Robert C. Solomon and Douglas McDermid
Adapted from Robert C. Solomon's internationally successful Introducing Philosophy, this fully revised Canadian edition engages students with the core philosophical problems that have shaped human thought throughout history. Each chapter focuses on a central topic, combining primary-source
readings with comprehensive analysis to illuminate essential questions about reality, religion, knowledge, mind-body relationships, freedom, ethics, and justice. Arguing that philosophical approaches are accessible and useful to everyone, the authors examine perspectives not only from Western and
non-Western philosophers, but also from leading scientists, psychologists, literary figures, politicians, and social commentators. With readings that range from the oldest known fragments to excerpts from contemporary texts, Introducing Philosophy for Canadians shows that philosophy is as vital
today as it was in ancient times.
PART ONE: BEGINNING PHILOSOPHY
Introduction: Starting With Socrates
A. Socrates
Aristophanes, from The Clouds
Plato, from The Apology
Plato, from The Crito
Plato, from The Phaedo
Plato, from The Republic
B. Making Sense of Socrates
Plato, from The
Apology
Plato, from The Meno (New)
Plato, from The Theaetetus (New)
Plato, from The Symposium (New)
Paul Gooch, from Reflections on Jesus and Socrates (New)
Karl Popper, from The Open Society and Its Enemies
Søren Kierkegaard, from The Sickness unto Death
C. What Is
Philosophy?
Plato, from The Apology
Karl Jaspers, from 'The "Axial Period"'
Lao-zi, from Dao De Jing
D. A Modern Approach to Philosophy
René Descartes from Discourse on Method
Bertrand Russell from The Problems of Philosophy
Mary Midgley from Utopias, Dolphins, and
Computers
E. Becoming a Philosopher
George Grant from 'What Is Philosophy?' (Cdn) (New)
Francis Sparshott, from 'Philosopher' (poem) (Cdn) (New)
Simone Weil from First and Last Notebooks (New)
George Grant from 'What Is Philosophy?' (Cdn) (New)
James Frederick Ferrier from
Institutes of Metaphysic (New)
F. A Brief Introduction to Logic
PART TWO: THE WORLD AND BEYOND
1. Reality
A. The Way the World Really Is
B. The First Greek Philosophers
Aristotle, from Metaphysics
Parmenides, from Fragments
C. Ultimate Reality in the East:
India, Persia, and China
From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28)
From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (4.3.32)
From the IsaUpanishad (4-6)
From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (5.1.1)
From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (3.7.3-23)
From the Chandogya Upanishads (6.11)
From the Kath
Upanishad (1.25-27, 2.11-12, and 2.20-23)
From the Zend-Avesta
Confucius, from The Analects
Lao-zi, from Dao De Jing
Buddha, from 'Fire Sermon'
D. Two Kinds of Metaphysics: Plato and Aristotle
Plato, from The Symposium
Plato, from The Republic
Plato, from The
Meno
Aristotle, from Metaphysic
Aristotle, from Physics
Aristotle, from Metaphysics
E. Modern Metaphysics
René Descartes, on Substance
René Descartes, from 'Meditation VI'
Benedictus de Spinoza, from Ethics
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from Monadology
2.
Religion
A. What Is Religion?
John Wisdom, from 'Gods'
Albert Einstein, on the Design of the Universe
Keiji Nishitani, from 'What Is Religion?'
