Description
Condition
GOOD to VERY GOOD: This book is free of writing and would be considered in excellent condition, except for the worn cover corners. This book was printed on acid-free paper.
Product Details
The inside front cover and inside back cover have color world maps and timelines that depict the “Great Philosophers and Thinkers.” The front’s map covers 500 BC through AD 1120, while the back’s, AD 1100 through AD 2000.
Additional features (stated on the back cover):
- Increased emphasis on application. – Each chapter now ends with a concrete application of the topic, providing greater continuity throughout the chapters and showing how each philosophical topic touches one of the major areas of our contemporary world.
- Guiding pedagogy. – A series of modules appear in the first section of every chapter to help students navigate new terrain in their philosophical journey and explore the issue at hand. ‘Scouting the Territory’ presents a scenario that raises engaging philosophical questions; ‘Charting the Terrain’ offers a more precise presentation of the topic and its significance; ‘Choosing a Path’ presents opposing alternatives to help students clarify their own thinking on the issue; ‘Conceptual Tools’ introduce important distinctions, definitions, or terminology as helpful tools for understanding the topic; and ‘What Do I Think?’ questionnaires help students define their current standing on an issue, enabling them to understand how philosophers have labeled that position.
- Clear and intuitive organization. – After chapter-opening sections orient students to the philosophical issue at hand, subsequent sections follow a consistent format in presenting and analyzing alternative positions. Each section includes questions and exercises inviting students to view matters through the lens of a particular philosophy and to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the ideas presented. An appendix presents a detailed discussion of argument forms.
- Interactive teaching format. – Exercises throughout the text in the form of questions, puzzles, experiments, questionnaires, and interviews encourage students to interact philosophically with the issues. These include ‘Thought Experiments,’ ‘Stop and Think’ boxes, ‘Philosophy in the Marketplace’ questionnaires, and ‘Spotlight on …’ boxes, which provide background information, intriguing quotes, or other information related to the topic.
- Primary sources. – Brief, well-edited primary source materials are integrated into the framework of the book. Each reading is accompanied by questions that guide the reader through the philosophical text.
There is a companion website that contains a wealth of additional resources, including an instructor’s manual, flashcards, primary sources, and quizzes.
Chapters
- Introduction to the Philosophical Journey: Where Are We Going and How Will We Get There?
- The Search for Knowledge
- The Search for Ultimate Reality
- The Search for God
- The Search for Ethical Values
- The Search for the Just Society
- Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
The Appendix, Reasoning Effectively: What to Do and What Not to Do; Credits; and Index conclude the textbook.