1. Thinking Critically.
Sarah, Selina, and Ben.
Ad Hominem Arguments.
Fallacy of Appeal to Ignorance.
Appeal to Authority.
Dilemma Arguments.
Strawman Fallacy.
Fallacy of Begging the Question.
Fallacy of Irrelevant Reason.
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
2. Religion and Philosophy.
The Cosmological Argument.
The Design Argument.
Intuitive Knowledge of God.
The Problem of Evil.
God is Beyond Understanding.
Concepts of God.
The Benefits of Belief in God.
Pascal’s Wager.
God and Science.
Readings:
David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.
Walter Stace, Time and Eternity.
Denis Diderot, “Conversation with Marechalé de _______.”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
3. What Can We Know?
Empiricism.
Rationalism.
Kant.
Readings:
Rene Descartes,Meditations on First Philosophy.
John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
David Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
Exercises.
4. The Foundations of Knowledge.
Kant and the Importance of Perspective.
Thomas Kuhn and Scientific Theory.
Karl Popper.
Belief Systems.
Pragmatism.
Readings:
Charles Sanders Peirce, “The Fixation of Belief.”
Karl Popper, “The Bucket and the Searchlight: Two Theories of Knowledge.”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
5. The Nature of Mind.
Descartes and Mind-Body Dualism.
Are Thoughts Private?
Solipsism.
Wittgenstein and Privacy.
Dualistic Interactionism.
Malebranche and Occasionalism.
Leibniz and Mind-Body Parallelism.
Neuroscience and Mind-Body Dualism.
Epiphenomenalism.
Idealism.
Spinoza and the Dual Aspect Theory.
Eliminative Materialism.
Readings:
René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy.
Gilbert Ryle, Concept of Mind.
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
6. Free Will.
Determinism and Fatalism.
Determinism and Choice.
Determinism vs. Freedom.
God and Determinism.
Arguing for Determinism.
Compatibilist Free Will.
Libertarian Free Will.
Existentialist Free Will.
Free Will and Indeterminacy.
Hume’s Compatibilism.
Readings:
Lorenzo Valla, “Dialogue on Free Will.”
David Hume, “Of Liberty and Necessity.”
C. A. Campbell, “Has the Self ‘Free Will’?”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
7. Further Adventures with Free Will.
Frankfurt’s Hierarchical Compatibilism.
Rationalist Compatibilism.
Determinism and Spontaneity.
Moral Responsibility.
Practical Punishment.
Denying Moral Responsibility.
Varieties of Responsibility.
The Right to Be Punished.
Readings:
Charles Taylor, “Responsibility for Self.”
Elizabeth Beardsley, “Determinism and Moral Perspectives.”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
8. Ethics.
Ethics and Moral Responsibility.
Emotivism.
Ethical Nonobjectivism.
God and Ethics.
Ethical Intuitionism.
Kantian Objectivism.
Utilitarian Ethics.
Readings:
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature.
Immanuel Kant, The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals.
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
9. Further Reflections on Ethics.
Social Contract Theory.
Rawls and the Veil of Ignorance.
Cultural Relativism.
An Ethical Quandary.
Virtue Ethics.
Moral Realism.
Care Ethic.
Readings:
Virginia Held, Rights and Goods.
Jonathan Bennett, “The Conscience of Huckleberry Finn.”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
10. Political Philosophy.
Individual Freedom.
Negative Liberty.
Positive Liberty.
Just Distribution of Resources.
Robert Nozick.
Encouraging Effort.
Unequal Wealth.
Democracy and Wealth.
Property Rights.
Individuals and Community.
Readings:
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.
Lani Guinier, “The Tyranny of the Majority.”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
11. Personal Identity.
Problems of Personal Identity.
Bodies and Brains.
Continuity.
Duplicate Persons.
New Strains on the Concept of Personal Identity.
Life Narratives and Personal Identity.
Readings:
John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature.
Daniel Dennett, “Where Am I?”
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
12. The Nature of Humans.
Control and Understanding.
Belief in God.
Are Humans Special?
Holism.
The Importance of Perspectives.
Rationalism and Empiricism.
Simple Realism.
Pessimism vs. Optimism.
Study Questions.
Exercises.
Glossary.
Additional Resources.
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