Swami Vivekananda, from 'Maya and Illusion' (New)
Bernard Lonergan, from Method in Theology (Cdn) (New)
Maimonides, from The
Guide for the Perplexed (New)
B. The Western Religions
C. Proving God: The Ontological Argument
St Anselm, on the Ontological Argument
René Descartes, on the Ontological Argument
Immanuel Kant, Against the Ontological Argument
Charles Hartshorne, on the Ontological
Argument
D. Proving God: The Cosmological Argument
St Thomas Aquinas, on the Cosmological Argument
Samuel Clarke, from A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God (New)
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from Monadology (New)
Samuel Clarke, from A Demonstration of the Being
and Attributes of God (New)
E. Proving God: The Teleological Argument
William Paley, from Natural Theology (New)
St John Damascene, from An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
St Thomas Aquinas, on the 'Fifth Way' (New)
David Hume, on an Imperfect Universe
Richard Dawkins,
from The Blind Watchmaker (New)
Paul Davies, from The Mind of God
Cory Juhl, on the 'Fine-Tuning' Argument
F. Mystical Experience and God
William James, from The Varieties of Religious Experience (New)
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, from An Idealist View Of Life (New)
Mohammad
al-Ghazali, from The Deliverance from Error
Plotinus, from The Enneads (New)
William James, from The Varieties of Religious Experience (New)
Phillip Wiebe (Trinity Western University), 'Religious Experience and Religious Belief' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
G. Religion and Practical
Reason
Immanuel Kant, on God and Morality
William James, from 'The Will to Believe'
H. God and Evil
St Augustine, from Confessions
From The Bhagavadgita
I. A Hidden God?
John Schellenberg (Mount St. Vincent University), 'Would a Loving God Hide from Anyone? Assembling and
Assessing the Hiddenness Argument for Atheism' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
Blaise Pascal, from Pensées (New)
Emil Fackenheim, from 'On the Eclipse of God' (Cdn) (New)
Isaac Bashevis Singer, from 'Joy' (New)
J. Beyond Reason: Faith and Irrationality
Søren Kierkegaard, on Subjective
Truth
Paul Tillich, on the Ultimate Concern
K. Doubts about Religion
Fyodor Dostoyevski, from The Brothers Karamazov
Karl Marx, from Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Friedrich Nietzsche, from Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Antichrist
Friedrich
Nietzsche, from The Gay Science
Sigmund Freud, from The Future of an Illusion
3. Knowledge
Bertrand Russell, from The Problems of Philosophy
Plato, from Theaetetus
A. The Rationalist's Confidence: Descartes
René Descartes, from 'Meditation I'
Barry Stroud, from The
Significance of Philosophical Scepticism (Cdn) (New)
René Descartes, from 'Meditation I'
René Descartes, from 'Meditation II'
ené Descartes, from 'Meditation VI'
B. Innate Ideas Concerning Human Understanding: John Locke
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, from New Essays on Human Understanding
C. The Empiricist Theory of Knowledge
John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
D. Common Sense Undone: Bishop George Berkeley
Bishop George Berkeley, from Treatise Concerning the
Principles of Human Knowledge
Jorge Luis Borges, 'Things' (New)
E. The Congenial Skeptic: David Hume
David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature
David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
F. Common Sense Defended: Thomas Reid and G.E. Moore
Thomas Reid, from
Essays on The Intellectual Powers of Man (New)
Thomas Reid, from An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (New)
Thomas Reid, from An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense (New)
G.E. Moore, from Some Main Problems of Philosophy (NEW)
G.
Immanuel Kant's Revolution
Immanuel Kant, from The Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant, from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
H. The Battle in Europe after Kant: Relativism and Absolutism
G.W.F. Hegel, from The Phenomenology of Spirit
G.W.F. Hegel, from Reason in
History
Arthur Schopenhauer, from The World as Will and Representation
Friedrich Nietzsche, on Truth
I. Phenomenology
Edmund Husserl, from 'Philosophy as Rigorous Science'
Edmund Husserl, from The 1929 Paris Lectures
John Russon (University of Guelph), from Human Experience
(Cdn) (New)
J. Hermeneutics and Pragmatism: Relativism Reconsidered
Richard Rorty, from 'Solidarity or Objectivity?'
