Featuring selections from around the globe, Introduction to World Philosophy: A Multicultural Reader provides a diverse and engaging introduction to five key areas of philosophy: ethics, philosophy of mind and self, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophical theology. The editors have arranged these topics according to their increasing complexity--from the most concrete (ethics) to the most theoretical (philosophical theology)--making the material as accessible as possible for students. Organized both chronologically and geographically, the anthology's five parts include readings from Indian, Chinese, Greek, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Spanish, Latin-American, and African traditions, as well as selections from early modern, Kantian, and post-Kantian philosophy. Introduction to World Philosophy contains 136 selections (24 by women), organized into 25 chapters; these chapters are divided into 93 sections, each of which opens with a detailed introduction that prepares students for the readings that follow. The parts and chapters can be used in any order and in any combination. The text's unique modular structure gives instructors great flexibility in designing and teaching introduction to philosophy courses.

Table of Contents:
PART I: ETHICS ; 1. ETHICS IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS OF INDIA ; 1.1. Karma and Dharma in Hindu thought ; 1.1.1. From the Bhagavad Gita ; 1.2. The Bhakti Movement ; 1.2.1. Akka Mahadevi ; 1.2.2. Janabai ; 1.2.3. Lalla ; 1.2.4. Mirabai ; 1.3. Early Buddhism ; 1.3.1. The Buddha, from The First Sermon ; 1.3.2. From The Dhammapada ; 1.4. Songs of the Buddhist Nuns ; 1.4.1. From Psalms of the Sisters ; 1.5. Buddhist Virtues ; 1.5.1. From The Lankavatara Sutra ; 1.6. Jainism ; 1.6.1. From the Acaranga Sutra ; 1.7. The Skepticism and Materialism of Charvaka ; 1.7.1. From Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha ; 2. CHINESE ETHICS ; 2.1. The Virtue Ethics of Confucius ; 2.1.1. Confucius, from The Analects ; 2.2. The Intuitionism of Mencius ; 2.2.1. From Mencius ; 2.3. Xunzi's Pessimistic View of Human Nature ; 2.3.1. Xunzi, from "That the Nature is Evil" ; 2.4. Confucian and Neo-Confucian Women Writers ; 2.4.1. Ban Zhao, from Lessons for My Daughters ; 2.4.2. Ban Zhao, "Traveling Eastward" ; 2.4.3. Li Qingzhao, from Hou Hsu ; 2.4.4. Li Qingzhao, from Complete Poems ; 2.5. The Virtue Ethics of Daoism ; 2.5.1. Laozi, from Dao-de-Jing ; 2.6. Daoist Women Writers ; 2.6.1. Yu Xuanji, from Poems ; 2.6.2. Sun Bu-er, from Poems ; 3. ANCIENT GREEK ETHICS ; 3.1. Socrates on Virtue ; 3.1.1. Plato, from Laches ; 3.2. Plato's Conception of Virtue ; 3.2.1. Plato, from the Republic ; 3.3. Aristotle on Virtue ; 3.3.1. Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics ; 4. MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN, JEWISH, AND ISLAMIC ETHICS ; 4.1. The Ethics of the Fathers ; 4.1.1. From the Babylonian Talmud ; 4.2. Augustine on Weakness of Will ; 4.2.1. Augustine, from Confessions ; 4.2.2. Augustine, from On the Trinity ; 4.3. Al-Farabi on Happiness ; 4.3.1. Al-Farabi, from The Attainment of Happiness ; 4.4. Maimonides on Happiness and Virtue ; 4.4.1. Moses Maimonides, from Guide of the Perplexed ; 4.5. Aquinas on Law and Virtue ; 4.5.1. St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica ; 4.6. St. Catherine of Siena on the Paradoxes of Wisdom ; 4.6.1. Letter to Monna Alessa Dei Saracini ; 4.6.2. Letter to the Venerable Religious Brother Antonio of Nizza, of the Order of the Hermit Brothers of St. Augustine at the Wood of the Lake ; 4.7. Christine de Pizan's Feminism ; 4.7.1. Christine de Pizan, from The Treasury of the City of Ladies ; 4.8. Virtue in St. Teresa of Avila ; 4.8.1. St. Teresa of Avila, from The Ways of Perfection ; 5. ETHICS IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY ; 5.1. Princess Elizabeth's Critique of Reason in Ethics ; 5.1.1. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, August 16, 1645 ; 5.1.2. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, September 13, 1645 ; 5.1.3. Elizabeth to Descartes-Riswyck, September 30, 1645 ; 5.1.4. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, April 25, 1646 ; 5.2. Hume's Empiricist Ethics: From Is to Ought ; 5.2.1. David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature ; 5.3. Kant's Deontology ; 5.3.1. Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals ; 5.4. Madame de Stael on the Passions ; 5.4.1. Madame de Stael, from Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations ; 5.5. Utilitarianism ; 5.5.1. John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism ; 6. AFRICAN ETHICS ; 6.1. The Ethiopian Enlightenment ; 6.1.1. Zera Yacob, from The Treatise of Zera Yacob ; 6.2. The Communitarian Utilitarianism of the Akan ; 6.2.1. Kwame Gyekye, from An Essay in African Philosophy: The Akan Conceptual Scheme ; 6.3. East African Islamic Ethics ; 6.3.1. Kai Kresse, from Philosophising in Mombasa ; PART II: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND AND SELF ; 7. THE SELF IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY ; 7.1. The Upanishads on a Higher Self ; 7.1.1. From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad ; 7.1.2. From the Chandogya Upanishad ; 7.1.3. From the Mundaka Upanishad ; 7.1.4. From the Svetasvatara Upanishad ; 7.1.5. From the Maitri Upanishad ; 7.1.6. From the Taittiriya Upanishad ; 7.1.7. From the Katha Upanishad ; 7.2. Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga: Hindu Paths to Self-Awareness ; 7.2.1. Shankara, from the Brahmasutra Commentary ; 7.2.2. Ishvarakrishna, from Verses on the Analysis of Nature (Samkhyakarika) ; 7.2.3. From The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali ; 7.3. Indian Buddhism: No-Self, Bundle Self, and Impermanence ; 7.3.1. From Questions to King Milinda ; 7.4. Exegesis, Logic, and Materialism: The Everyday Self ; 7.4.1. Kumarila, from Notes on the Verses ; 7.4.2. Madhava, from Compendium of Philosophy ; 7.4.3 From the Nyaya Sutra ; 7.4.4. Udayana, from Atmatattvaviveka ; 8. THE SELF IN CHINESE BUDDHISM ; 8.1. Chinese Buddhism: The Consciousness-Only School ; 8.1.1. Xuanzang, from The Treatise on the Establishment of the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only ; 8.2. Tibetan Buddhism: The Self as Transcendent ; 8.2.1. Yeshe Tsogyal, from Autobiography ; 8.3. Zen Buddhism: The Self as Empty ; 8.3.1. From the Heart Sutra ; 8.3.2. From The Recorded Conversations of Zen Master Yixuan ; 9. ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY OF MIND ; 9.1. Plato: The Eternal, Tripartite Soul ; 9.1.1. Plato, from Phaedo ; 9.1.2. Plato, from Phaedrus ; 9.2. Aristotle on the Self and Human Function ; 9.2.1. Aristotle, from De Anima ; 10. MIND AND BODY IN EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY ; 10.1. Descartes's Dualism of Mind and Body ; 10.1.1. Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy ; 10.2. Princess Elizabeth's Critique of Descartes's Dualism ; 10.2.1. Princess Elizabeth, Letter to Descartes-The Hague, May 16, 1643 ; 10.2.2. Princess Elizabeth, Letter to Descartes-The Hague, June 20, 1643 ; 10.2.3. Princess Elizabeth, Letter to Descartes-The Hague, July 1, 1643 ; 10.2.4. Princess Elizabeth, Letter to Descartes-The Hague, April 25, 1646 ; 10.3. Locke on Criteria of Personal Identity ; 10.3.1. John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ; 10.4. Hume: The Constructed Self ; 10.4.1. David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature ; 11. AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY OF MIND ; 11.1. Amo's Critique of Descartes ; 11.1.1. Anton Wilhelm Amo, from The Apatheia of the Human Mind ; 11.2. The Akan Conception of Mind and Self ; 11.2.1. Kwasi Wiredu, from "The Concept of Mind" ; 11.2.2. N. K. Dzobo, from "The Image of Man in Africa" ; 11.3. African Perspectives on Personal Identity ; 11.3.1. Leke Adeofe, from "Personal Identity in African Metaphysics" ; PART III: EPISTEMOLOGY ; 12. INDIAN THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 12.1. Indian Realism: Nyaya and Vaisheshika ; 12.1.1. From the Nyaya Sutra, with Commentary by Vatsyayana ; 12.2. Nagarjuna's Skeptical Regress ; 12.2.1. Nagarjuna, from Averting the Arguments ; 12.3. New Logic Responses to Skepticism ; 12.3.1. Ganghesa, from The Jewel of Thought about Epistemology ; 13. CHINESE THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 13.1. Daoist Skepticism ; 13.1.1. From Zhuangzi ; 13.2. The Empiricism of Wang Chong ; 13.2.1. Wang Chong, from Balanced Enquiries ; 14. ANCIENT GREEK THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 14.1. Plato's Internalism ; 14.1.1. Plato, from Meno ; 14.1.2. Plato, from Theaetetus ; 14.2. Aristotle on Thought and Inference ; 14.2.1. Aristotle, from On the Soul ; 14.3. Sextus Empiricus's Skepticism ; 14.3.1. Sextus Empiricus, from Outlines of Pyrrhonism ; 15. JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, AND ISLAMIC THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 15.1. The Skepticism of Philo of Alexandria ; 15.1.1. Philo, from On Drunkenness ; 15.2. Augustine's Foundationalism ; 15.2.1. Augustine, from Answer to Skeptics ; 15.2.2. Augustine, The City of God ; 15.3. Avicenna (ibn Sina) on Logic and Science ; 15.3.1. Avicenna, from A Treatise on Logic ; 15.3.2. Avicenna, from The Book of Healing ; 15.3.3. Avicenna, from On the Soul ; 16. MODERN THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 16.1. Descartes's Foundationalism ; 16.1.1. Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy ; 16.2. John Locke's Empiricism ; 16.2.1. John Locke, from Essay Concerning Human Understanding ; 16.3. Leibniz's Rationalism ; 16.3.1. G. W. Leibniz, from New Essays Concerning Human Understanding ; 16.4. Hume's Empiricism ; 16.4.1. David Hume, from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding ; 17. SPANISH, PORTUGUESE, AND LATIN AMERICAN THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE ; 17.1. The Skepticism of Francisco Sanches ; 17.1.1. Francisco Sanches, from That Nothing is Known ; 17.2. The Contextualism of Unamuno ; 17.2.1. Miguel de Unamuno, from The Tragic Sense of Life ; PART IV: METAPHYSICS ; 18. CLASSICAL INDIAN METAPHYSICS ; 18.1. Classical Realist Ontology ; 18.1.1. From the Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada ; 18.2. Hindu Idealism ; 18.2.1. Shankara, from the Brahmasutra Commentary ; 18.3. Buddhist Idealism ; 18.3.1. Dignaga, from the Investigation of the Object of Awareness ; 18.4. Jainist Perspectivism ; 18.4.1. Vadi Devasuri, from Ornament Illuminating the Means and Principles of Awareness ; 19. ANCIENT GREEK METAPHYSICS ; 19.1. Plato's Forms (Universals) ; 19.1.1. Plato, from Republic ; 19.2. Aristotle: Categories and Causes ; 19.2.1. Aristotle, from Categories ; 19.2.2. Aristotle, from Metaphysics ; 19.2.3. Aristotle, from Physics ; 20. METAPHYSICS IN EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY ; 20.1. Primary and Secondary Qualities ; 20.1.1. Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy ; 20.1.2. John Locke, from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding ; 20.2. The Idealism of Berkeley and Hume ; 20.2.1. George Berkeley, from Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous ; 20.2.2. George Berkeley, from Principles of Human Knowledge ; 20.2.3. David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature ; 21. METAPHYSICS IN KANT AND POST-KANTIAN PHILOSOPHY ; 21.1. Kant's Copernican Revolution ; 21.1.1. Immanuel Kant, from Critique of Pure Reason ; 21.2. Hegel's Historicism ; 21.2.1. G. W. F. Hegel, from Phenomenology of Mind ; 21.3. Peirce's Pragmatism ; 21.3.1. Charles Sanders Peirce, from "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" ; 21.4. Nietzsche's Perspectivism ; 21.4.1. Friedrich Nietzsche, from Human, All Too Human ; 21.4.2. Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Cheerful Science ; 21.5. Russell's Rejection of Idealism ; 21.5.1. Bertrand Russell, from Problems of Philosophy ; 22. SPANISH AND LATIN AMERICAN METAPHYSICS ; 22.1. The Logic of Peter of Spain ; 22.1.1. Peter of Spain, Tractatus ; 22.2. The Perspectivism of Ortega y Gasset ; 22.2.1. Jose Ortega y Gasset, from The Modern Theme ; 22.3. The Metaphysical Labyrinths of Jorge Luis Borges ; 22.3.1. Jorge Luis Borges, from "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" ; PART V: PHILOSOPHICAL THEOLOGY ; 23. Classical Christian Theology ; 23.1. Augustine ; 23.1.1. Augustine, from Confessions ; 23.1.2. Augustine, from Enchiridion ; 23.2. Anselm's Ontological Arguments ; 23.2.1. Anselm, from Proslogion ; 23.3. The Cosmological Arguments of St. Thomas Aquinas ; 23.3.1. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica ; 23.4. The Christian Mysticism of Julian of Norwich ; 23.4.1. Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love ; 24. Medieval Islamic Theology ; 24.1. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) on the Existence of God ; 24.1.1. Avicenna, from On the Nature of God ; 24.2. Al-Ghazali's Critique of Theology, and Averroes' Defense ; 24.2.1. Averroes, from The Incoherence of the Incoherence; Al-Ghazali, from The Incoherence of the Philosophers ; 24.3. Sufi Mysticism ; 24.3.1. Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya, from Readings from the Mystics of Islam ; 24.3.2. Zeb-un-Nissa, from Poetry from the Hidden One ; 25. Modern Theology ; 25.1. Descartes's Arguments for God's Existence ; 25.1.1. Rene Descartes, from Meditations on First Philosophy ; 25.2. Pascal's Wager ; 25.2.1. Blaise Pascal, from Thoughts ; 25.3. Leibniz and the Problem of Evil ; 25.3.1. G. W. Leibniz, from Theodicy ; 25.4. Paley's Argument from Design ; 25.4.1. William Paley, from Natural Theology ; 25.5. Hume's Counterarguments and Refutations ; 25.5.1. David Hume, from Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion