Wonder and Critical Reflection

For use as the first text in Introduction to Philosophy courses.

Using honesty, enthusiasm, and humor, this text addresses and answers questions posed by students new to the study of philosophy-about how critical philosophy is, the kinds of questions it raises, its cultural and social value, and the applicability of philosophy to their lives. Philosophy gives examples of a wide variety of thinkers from the ancients-Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes, Guatama Siddhartha, up to twentieth-century thinkers including Wittgenstein, Sartre, deBeauvoir, Roger Scruton, and Iris Murdoch. Each chapter contains a brief summary of major themes, an introductory student-voiced dialogue, a clarifying discussion, and questions for further reflection. The upbeat tone encourages students to begin thinking philosophically about issues of personal interest, such as the nature of freedom and the understanding of the self.