Cheryl Misak (University of Toronto), from Truth, Politics, Morality (Cdn) (New)
K. The Nature of Truth: Three Theories
James O. Young (University of Victoria),
'Could Truth Be Coherence with a System of Beliefs?' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
Mark Migotti (University of Calgary), 'Pragmatist Theories of Truth' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
L. Feminist Epistemology
Elizabeth Grosz, on Feminist Knowledge
Lorraine Code (York University, Emerita),
from 'Is the Sex of the Knower Epistemologically Significant?' (Cdn) (New)
Summary and Conclusion
Review Questions
Key Terms
Further Reading
PART THREE: KNOW THYSELF
4. Mind and Body
A. What Is Consciousness?
René Descartes, from 'Meditation VI'
René
Descartes, from 'Meditation III'
B. The Problem of Dualism
René Descartes, from 'The Passions of the Soul'
C. The Rejection of Dualism
Gilbert Ryle, from The Concept of Mind
J.J.C. Smart, from 'Sensations and Brain Processes'
Jerome Shaffer, Against the Identity
Theory
Paul M. Churchland, on Eliminative Materialism (Cdn)
David Braddon-Mitchell and Frank Jackson, from Philosophy of Mind and Cognition
John R. Searle, from 'The Myth of the Computer'
John R. Searle, from Minds, Brains, and Science
D. The Problem of Consciousness
Sigmund
Freud, on the 'Unconscious'
Thomas Nagel, from Mortal Questions
Colin McGinn, on 'The Mystery of Consciousness'
Aristotle, from De Anima
Galen Strawson, on 'Cognitive Experience'
William James, from 'Does Consciousness Exist?'
Friedrich Nietzsche, on the 'Genius of the
Species'
William Seager (University of Toronto, Scarborough), 'Panpsychism' (Cdn) (Newly commssioned)
5. Self and Freedom
A. Consciousness and the Self: From Descartes to Kant
René Descartes, from 'Meditation VI'
John Locke, on Personal Identity
Thomas Reid, from Essays on
the Intellectual Powers of Man
David Hume, on 'There Is No Self'
Immanuel Kant, Against the Soul
B. Existentialism: Self-identity, Responsibility, and Radical Freedom
Jean-Paul Sartre, on Existentialism
Jean-Paul Sartre, on Bad Faith
Jean-Paul Sartre, from No
Exit
Jean-Paul Sartre, on -Absolute Freedom-
Alia Al-Saji, 'Sartrean Freedom and Bad Faith: Social Identities and Situations' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
Fyodor Dostoyevski, from 'The Most Advantageous Advantage'
C. One Self? Any Self? Questioning the Concept of Personal
'Essence'
Robert Louis Stevenson, from The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (New)
Hermann Hesse, from Steppenwolf
From The Questions of King Milinda (New)
From The Dhammapada
Lao-zi, from Dao De Jing
D. Fatalism and Karma
Sophocles, from Oedipus the King
Keiji
Nishitani, on Fate
E. Predestination
St Augustine, from On Free Choice of the Will
Mohammad Iqbal, from The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
F. Determinism
Paul Henri d'Holbach, from System of Nature
Robert Kane, on Indeterminism
John Stuart Mill, on Causation
and Necessity
David Hume, on Causation and Character
Roderick Chisholm, from 'Human Freedom and the Self' (New)
PART FOUR: THE GOOD AND THE RIGHT
6. Ethics
A. Moral Philosophy
A.R.C. Duncan, from Moral Philosophy (Cdn) (New)
