Table of Contents

How to Use This Book

Chapter 1
Philosophy

What is Philosophy?
A Brief Introduction to Arguments
Introductory Tips on Reading and Writing Philosophy

Chapter 2
Philosophy of Religion – Does God Exist?

St. Anselm of Canterbury

Proslogion, Preface and Chapters 2-5
Pro Insipiente (“On Behalf of the Fool”), by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers Anselm’s Reply to Gaunilo

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Part I, Question 2, The Existence of God (In Three Articles)
David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
Gottfried Leibniz, Theodicy: Abridgement of the Argument Reduced to Syllogistic Form
J.L. Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence”
William James, “The Will to Believe”

Chapter 3

Philosophy of Mind – What is the Place of Mind in the Physical World?

Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind: “Descarte’s Myth”
J.J.C. Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes”
Hilary Putnam, “The Nature of Mental States”
John R. Searle, “Minds, Brains and Programs”
Paul Churchland, “Eliminative Materialism and the Propositional Attitudes”
Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like To Be a Bat?”

Chapter 4
Metaphysics – Do We Have Free Will?

Paul Rée, The Illusion of Free Will, Chapters 1 and 2
C.A. Campbell, On Selfhood and Godhood: “Has the Self Free Will?”
Robert Kane, “Free Will: The Elusive Ideal”
Daniel Dennett, “On Giving Libertarians What They Say They Want”
Susan Wolf, “Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility”
Peter Strawson, “Freedom and Resentment”

Chapter 5
New Directions in Philosophy

Arthur Fine, “The Natural Ontological Attitude”
Richard Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature
Derek Parfit, “Personal Identity”

Sources for Quotations