
The Great Conversation
Norman Melchert(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
5th Edition
Published on 7. September 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
400 pages
978-0-19-530680-4 (ISBN)
Description
Ideal for courses in introductory or ancient and medieval philosophy, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes covers the same material as the first half (chapters 1-13) of author Norman Melchert's longer volume, The Great Conversation. Now in its fifth edition, this historically organized introductory text treats philosophy as a dramatic and continuous story--a conversation about humankind's deepest and most persistent concerns. Tracing the exchange of ideas between history's key philosophers, the book demonstrates that while constructing an argument or making a claim, one philosopher almost always has others in mind. It addresses the fundamental questions of human life: Who are we? What can we know? How should we live? and What sort of reality do we inhabit? The fifth edition retains the distinctive feature of previous editions: Melchert provides a generous selection of excerpts from major philosophical works and makes them more easily understandable to students with his lucid and engaging explanations.
Ranging from the Pre-Socratics to Descartes, the selections are organized historically and include four complete works: Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. The author's commentary offers a rich intellectual and cultural context for the philosophical ideas conveyed in the excerpts. Extensive cross-referencing shows students how philosophers respond appreciatively or critically to the thoughts of other philosophers. The text is enhanced by two types of exercises--"Basic Questions" and "For Further Thought"--and more than thirty-five illustrations.
New to the Fifth Edition: * New profiles of Muslim and Jewish thinkers, including Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Averroes (Ibn Rushd), and Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) * Improved translations of several of Plato's works, including Protagoras, Gorgias, Phaedo, Symposium, Meno, and the Republic * Review questions that are now dispersed throughout the chapters (instead of at chapter ends) to follow relevant passages and facilitate classroom discussion * Eight new images, including explanatory cartoons that help students understand key concepts * A revised Instructor's Manual and Test Bank containing essential points, teaching suggestions, and multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay exam questions Also available to suit your course needs: The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Fifth Edition (combined volume covering the Pre-Socratics through Derrida and Quine) and The Great Conversation: Volume II: Descartes through Derrida and Quine, Fifth Edition (includes chapters 12-26 of the combined volume).
Ranging from the Pre-Socratics to Descartes, the selections are organized historically and include four complete works: Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. The author's commentary offers a rich intellectual and cultural context for the philosophical ideas conveyed in the excerpts. Extensive cross-referencing shows students how philosophers respond appreciatively or critically to the thoughts of other philosophers. The text is enhanced by two types of exercises--"Basic Questions" and "For Further Thought"--and more than thirty-five illustrations.
New to the Fifth Edition: * New profiles of Muslim and Jewish thinkers, including Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Averroes (Ibn Rushd), and Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) * Improved translations of several of Plato's works, including Protagoras, Gorgias, Phaedo, Symposium, Meno, and the Republic * Review questions that are now dispersed throughout the chapters (instead of at chapter ends) to follow relevant passages and facilitate classroom discussion * Eight new images, including explanatory cartoons that help students understand key concepts * A revised Instructor's Manual and Test Bank containing essential points, teaching suggestions, and multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay exam questions Also available to suit your course needs: The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Fifth Edition (combined volume covering the Pre-Socratics through Derrida and Quine) and The Great Conversation: Volume II: Descartes through Derrida and Quine, Fifth Edition (includes chapters 12-26 of the combined volume).
More details
Edition
5th Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
38 illustrations & 2 maps
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 190 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-530680-4 (9780195306804)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
07/2001
4th Edition
Oxford University Press Inc
€39.60
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Content
*=NEW TO THIS EDITION; 1. BEFORE PHILOSOPHY: MYTH IN HESIOD AND HOMER; Hesiod: War among the Gods; Homer: Heroes, Gods, and Excellence; 2. PHILOSOPHY BEFORE SOCRATES; Thales: The One as Water; Anaximander: The One as the Boundless; Xenophanes: The Gods as Fictions; PROFILE: PYTHAGORAS; Heraclitus: Oneness in the Logos; Parmenides: Only the One; Zeno: The Paradoxes of Common Sense; Atomism: The One and the Many Reconciled; 3. THE SOPHISTS: RHETORIC AND RELATIVISM IN ATHENS; Democracy; The Persian Wars; The Sophists; Physis and Nomos; Athens and Sparta at War; Aristophanes and Reaction; 4. SOCRATES: TO KNOW ONESELF; Character; Is Socrates a Sophist?; What Socrates "Knows"; 5. THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES; Translator's Introduction; The Dialogue; Commentary and Questions; Translator's Introduction; The Dialogue; Commentary and Questions; Translator's Introduction; The Dialogue; Commentary and Questions; Phaedo (Death Scene); Translator's Introduction; The Dialogue (Selection); Commentary and Questions; 6. PLATO: KNOWING THE REAL AND THE GOOD; Knowledge and Opinion; The World and the Forms; The Love of Wisdom; The Soul; Morality; The State; Problems with the Forms; 7. ARISTOTLE: THE REALITY OF THE WORLD; Aristotle and Plato; Logic and Knowledge; The World; First Philosophy; The Soul; The Good Life; Virtue or Excellence (Arete); 8. EPICUREANS, STOICS, AND SKEPTICS: HAPPINESS FOR THE MANY; The Epicureans; The Stoics; The Skeptics; 9. THE CHRISTIANS: SIN, SALVATION, AND LOVE; Background; Jesus; The Meaning of Jesus; 10. AUGUSTINE: GOD AND THE SOUL; Wisdom, Happiness, and God; The Interior Teacher; God and the World; Human Nature and Its Corruption; Human Nature and Its Restoration; Augustine on Relativism; The Two Cities; Christians and Philosophers; 11. ANSELM AND AQUINAS: EXISTENCE AND ESSENCE IN GOD AND THE WORLD; Anselm: On That, Than Which No Greater Can Be Conceived; Thomas Aquinas: Rethinking Aristotle; * PROFILE: AVICENNA (IBN SIN=A); * PROFILE: AVERROES (IBN RUSHD); * PROFILE: MAIMONIDES (MOSES BEN MAIMON); Ockham and Skeptical Doubts--Again; 12. MOVING FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN; The World God Made for Us; The Humanists; Reforming the Church; Skeptical Thoughts Revived; Copernicus to Kepler to Galileo: The Great Triple Play; 13. RENE DESCARTES: DOUBTING OUR WAY TO CERTAINTY; The Method; Meditations: Commentary and Questions; Meditation I; Meditation II; Meditation III; Meditation IV; Meditation V; Meditation VI; What Has Descartes Done?