Philosophy

Preface Introduction 1 Ethics Definition of "ethics" Ethics originates in everyday life Classification of ethical theories Classical theories Platonism Aristotle: the doctrine of the mean Hedonism: the philosophy of Epicurus Cynicism Stoicism Christian ethics Philosophy of Spinoza Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Kantian ethics Modern ethics Subjectivism and objectivism Naturalism, non-naturalism and emotivism Motivist, deontological and consequence theories Analysis of subjectivism and objectivism Applied ethics Suggested further reading 2 Political philosophy Definition of "political philosophy" Plato"s political philosophy Political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes Political philosophy of John Locke Political philosophy of John Stuart Mill Political philosophy of Karl Marx Contemporary political theory Suggested further reading 3 Metaphysics What is metaphysics? Pluralism and monism Scope of metaphysics The problem of permanence and change The mind-body problem The problem of free will and determinism Types of metaphysical system Some criticisms of metaphysics Suggested further reading 4 Philosophy of religion Philosophy and religion The problem of religious knowledge Natural and revealed religion Hume"s argument The cosmological (or causal) argument The ontological argument Conclusions The problem of the nature of God Suggested further reading 5 The theory of knowledge Rene Descartes: the problem posed The problem of knowledge: a closer look Ancient Greek philosophy Plato Socrates"s theory of universal forms The philosopher-king Descartes"s theory of knowledge The argument for objective reality Rationalist theories of knowledge Empirical philosophy John Locke Bishop George Berkeley David Hume Summary of the empirical theory of knowledge The empiricist critique of rationalism Summary6 Logic Definition of "logic" Deductive and inductive logic Deductive logic: the syllogism Terminology of logic Affirmative and negative propositions Universal, particular and singular propositions The four standard propositions of logic Distribution of terms Middle, major and minor terms Rules for determining validity and invalidity Translating ordinary into logical sentences Equivalent sentences Obversion Conversion Contraposition Fallacies Logic, semiotics and semantics Summary Answers to exercises Suggested further reading7 Contemporary philosophy Pragmatism The pluralistic universe Instrumentalism Some criticisms of pragmatism Philosophical analysis Logical atomism: the philosophy of Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein Logical positivism: Schlick, Carnap, A. J. Ayer Ordinary language philosophy: Moore and the later Wittgenstein Existentialism and phenomenology Soren Kierkegaard Contemporary existentialism Suggested further readingIndexes