Free Downloads Readings On Ultimate Questions: An Introduction To Philosophy (3rd Edition)
Accessible and engaging, this brief and inexpensive anthology provides contemporary and classical readings in the key areas of Introductory Philosophy. Designed to be used on its own or with its companion text, Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy 3e, this collection of readings covers the major topic areas in philosophy: Knowledge; Free Will; Personal Identity; Mind/Body; God; Ethics; and Political Philosophy. While focusing primarily on contemporary philosophy, it also includes many of the classic works essential to an introductory course.
Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Pearson; 3 edition (October 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0205731988
ISBN-13: 978-0205731985
Product Dimensions: 7 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #152,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #62 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Criticism #1047 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy
The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 was the title's inclusion of "An Introduction to Philosophy." This book does introduce philosophy, but not in the way that I think it should be done. When anyone begins the study of philosophy, I think the historical development of philosophy is of secondary importance only to the philosophy itself. An example that is external to this book is Hume. It is fine to have read Hume, but you cannot understand the true train of thought and perspective until you know the development that lead to Hume's philosophy. If you don't know Berkeley and Malebranche, then you are missing something of great importance, in my opinion. Knowing some factoid about philosophy is not learning philosophy. Philosophy is learning to examine information, how to understand perspective, and how to develop analysis through foundational thought. How does this book fail to do that? Well, it does something worse than lack a historical presentation of philosophy, it includes virutally NO Aristotle or Plato. In fact, I would expect to see more of the early philosophers predating 1200 AD. To me, this dearth is an anathema. Skipping Heraclitus and the Pythagoreans might be a pardonable crime for those with a passing interest in philosophy, but Plato and Aristotle should be the layman's starting point. Moreover, the history of western philosophy is summarized as a dialectical tension between Aristotelian and Platonic philosophy, so an introduction to philsophy should be rife with their works.I would have given this book 5 stars if the title would have been "Introduction to Ultimate Questions of Philosophy: A Contemporary Look." The selected writings were well chosen, and are very fitting of my suggested title. I thought that this was an incredibly quick read.
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