Those who begin the study of philosophy may easily become discouraged. Many classic texts are daunting in their complexity, and much contemporary writing is intended primarily for a professional audience. In Exploring Philosophy, Steven M. Cahn has gathered recent essays by noted philosophers who place a premium on clarity, plus a number of the most accessible historical sources, thereby showing general readers what it means to think like a philosopher. Here is a remarkably accessible and engaging introduction to philosophy. These carefully edited essays are topically organized, and address issues drawn from the major fields of philosophy, such as knowledge and skepticism, freedom and determinism, mind and body, the existence of God, the problem of evil, faith and reason, cultural relativism, abortion, euthanasia, democracy, privacy, capital punishment, affirmative action, death, and the meaning of life. The collection also contains, in preeminent translations and with explanatory notes, the complete texts of Plato's Meno, Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito as well as specially selected materials by Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Mill. Also provided are an introduction to logic and scientific method and guiding commentary by the editor. Steven M. Cahn has proved that it is possible to discuss the core topics of philosophy without arcane terminology, unexplained references, or convoluted arguments. For anyone interested in delving into philosophy, this anthology offers an impressive sampling of lucid, inviting articles that tackle some of the field's most provocative questions.

This sixth edition includes eleven major new additions, including Plato's Symposium and selections from Aristotle's On Interpretation, Augustine's On Free Choice of the Will, and J L Austin's Sense and Sensibilia, as well as works of Sextus Empiricus, Boethius, Maimonides, Gersonides, Ockham, and William James. Selections from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, Hume's Treatise, and Russell's Problems of Philosophy have been expanded, while Plato's Republic, Hobbes' Leviathan, and Mill's On Liberty have been further abridged. In all, complete texts or substantial selections from fifty-two philosophical masterpieces are presented-in preeminent and thoughtfully annotated translations and editions, with Introductions by a team of distinguished scholars.

Product Description: Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy provides in one volume the major writings from nearly 2,500 years of political and moral philosophy. The most comprehensive collection of its kind, it moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero) through medieval views (Augustine, Aquinas) to modern perspectives (Machiavelli, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Adam Smith, Kant)...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Explore the central issues of philosophy through an engaging combination of classic and contemporary sources. With over seventy non-technical readings, the editors of PHILOSOPHICAL HORIZONS have put together the easiest to follow and yet most informative philosophy selections ever...read more

Product Description: This volume includes all Dewey's writings for 1938 except for Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (Volume 12 of The Later Works), as well as his 1939 Freedom and Culture, Theory of Valuation, and two items from Intelligence in the Modern World...read more

Product Description: This highly anticipated anthology, compiled by noted author and scholar Steven Cahn, presents the seven major works central to any introductory philosophy course in their entirety.  Each work has had a profound influence on philosophical thought, and the authors are generally regarded as among the world’s greatest philosophers...read more

Product Description: The thirty articles in Puzzles and Perplexitie, displaying clarity and acumen, present a balanced picture of Steven M. Cahn's wide-ranging work over more than four decades. Taken together, the signal essays in this volume guide the reader on a journey through Cahn's remarkable career as a philosopher and educator...read more

Product Description: Book by Cahn, Steven M.

Product Description: A handy collection of readings regarding the philosophical areas of Epistemology and Metaphysics that includes both historical and contemporary works, this book gives the reader a sense of how philosophical issues have evolved over time...read more

Product Description: This book is an essential guide to the full range of arguments surrounding affirmative action. Following the debate, as no other collection does, from all the early foundational articles to up-to-date selections, the book presents the strongest contributions from both sides of this highly charged issue...read more

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The most comprehensive collection of its kind, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, 2/e is organized into three sections, providing instructors with flexibility in designing and teaching a variety of courses in moral philosophy. The first section, Historical Sources, moves from classical thought (Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Epictetus) through medieval views (Augustine and Aquinas) to modern theories (Hobbes, Butler, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Mill), culminating with leading nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers (Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Dewey, Camus, and Sartre). The readings are printed in their entirety wherever possible. The second section, Modern Ethical Theory, includes many of the most important essays of the past century. The discussion of utilitarianism, Kantianism, egoism, and relativism continues in the work of major contemporary philosophers (Williams, Brandt, Feinberg, Foot, and Rachels). Landmark selections (Moore, Prichard, Ross, Ayer, Stevenson, Anscombe, Baier, Hare, Harman, and Gauthier) reflect concern with moral language and the justification of morality. The concepts of justice (Rawls) and rights (Feinberg) are explored, as well as recent views on the importance of virtue ethics (MacIntyre and Rachels) and an ethic influenced by feminist concerns (Held). In the third section, Contemporary Moral Problems, the readings present the current debates over abortion, euthanasia, famine relief, animal rights, the death penalty, and affirmative action. This second edition features expanded selections from Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus. It also includes articles by Michael Stocker on ethical theory; Jane English and Joel Feinberg on abortion; Thomas D. Sullivan on euthanasia; Hugo Adam Bedau on capital punishment; and Judith Jarvis Thomson, Robert Simon, and Steven M. Cahn on affirmative action.

Product Description: Classics of Modern Political Theory: Machiavelli to Mill brings together the complete texts or substantial selections from the masterpieces of modern political theory. The most comprehensive anthology of its kind, this volume includes well-known works by Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx, and significant contributions from Spinoza, Montesquieu, Hume, Adam Smith, Kant, Burke, Bentham, and Tocqueville...read more

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