Experiencing Philosophy begins with the assumption that philosophy is not merely something you know but also something you experience and participate in. The book presents philosophical theories and ideas with reference to their practical relevance to the lives of student readers. To this end, a number of engaging features and inserts are provided:
• Original Sources: Numerous primary readings are included, introducing students directly to the philosophical work of diverse thinkers ranging from Plato to Martin Luther King Jr. Each reading is thoughtfully excerpted and followed by reflective questions.
• Philosopher Profiles: Abstract ideas are connected to the lives of real historical figures through fascinating biographical profiles.
• Take It Personally: To illustrate how philosophy can be useful and relevant, each chapter begins by placing the material in a personal context.
• Know Thyself Diagnostics: This book takes seriously—as did Socrates—the Delphic Oracle’s dictum to “know thyself.” Students are given self-diagnostics to explore their own philosophical values, ideals, and beliefs.
• Philosophers in Action: Philosophy is something you do, not just something you know. Prompts are provided throughout the text inviting students to conduct thought experiments, analyze concepts, and discuss and debate controversial points.
• Thinking about Your Thinking: These metacognitive prompts require students to engage in higher-order thinking, not only about the presented readings and ideas but also with respect to their own values, assumptions, and beliefs.
• Plus: Built-in study guides, diagrams, famous philosophical quotations, comics, feature boxes, and more!
View a PDF with more detailed information on this book’s pedagogical features.
Comments
“Experiencing Philosophy is a long-awaited comprehensive introduction to philosophy that brings the diversity of the philosophical landscape to the fore by introducing students to some widely overlooked but highly significant excerpts from non-Western philosophical traditions. Anthony Falikowski and Susan Mills present a clear, accessible, and argumentative narrative of key philosophical concepts in their introductions to the original sources. Most importantly, they make philosophy applied and relevant to human life. This book undeniably marks a new prospect for teaching and learning philosophy.” — Seyed N. Mousavian, Loyola University Chicago
“In a spirit similar to Nietzsche’s ‘Back to the Earth’ and Wittgenstein’s ‘Back to the Rough Ground,’ Experiencing Philosophy does a beautiful job of bringing the practical and therapeutic values of philosophy back to students’ everyday lives. Its friendly, engaging, and sometimes personal tone will no doubt attract beginning students into a fascinating journey of philosophizing as living and living as philosophizing.” — Puqun Li, author of A Guide to Asian Philosophy Classics
“This is an exceptional introductory textbook. Student-friendly and graphically attractive, the book has many useful pedagogical elements that will benefit readers. It covers a wide range of classic and contemporary issues, thus offering instructors considerable flexibility in their syllabus development and course presentations. Highly recommended.” — Mazen Guirguis, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
“Covering classical excerpts from both historical and contemporary perspectives, Experiencing Philosophy does an excellent job of introducing the different branches of philosophy. This book is a one-stop shop for both students and instructors.” — Ataollah Hashemi, Saint Louis University
“Experiencing Philosophy is one of the best undergraduate textbooks of philosophy I’ve seen, both in content and in presentation. Its usefulness spans at least the first two years of study in philosophy, reducing the cost to students who are often obligated to invest in several texts. I was pleased to see that, as well as standard foundational philosophy, this text offers the latest in philosophical developments such as philosophy as therapy.” — Peter B. Raabe, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, and Philosophical Counselor
Preface
Features
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1: What Is Philosophy?
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: My Preconceptions about Philosophy
1.1 What Is a Philosopher?
Philosophy and Philosophers: Caricatures, Myths, and Realities
The Philosopher’s Profile
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Reply to Sor Filotea
Wisdom: The Object of Love
1.2 The Practical Value of Philosophy
Philosophy’s Relevance in an Age of Technology
Therapeutic Applications of Philosophy
1.3 Fields of Philosophy
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Logic
Ethics
Axiology
Social/Political Philosophy
Foundational and Disciplinary Philosophies
Philosophies of Life
1.4 Approaches to Philosophy
Western Philosophy
Historical Approaches
Non-Traditional and Non-Western Approaches
Feminist Approaches
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Lee Hester, “Truth and Native American Epistemology”
Spiritually-Based Philosophical Traditions
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Al-Munqidh min al-Dalal (Deliverance from Error)
Modern Western Philosophy
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Bertrand Russell, “The Value of Philosophy”
Progress Check
Study Guide
CHAPTER 2: Understanding Arguments, Claims, and Fallacies of Reasoning
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: How Rational Am I?
