatibility of God and evil
Moral justification for allowing evil
Moral justification and the atheist’s argument
The theist’s claim
Considering The Great Theodicies
The punishment theodicy
The free will theodicy
The soul-making theodicy
A fourth and combination theodicy
Exploring the Element of Mystery
Part 8 The Meaning of Life
Chapter 22 What Is the Meaning of Life?
Asking Critical Questions
Pondering Meaning and This World
Nihilism: The ultimate negativity
The Do-It-Yourself Approach to the meaning of life
Pairing Meaning and God
Chapter 23 Pascal’s Wager: Betting Your Life
Introducing Pascal: Philosopher-Genius
Wagering like Pascal
Criticizing the Wager
The immorality objection
The probability assignment objection
The many claimants objection
The single case objection
Choosing a Worldview Right for You
Chapter 24 Success and Happiness in Life
Finding Enough in The Race for More
Aiming for True Success
Mastering the Conditions of Success
A clear conception of what we want, a vivid vision, a goal clearly imagined
A strong confidence that we can attain the goal
A focused concentration on what it takes to reach the goal
A stubborn consistency in pursuing our vision
An emotional commitment to the importance of what we’re doing
A good character to guide us and keep us on a proper course
A capacity to enjoy the process along the way
Concluding with a Note on Happiness
Part 9 The Part of Tens
Chapter 25 Ten Great Philosophers
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Saint Thomas Aquinas
William of Ockham
René Descartes
Immanuel Kant
G.W.F. Hegel
Soren Kierkegaard
Bertrand Russell
Chapter 26 Ten Great Questions
Is Philosophy Practical?
Can We Ever Really Know Anything?
Is There Ultimately an Objectivity to Ethics?
Who Am I?
Is Happiness Really Possible in Our World?
Is There, After All, a God?
What Is the Good Life?
Why Is So Much Suffering in the World?
Does a Tree Falling Solo Make a Sound?
What’s Stronger: Reason or its Opposite?
Index
EULA


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