Doing Philosophy

This book presents - in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style - the basics of how to 'do philosophy': what philosophy is, how we can think, the nature of logic, some special terms, etc. Then, using questions and exercises, as well as everyday examples, the book takes the reader on a wide-ranging tour of exciting philosophical topics (as well as the 'standard fare' of logic, epistemology, mind, God, etc.), which also includes ethical, social, scientific, cultural, and human issues (such as time, cosmology, war, animal rights, euthanasia, abortion, genetics, evolution, and the meaning of life). The book's emphasis throughout is that philosophy is accessible to anyone and that, as a subject, philosophy is practical, fascinating, and exciting. By encouraging independent critical thinking and being succinct yet informative, the book involves the reader with: the history, the breadth of subject matter, the skills of philosophizing, and the benefits that philosophy can offer to the enquiring individual. Doing Philosophy accesses major philosophical topics briefly, breaking them down into convenient chunks, with challenging questions throughout and exercise questions at the end of each chapter, and it introduces major thinkers and their ideas. An extensive further reading list is also included to help those who wish to take this absorbing subject further. Doing Philosophy presents the basics of how to do philosophy - what philosophy is, how we can think, the nature of logic, some special terms - in straightforward easy to understand style. Then, using questions and exercises as well as everyday examples, the author takes the reader on a wide-ranging tour of exciting philosophical topics which, as well as the 'standard fare' of logic, epistemology, mind, God etc., also includes ethical, social, scientific, cultural and human issues such as time, cosmology, war, animal rights, euthanasia, abortion, genetics, evolution, and the meaning of life. The author's emphasis throughout is that philosophy is accessible to anyone keen enough to try and do it and that, as a subject, philosophy is practical, fascinating and exciting. By encouraging independent critical thinking and being succinct yet informative, the book involves the reader with the history, the breadth of subject matter, the skills of philosophising and the benefits that philosophy can offer to the enquiring individual. The book accesses major philosophical topics briefly, breaking them down into convenient chunks with challenging questions throughout and exercise questions at the end of each chapter, and introduces major thinkers and their ideas. There is an extensive further reading list to help those who wish to take this absorbing subject further. Front cover......Page 1 Title page......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 8 Doing Philosophy......Page 12 Some Philosophical Terms......Page 17 Argument and Logic......Page 23 Possibility......Page 32 What Do We Know?......Page 37 Perceiving the World......Page 44 Mind......Page 51 Right and Wrong......Page 61 Equality......Page 73 God......Page 85 Science......Page 96 Time......Page 106 Human Rights......Page 115 Freedom and Determinism......Page 126 Politics, Political Equality and the State of the World......Page 135 War......Page 147 Punishment......Page 163 Abortion......Page 172 Euthanasia......Page 186 Animal Rights......Page 194 Genetics......Page 207 Life, Death, Immortality and Reincarnation......Page 219 Evolution......Page 231 Cosmology......Page 245 The Meaning of Life......Page 252 Annotated Bibliography, Extended Reading and Internet Resources......Page 256 Index......Page 263 Back cover......Page 274 Doing Philosophy presents the basics: what philosophy is, how we can think, the nature of logic, in a straightforward style. The author takes the reader on a tour of exciting philosophical topics. The emphasis is that philosophy is accessible to anyone keen enough to try and do it and that philosophy is practical, fascinating and exciting.