2.1 What Is an Argument?
Arguments vs. Opinions and Other Non-Arguments
Attitude Adjustments for Argument
Benefits of Argument
The Socratic Method
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Plato, Euthyphro, featuring the Socratic Method
2.2 Deductive Arguments
Modus Ponens
Modus Tollens
Hypothetical Syllogisms/Chain Arguments
Disjunctive Syllogisms
Categorical Syllogisms or Syllogisms of Class Membership
Validity, Truth, and Soundness
2.3 Non-Deductive Arguments
Argument from Past Experience
Argument by Analogy
Argument by Inductive Generalization
2.4 Evaluating Claims
Factual Statements
Value Judgments
Conceptual Claims
2.5 Informal Logical Fallacies
Ad Hominem Fallacy
Straw Person Fallacy
Circular Reasoning/Begging the Question Fallacy
Two Wrongs Fallacy
Slippery Slope Fallacy
Appealing to Authority Fallacy
Red Herring Fallacy
Guilt by Association Fallacy
Progress Check
Study Guide
CHAPTER 3: Philosophies of Life
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: The Philosophy of Life Preference Indicator
3.1 Stoicism: A Prescription for Peace of Mind
Stoicism’s Cynical Origins
The Stoic Universe
How to Live in a Fated Universe
Freedom and Value
Purpose of Life
Emotions in Life
How to Progress Morally
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
3.2 Existentialism: Born Free, Let Me Be Me
Methods
Philosophers Associated with Existentialism
Existentialism as a Revolt
Essence versus Existence
Individuality and Subjective Experience
Existential Freedom
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism
3.3 The Meaning of Life
Meaningful Lives
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Susan Wolf, “The Meanings of Lives”
Viktor Frankl and the Will-to-Meaning
3.4 Hedonism: Pleasure Is the Measure
Psychological versus Ethical Hedonism
Aristippus of Cyrene
Epicurus
Momentary versus Enduring Pleasures
Kinetic versus Static Pleasures
Ataraxia: The Ultimate End of Life
Natural Desires
Impediments to Ataraxia
Virtue in the Pleasant Life
The Role of Friendship
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Epicurus, “Letter to Menoeceus”
3.5 Buddhism as a Philosophy of Life
The Four Noble Truths
The Noble Eight-Fold Path
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Buddha, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth)
Progress Check
Study Guide
CHAPTER 4: Epistemology, Metaphysics, and God
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: My Philosophical Presuppositions about Knowledge and Reality
4.1 Preliminary Questions and Definitions
4.2 Plato’s Metaphysical Epistemology
Divided Line Theory
Theory of Forms
Simile of the Sun
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Plato, Simile of the Sun
Allegory of the Cave
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Plato, Allegory of the Cave
4.3 René Descartes’s Rational Method of Doubt
Historical Context
The Quest for Certainty
Method of Doubt
ORIGINAL SOURCE: René Descartes, First Meditation
Cogito Ergo Sum—I Think, Therefore I Am
ORIGINAL SOURCE: René Descartes, Second Meditation, featuring the Cogito
ORIGINAL SOURCE: René Descartes, Second Meditation, featuring The Wax Example
4.4 John Locke’s Empiricist Theory of Ideas
Tabula Rasa
Criticisms of Innate Ideas
Primary and Secondary Qualities of Objects
4.5 David Hume’s Radical Skepticism
On the Origin of Ideas
Rejection of the Cogito
Association of Ideas
Critique of Causality
“Hume’s Fork” and Types of Reasoning
ORIGINAL SOURCE: David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume’s Origins and Limits of Knowledge: A Summary
4.6 Immanuel Kant’s Synthesis of Reason and Sensory Experience
The Role of the Senses in Knowledge
The Copernican Revolution in Epistemology
A Priori Elements of Knowledge
Kantian versus Platonic Forms
The Categories of Cause and Substance
Metaphysics and the Regulative Function of Transcendental Ideas
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Immanuel Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
4.7 Critiques of Traditional Western Approaches to Epistemology and Metaphysics
Standpoint Epistemology
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought
Mind-Body Metaphysics
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Yasuo Yuasa, Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory
4.8 Proofs for the Existence of God
St. Anselm’s Ontological Proof
St. Thomas Aquinas’s “Five Ways”: Proofs for the Existence of God
ORIGINAL SOURCE: St. Thomas Aquinas, Whether God Exists
Progress Check
Study Guide
CHAPTER 5: Ethics and Moral Decision Making
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: The Ethical Perspective Indicator
5.1 Plato’s Character Ethics
Plato’s Teleology
Vision of the Soul
Moral Balance and Plato’s Functional Explanation of Morality
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Plato, Virtue and Justice in the Individual and in the State
Know Thyself: Platonic Character Type Index (PCTI)
Plato’s Character Types
5.2 Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics
Aristotle’s Teleology
Happiness (Eudaimonia) and the Ends of Human Life
Kinds of Lifestyles
Virtue and the Virtuous Lifestyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
5.3 Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarian Ethics
The Principle of Utility
Is-Ought Fallacy
The Hedonic Calculus
The Theory of Sanctions
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
5.4 Immanuel Kant’s Deontological Ethics
The Rational Basis of Morality
Concept of the Good Will
Notion of Duty
Maxims and Moral Behavior
The Categorical Imperative
Autonomy versus Heteronomy of the Will
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Immanuel Kant, On Pure Moral Philosophy
The Impermissibility of Lying: Maria von Herbert’s Correspondence with Kant
5.5 Carol Gilligan’s and Nel Noddings’s Care Ethics—Two Critiques of Male Moral Bias
Gilligan on Male Bias in Moral Research
Gilligan’s Ethic of Care
Nel Noddings and Care Ethics
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education
5.6 Friedrich Nietzsche’s Will to Power
God Is Dead
Will to Power
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Gay Science
Master versus Slave Morality
Traditional (Herd) Morality and the Revaluation of All Values
Evaluating Values
The Superman/Übermensch
5.7 Religion and Ethics: Islamic, Hindu, and Christian Perspectives
Islamic Ethics
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Riffat Hassan, “Islamic View of Peace”
Hindu Ethics
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Ashok Kumar Malhotra, Transcreation of the Bhagavad Gita
Christian Ethics
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Brian Berry, Roman Catholic Ethics: Three Approaches
Progress Check
Study Guide
CHAPTER 6: Political Philosophy
Take It Personally
Know Thyself: My Political Outlook
6.1 Political Philosophy versus Politics and Political Science
6.2 Plato’s Republic
The Individual and the State
Plato’s Class System
Imperfect Societies
Women, Marriage, and Family in the Republic
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Plato, The Nature of Woman
6.3 Thomas Hobbes’s and John Locke’s Social Contract Theories
Thomas Hobbes
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Causes, Generation, and Definition of a Commonwealth”
John Locke
ORIGINAL SOURCE: John Locke, “Of the Ends of Political Society and Government”
6.4 Karl Marx’s Socialism
Marx’s Metaphysics and Dialectical Materialism
Class Conflict
Alienation as a Byproduct of Capitalism
Idolatry/Fetishism of Commodities
Division of Labor
After Capitalism
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts
6.5 Martin Luther King Jr.’s Philosophy of Nonviolence 492
Influences on King
Logic of Nonviolence
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
ORIGINAL SOURCE: Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here?
Progress Check
Study Guide
Answers to Progress Checks
A Note on Citations
Endnotes
Sources
Image Sources
Index
Anthony Falikowski taught philosophy for over 30 years at Sheridan College and is the author of several books, including Moral Philosophy for Modern Life and Let’s Be Reasonable: A Basic Guide to Rational Thinking. Susan Mills is Associate Professor of Philosophy at MacEwan University and has published on early modern philosophy.
• Original Sources: Numerous primary readings are included, introducing students directly to the philosophical work of diverse thinkers ranging from Plato to Martin Luther King Jr. Each reading is thoughtfully excerpted and is followed by reflective questions
• Philosopher Profiles: Abstract ideas are connected to the lives of real historical figures through fascinating biographical profiles
• Take It Personally: To illustrate how philosophy can be useful and relevant, each chapter begins by placing the material in a personal context
• Know Thyself Diagnostics: This book takes seriously—as did Socrates—the Delphic Oracle’s dictum to “know thyself.” Students are given self-diagnostics to explore their own philosophical values, ideals, and beliefs
• Philosophers in Action: Philosophy is something you do, not just something you know. Prompts are provided throughout the text inviting students to conduct thought experiments, analyze concepts, and discuss and debate controversial points
• Thinking about Your Thinking: These “metacognitive prompts” require students to engage in higher-order thinking, not only about the presented readings and ideas, but also with respect to their own values, assumptions, and beliefs
• Plus: Built-in study guides, diagrams, famous philosophical quotations, comics, feature boxes, and more
• Primary source readings are integrated through the text, and include works from:
Buddha
Plato
Aristotle
Epicurus
Marcus Aurelius
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Hobbes
René Descartes
John Locke
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
David Hume
Immanuel Kant
Jeremy Bentham
Karl Marx
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Bertrand Russell
Jean-Paul Sartre
Yasuo Yuasa
Martin Luther King Jr.
Brian Berry
Nel Noddings
Ashok K. Malhotra
Riffat Hassan
Patricia Hill Collins
Susan Wolf
Lee Hester
View a PDF with more detailed information on this book’s pedagogical features.
• A student companion site offers true-false quiz questions, flashcards, an interactive essay outline builder, and original short stories that connect with the book’s themes.
• An instructor site provides true-false questions for quiz purposes, additional questions for discussion or essays, and slideshows.
Experiencing Philosophy is available as a digital courseware package on the Broadview Enhanced platform. This package combines the eBook with a set of auto-grading quizzes that integrate directly with your campus Learning Management System (LMS), such as Blackboard, D2L, or Moodle. This product is ideal for Inclusive Access and other First Day programs.
If you are interested in adopting this title as a Broadview Enhanced package, or you just want to learn more about the platform, please write to ebooks@broadviewpress.com.
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