In Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, Steven M. Cahn brings together exceptionally clear recent essays by noted philosophers and supplements them with influential historical sources. The articles have been carefully edited to make them understandable to every reader. The readings are enhanced by concise introductions, study questions, and explanatory notes. Reflecting the major role of women in philosophy today, 1/3 of the contemporary essays are authored by women.

Table of Contents:
Preface PART 1. INTRODUCTION What Is Philosophy?, Monroe C. Beardsley and Elizabeth Lane Beardsley The Value of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell HISTORICAL SOURCE Defence of Socrates, Plato PART 2. REASONING The Elements of Argument, Steven M. Cahn, Patricia Kitcher, and George Sher Improving Your Thinking, Stephen F. Barker Necessary and Sufficient Conditions, Steven M. Cahn Scientific Inquiry, Carl G. Hempel Antiscientism, Gillian Barker and Philip Kitcher PART 3. KNOWLEDGE Caring and Epistemic Demands, Linda Zagzebski Knowing vs. Thinking, Jennifer Nagel Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?, Edmund L. Gettier Conditions for Knowledge, Robert Nozick Appearance and Reality, Bertrand Russell What Can I Know?, D. Z. Phillips The Problem of Induction, Bertrand Russell Induction Without a Problem, P. F. Strawson Puzzling Out Knowledge, Susan Haack HISTORICAL SOURCES Meno, Plato Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, George Berkeley An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant PART 4. MIND The Ghost in the Machine, Gilbert Ryle Body and Soul, Richard Taylor The Mind-Body Problem, Paul M. Churchland What Is It Like to Be a Bat?, Thomas Nagel The Qualia Problem, Frank Jackson Knowing What It's Like, David Lewis Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Alan Turing Do Computers Think?, John Searle The Body Problem, Barbara Montero HISTORICAL SOURCE Meditations on First Philosophy, René Descartes PART 5. FREE WILL Free Will, Thomas Nagel Free Will and Determinism, W. T. Stace Freedom or Determinism?, Steven M. Cahn The Principle of Alternative Possibilities, Harry Frankfurt The Capacities of Agents, Neil Levy Do We Have Free Will?, Patricia Churchland HISTORICAL SOURCES An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume The Dilemma of Determinism, William James PART 6. IDENTITY A Case of Identity, Brian Smart The Problem of Personal Identity, John Perry The Unimportance of Identity, Derek Parfit HISTORICAL SOURCES An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Thomas Reid PART 7. GOD Does God Exist?, Ernest Nagel Why God Allows Evil, Richard Swinburne Pascal's Wager, Simon Blackburn Pascal's Wager: An Assessment, Linda Zagzebski Faith and Reason, Michael Scriven God and Morality, Steven M. Cahn HISTORICAL SOURCES The Ontological Argument, Anselm and Gaunilo Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, David Hume The Wager, Blaise Pascal Natural Theology, William Paley The Will to Believe, William James PART 8. MORAL THEORY Moral Isolationism, Mary Midgley Kant's Ethics, Onora O'Neill Assessing Utilitarianism, Louis P. Pojman Virtue Ethics, Julia Driver The Ethics of Care, Virginia Held Egoism and Moral Skepticism, James Rachels HISTORICAL SOURCES Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill PART 9. MORAL PROBLEMS A Defense of Abortion, Judith Jarvis Thomson Why Abortion Is Immoral, Don Marquis Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Peter Singer A Reply to Singer, Travis Timmerman The Morality of Reparation, Bernard R. Boxill Reparation and the Problem of Agency, Chandran Kukathas Sexual Harassment in the University, N. Ann Davis Sexual Harassment in Public Places, Margaret Crouch The Trolley Problem, Judith Jarvis Thomson Turning the Trolley, Judith Jarvis Thomson The Divestiture Puzzle, Steven M. Cahn PART 10. SOCIETY Democracy, John Dewey What Is a Liberal Education?, Sidney Hook Cultivating Humanity, Martha Nussbaum Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. HISTORICAL SOURCES Crito, Plato On Liberty, John Stuart Mill Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl Marx PART 11. SOCIAL JUSTICE A Theory of Justice, John Rawls Distributive Justice, Robert Nozick Non-contractual Society: A Feminist View, Virginia Held HISTORICAL SOURCES The Republic, Plato Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes PART 12. ART Aesthetic Concepts, Frank Sibley Speaking in Parables, Sallie McFague Fearing Fictions, Kendall Walton HISTORICAL SOURCES The Republic, Plato Poetics, Aristotle PART 13. THE MEANING OF LIFE The Meaning of Life, Richard Taylor Meaning in Life, Susan Wolf Meaningful Lives, Christine Vitrano The Afterlife, Samuel Scheffler How the Afterlife Matters, Harry G. Frankfurt The Significance of Doomsday, Susan Wolf HISTORICAL SOURCES Phaedo, Plato Writings, Epicurus The Handbook, Epictetus 14. ASIAN OUTLOOKS The Buddha's Message, Christopher W. Gowans The Confucian Way, Henry Rosemont, Jr. The Tao, Ray Billington Twelve Zen Stories Index