What Is The Argument? An Introduction To Philosophical Argument And Analysis

Description

Exploring philosophy through detailed argument analyses of texts by philosophers from Plato to Strawson using a novel and transparent method of analysis. The best way to introduce students to philosophy and philosophical discourse is to have them read and wrestle with original sources. This textbook explores philosophy through detailed argument analyses of texts by philosophers from Plato to Strawson. It presents a novel and transparent method of analysis that will teach students not only how to understand and evaluate philosophers' arguments but also how to construct such arguments themselves. Students will learn to read a text and discover what the philosopher thinks, why the philosopher thinks it, and whether the supporting argument is good. Students learn argument analysis through argument diagrams, with color-coding of the argument's various elements—conclusion, claims, and “indicator phrases.” (An online “mini-course” in argument diagramming and argument diagramming software are both freely available online.) Each chapter ends with exercises and reading questions. After a general introduction to philosophy and logic and an explanation of argument analysis, the book presents selections from primary sources, arranged by topics that correspond to contemporary debates, with detailed analysis and evaluation. These topics include philosophy of religion, epistemology, theory of mind, free will and determinism, and ethics; authors include Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Ryle, Fodor, Dennett, Searle, and others. What Is the Argument? not only introduces students to great philosophical thinkers, it also teaches them the essential skill of critical thinking. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Title - Full......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 I Doing Philosophy......Page 16 Preface......Page 10 1.1 What Is Philosophy?......Page 18 1.2 How Do We Do Philosophy?......Page 21 1.3 Purpose and Structure of This Book......Page 26 1.4 In-Class Exercise......Page 27 1.5 Reading Questions......Page 28 2 Types of Arguments......Page 30 2.1 Vocabulary......Page 31 2.2 Necessary versus Sufficient Conditions......Page 37 2.4 Forms of Valid and InvalidDeductive Arguments......Page 39 2.5 A Priori versus A Posteriori Deductive Arguments......Page 42 2.6 Types of Nondeductive Arguments: Induction, Argument by Analogy, and Abduction......Page 43 2.7 Answers to Self-Assessment Exercises......Page 44 2.8 In-Class Exercises......Page 45 3 Argument Analysis and Diagramming......Page 48 3.1 Visual Representations of Reasoning......Page 49 3.2 Understanding and Representing Argument Structure......Page 54 3.3 Interpreting Arguments to Create Diagrams......Page 66 3.4 Diagramming Objections and Replies......Page 74 3.5 Summary......Page 80 3.6 Answers to Self-Assessment Exercises......Page 81 3.7 In-Class Exercises......Page 87 II Philosophy of Religion......Page 100 4.1 St. Anselm, Proslogion......Page 108 4.2 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica......Page 116 4.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 128 5.1 Michael Martin, “Three Reasons for Nonbelief”......Page 134 5.2 John Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence”......Page 141 5.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 147 5.3 Reading Questions......Page 151 6.1 David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion......Page 152 6.2 William Paley, Natural Theology......Page 159 6.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 171 6.4 Reading Questions......Page 176 III Epistemology......Page 178 7.1 Plato, Theaetetus......Page 186 7.2 Edmund L. Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”......Page 190 7.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 195 7.4 Reading Questions......Page 199 8.1 René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy......Page 202 8.2 John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding......Page 221 8.3 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding......Page 227 8.4 In-Class Exercises......Page 236 8.5 Reading Questions......Page 242 9.1 Hans Reichenbach, Experience and Prediction......Page 244 9.2 Karl Popper, “Science: Conjectures and Refutations”......Page 249 9.3 Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction, and Forecast......Page 256 9.4 In-Class Exercises......Page 262 9.5 Reading Questions......Page 267 IV Theory of Mind......Page 268 10.1 René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy......Page 274 10.2 Gilbert Ryle, “Descartes’ Myth”......Page 282 10.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 288 10.4 Reading Questions......Page 290 11.1 J. J. C. Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes”......Page 292 11.2 Jerry Fodor, “The Mind–Body Problem”......Page 296 11.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 298 11.4 Reading Questions......Page 303 12.1 Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?”......Page 304 12.2 Frank Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia”......Page 308 12.3 Paul Churchland, “Knowing Qualia: A Reply to Jackson”......Page 311 12.4 In-Class Exercises......Page 315 12.5 Reading Questions......Page 320 13.1 John Searle, “Can Computers Think?”......Page 322 13.2 Dan Dennett, “Consciousness Imagined”......Page 326 13.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 329 13.4 Reading Questions......Page 331 V Free Will and Determinism......Page 332 14.1 Baron d’Holbach, “Of the System of Man’s Free Agency”......Page 338 14.2 Galen Strawson, “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility”......Page 343 14.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 348 14.4 Reading Questions......Page 351 15.1 David Hume, “Of Liberty and Necessity”......Page 352 15.2 W. T. Stace, “The Problem of Free Will”......Page 356 15.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 361 15.4 Reading Questions......Page 363 16.1 Roderick M. Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self”......Page 364 16.2 Peter van Inwagen, “The Powers of Rational Beings: Freedom of the Will”......Page 369 16.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 375 16.4 Reading Questions......Page 378 VI Ethics......Page 380 17.1 Plato, Euthyphro......Page 388 17.2 James Rachels, “Does Morality Depend on Religion?”......Page 394 17.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 400 17.4 Reading Questions......Page 403 18.1 Ruth Benedict, “Anthropology and the Abnormal”......Page 404 18.2 James Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”......Page 408 18.3 In-Class Exercises......Page 412 18.4 Reading Questions......Page 414 19.1 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics......Page 416 19.2 James Rachels, “Egoism and Moral Skepticism”......Page 420 19.3 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan......Page 427 19.4 In-Class Exercises......Page 433 19.5 Reading Questions......Page 443 20.1 Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation......Page 444 20.2 John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism......Page 450 20.3 Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals......Page 455 20.4 In-Class Exercises......Page 460 20.5 Reading Questions......Page 463 Notes......Page 466 Index......Page 472