B. Morality
St Augustine, from On
Freedom
C. Is Morality Relative?
Gilbert Harman, from 'Moral Relativism Defended'
D. Egoism and Altruism
Plato, from The Republic
E. Are We Naturally Selfish? A Debate
Mencius, on Human Nature: Man Is Good
Xun-zi, from 'Human Nature Is Evil'
Joseph Butler, Against
Egoism
F. Morality as Virtue: Aristotle
Aristotle, from The Nicomachean Ethics (New)
G. Beyond Aristotle: Happiness, Human Nature, and Perfectionism
Jean Vanier, from Made for Happiness (Cdn) (New)
Christine McKinnon (Trent University), from Character, Virtue Theories, and the
Vices (Cdn) (New)
Thomas Hurka, from 'The Well-Rounded Life' (Cdn) (New)
H. Morality and Sentiment: Hume and Rousseau
David Hume, on 'Reason as Slave of the Passions'
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from Emile
I. Morality and Practical Reason: Kant
Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental
Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals
J. Utilitarianism
Jeremy Bentham, from An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
K. The Creation of Morality: Friedrich Nietzsche and Existentialism
Friedrich Nietzsche, on 'Morality
as Herd-Instinct'
Friedrich Nietzsche, on 'Master and Slave Morality'
Friedrich Nietzsche, from Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche, from Beyond Good and Evil
Jean-Paul Sartre, from Existentialism as a Humanism
Christine Daigle (Brock University), 'Nietzsche and Sartre on
the Creation of Morality' (Cdn) (Newly commissioned)
L. Ethics and Gender
Susan Sherwin (Dalhousie University, Emerita), from 'Ethics, Feminism, and Caring' (Cdn) (New)
M. Ethics in the Modern Age
Charles Taylor (McGill University), from The Malaise of Modernity (Cdn)
(New)
Margaret Somerville (McGill University), from The Ethical Imagination (Cdn) (New)
7. Justice
A. The Problem of Justice
Pierre Trudeau, on 'The Just Society' (Cdn) (New)
B. Two Ancient Theories of Justice: Plato and Aristotle
Plato, from The Republic
Aristotle, from
The Nicomachean Ethics
C. Two Modern Theories of Justice: David Hume and John Stuart Mill on Utility and Rights
David Hume, on 'Justice and Utility'
John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism
D. The Social Contract
Thomas Hobbes, from Leviathan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from The
Social Contract
E. Classical Conservatism: Tradition and Attachment
Edmund Burke, from Reflections on the Revolution in France (New)
W.L. Morton, from 'Canadian Conservatism Now' (Cdn) (New)
Michael Oakeshott, from 'On Being Conservative' (New)
F. Two Contemporary Theories of
Justice: John Rawls and Robert Nozick
John Rawls, from 'Justice as Fairness'
Robert Nozick, from Anarchy, State, and Utopia
G. Socialism: Equality and Community
G.A. Cohen, from 'Why Not Socialism?' (Cdn) (New)
Tommy Douglas, 'Mouseland' (Cdn) (New)
H. Justice or Care: A
Feminist Perspective
Cheshire Calhoun, from 'Justice, Care, Gender Bias'
I. Individual Rights and Freedom
From the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Cdn) (New)
John Locke, from The Second Treatise on Government (New)
Michael Ignatieff, from The Rights Revolution
(New)
John Stuart Mill, from On Liberty
J. Obeying the Law: Civil Disobedience and Anarchism
Henry David Thoreau, on 'Civil Disobedience'
George Woodcock, from Anarchism (Cdn) (New)
K. Multiculturalism and Race
Pierre Trudeau, from 'Multiculturalism' (Cdn) (New)
Will
Kymlicka, from Finding Our Way (Cdn) (New)
Charles Taylor, 'The Other and Ourselves (Cdn) (New)
Phil Fontaine, from 'Modern Racism in Canada' (Cdn) (New)
Instructor's Manual:
Lecture outlines
Key concepts
Suggestions for class discussions and activities
PowerPoint Slides
Test Bank:
Multiple choice questions
Long answer/essay questions
Answer key with page references
Fill-in-the-blank worksheets for
quizzes:
One worksheet per chapter
Answer key with page references
Student Study Guide:
Chapter goals, overviews, and summaries
Essay questions
Discussion questions
Self-quizzes with answer key and page references
Recommended websites
Suggested further
readings
Robert C. Solomon (deceased) was Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Business and Philosophy and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of more than forty books, including The Little Philosophy Book (2007), True to Our Feelings (2006),
Honest Work (2006), The Joy of Philosophy (2003), and A Short History of Philosophy (1996), all published by Oxford. Robert Solomon lectured and gave seminars around the world, in addition to producing several video and audio 'Superstar Teacher' courses for the Teaching Company.
Douglas
McDermid is associate professor of philosophy at Trent University. Prior to his arrival at Trent, he spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Instituto de Investigaciones at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City, followed by two years in a tenure track position at St.
Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. In addition to publishing over twenty articles in various journals and edited volumes, McDermid published The Varieties of Pragmatism (2006) with Continuum Press. McDermid's primary research interests are in epistemology, metaphysics, and the history of
modern philosophy.