The new edition of this introductory text presents, in an accessible way, classical and contemporary readings on topics central to and representative of all major periods of the Western philosophical tradition. The book presents 55 readings (23 of which are new to the fourth edition) on seven topics: epistemology, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, personal identity and immortality, free will and determinism, ethics, and political and social philosophy. Pedagogical features make these readings accessible and interesting to beginning students. All the introductions and biographical sketches have been revised for the fourth edition, as have the study questions and glossary. The explanatory footnotes and the stylistic modernization of texts are new to the fourth edition.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: What Is Philosophy? Plato, Euthyphro (complete) Part 1 Theory of Knowledge 1 Opinion and Knowledge Plato, The Republic (selection) 2 Knowledge through Reason Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (selection) 3 Knowledge through Experience Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (selection) 4 Experience Structured by the Mind Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (selection) 5 Knowing and Doing James, Pragmatism (selection) 6 Knowledge and Emotion Jaggar, Love and Knowledge (selection) Part 2 Philosophy of Religion 7 Proving the Existence of God Anselm, Proslogion (selection) Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (selection) Paley, Natural Theology (selection) Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker (selection) 8 Justifying Religious Belief Pascal, Pensees (selection) James, The Will to Believe (selection) Freud, The Future of an Illusion (selection) 9 Confronting the Problem of Evil Mackie, Evil and Omnipotence (complete) Hick, Philosophy of Religion (selection) Part 3 Metaphysics 10 Idealism and Materialism Berkeley, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (selection) Armstrong, Naturalism, Materialism and First Philosophy (selection) 11 The Mind-Body Problem Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (selection) Searle, Minds, Brains and Science (selection) 12 Physics and Metaphysics O'Hear, Introduction to the Philosophy of Science(selection) Part 4 Personal Identity and Immortality 13 Personal Identity Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (selection) Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (selection) Dennett, The Origin of Selves (complete) Pali Canon (selection) 14 Immortality Plato, Phaedo (selection) Penelhum, Religion and Rationality (selection) Part 5 Freedom to Choose 15 Libertarianism James, The Dilemma of Determinism (selection) Taylor, Metaphysics (selection) 16 Determinism Hospers, Meaning and Free Will (selection) Skinner, Walden Two (selection) 17 Compatibilism Stace, Religion and the Modern Mind (selection) Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy (selection) Part 6 Ethics 18 Fulfilling Human Nature Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (selection) 19 Loving God Augustine, The Morals of the Catholic Church & The City of God (selections) 20 Following Natural Law Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (selection) 21 Doing One's Duty Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals (selection) 22 Maximizing Utility Mill, Utilitarianism (selection) 23 Turning Values Upside Down Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human & Beyond Good and Evil (selections) 24 Creating Ourselves Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism (selection) 25 Hearing the Feminine Voice Gilligan, In a Different Voice (selection) Baier, What Do Women Want in a Moral Theory? (selection) Part 7 Political and Social Philosophy 6 The State as Natural Plato, The Republic (selection) Aristotle, Politics (selection) 27 The State as a Social Contract Hobbes, Philosophical Rudiments Concerning Government and Society (selection) Locke, The Second Treatise of Government (selection) 28 Liberty of the Individual Mill, On Liberty (selection) 29 Alienation in Capitalism Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (selection) 30 Justice and Social Trust Rawls, A Theory of Justice (selection) Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (selection) Held, Rights and Goods (selection) 31 Women in Society Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (selection) De Beauvoir, The Second Sex (selection) Conclusion: The Value of Philosophy Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (selection) Midgley, Philosophical Plumbing (selection) Glossary For Further Reading Index