Capturing the inimitable enthusiasm of Louis Pojman's much acclaimed teaching, PHILOSOPHY: THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM introduces students to all the core topics in philosophy. Beginning with an inquiry into the nature and purpose of philosophy, this text moves through many traditional discussions--such as the existence of God, the problems of knowledge, the freewill/determinism debate, and the foundations of ethics--concluding with an exploration into existentialism and the meaning of life.
The most comprehensive introduction to environmental ethics available, ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS offers students a current look at the issues and topics that dominate the field today, organized into two main parts that take students seamlessly from theory to application. This Sixth Edition of the Pojmans' popular anthology, like its predecessors, includes numerous topic areas not covered in other anthologies. Featuring articles carefully selected for clarity and accessibility, the text follows a dialogic pro-con format presenting divergent positions on each topic, ensuring that students are both exposed to and understand both sides of every topic so they can develop their own informed positions. New selections include selections on Food Ethics and Climate Change and Energy Policy. Most of the royalties for this book are donated to groups dedicated to protecting the environment, such as the Wilderness Society and the Sierra Club.
The most comprehensive text in its field, this anthology includes 74 articles in 9 areas of philosophy of religion: The Concept of God; Traditional Arguments for the Existence of God; Religious Experience; The Problem of Evil; Miracles, Death and Immortality; Faith and Reason; Science, Religion, and Evolution; and Religious Pluralism. The arrangement of the articles and the introductions which accompany them help students place the readings in their historical or contemporary context, and to ensure that students can be exposed to a spectrum of viewpoints. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
Food Ethics is an emerging course area in many academic departments for good reason. Students are interested in the issues and confront them to some degree several times a day. There is a growing realization that food ethics are at core of many other critical environmental issues, including climate change, population and migration, appropriate technology, development and capitalism, as well as pollution. This anthology includes twenty-one readings designed to provide a basic reader for a Food Ethics class or to act as an academic companion text along side one of the many mass market titles addressing these issues. The readings cover issues such as genetically modified foods, animal rights, population and consumption, pollution, centralized versus local production, vegetarianism and more. Introductions and study questions help students to prepare for reflection and discussion on these significant and noteworthy issues. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
Two distinguished social and political philosophers take opposing positions in this highly engaging work. Louis P. Pojman justifies the practice of execution by appealing to the principle of retribution: we deserve to be rewarded and punished according to the virtue or viciousness of our actions. He asserts that the death penalty does deter some potential murderers and that we risk the lives of innocent people who might otherwise live if we refuse to execute those deserving that punishment. Jeffrey Reiman argues that although the death penalty is a just punishment for murder, we are not morally obliged to execute murderers. Since we lack conclusive evidence that executing murderers is an effective deterrent and because we can foster the advance of civilization by demonstrating our intolerance for cruelty in our unwillingness to kill those who kill others, Reiman concludes that it is good in principle to avoid the death penalty, and bad in practice to impose it.
Louis Pojman's new HOW SHOULD WE LIVE? is a concise and engaging text that offers a provocative discussion of the central questions and theories in moral philosophy. Crafted by one of contemporary philosophy's most gifted teachers, it begins with a poignant meditation on Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES, a starting point for an eye-opening examination of central metaethical concepts such as relativism, objectivism, egoism, and whether or not religion is a necessity for morality. From there Pojman presents with even-handed consideration and in a readily accessible style the three most seminal ethical theories: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue-based ethics. The book's discussion culminates with a very timely exploration of the grounds for human rights in today's increasingly global society. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
Can we ever achieve belief by a direct act of will? If it will help us to be happier, should we make ourselves believe propositions which the evidence alone does not warrant? These are the sort of questions which Professor Pojman examines in Religious Belief and the Will (originally published in 1986). He deals with a constellation of problems related to believing and willing to believe; his main concern is with religious faith and belief, though his analysis is also of interest to epistemology and ethics. Pojman asks what is so important about believing propositions in the first place, and why religious creeds have made propositional belief a necessary condition for salvation. He considers whether one can be rational and still use the will to believe what the evidence alone does not warrant. He also discusses whether faith and belief are generically related or distinct attitudes. This is the first full-length treatise on religious belief that approaches the subject from the viewpoint of volitional activity (i.e., related to the will). It presents a rethinking of the way the will interacts with belief, a relationship often misconstrued in works of philosophy and theology. Pojman believes that the will is central to religious commitment, and that by understanding the relationship between the attitude of belief and the activity of willing, we are enabled to get fresh insight into the classical problem of religious belief and the will.
Incorporating the insights of new coeditor Lewis Vaughn, Classics of Philosophy, Third Edition, is the most comprehensive anthology of writings in Western philosophy in print. Spanning 2,500 years of thought, it is ideal for introduction to philosophy and history of philosophy courses. It features more than seventy selections by forty philosophers--along with fragments from the Pre-Socratics--offering students and instructors an extensive and economical collection of the major works of the Western tradition. This volume contains the most important writings from Thales to Rawls; twenty of these are complete works, while the others are judiciously abridged so that little of value to the student is lost. A lucid introduction, including a brief biographical sketch, accompanies each of the featured philosophers. NEW TO THE THIRD EDITION: * Selections from philosophers who were not included in the previous edition--Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed) and Schopenhauer (The World as Will and Representation)--along with Kant's Critique of Pure Reason * Expanded readings: Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, On the Soul, Metaphysics, and Nicomachean Ethics; Berkeley's Of the Principles of Human Knowledge; and Hume's Treatise on Human Nature * Review questions for each chapter and illustrated portraits of many philosophers * A Companion Website featuring resources for students (self-quizzes, flash cards, chapter review questions, a timeline, and helpful web links) and instructors (brief reading summaries, essay questions, test questions, and PowerPoint-based lecture slides) Classics of Philosophy, Third Edition, provides students with an extensive view of the major stages of growth in Western philosophy--including its birth with the Pre-Socratics and its contemporary developments--in an accessible format and at an affordable price.
Study ethics from one of the classic texts, written by one of contemporary philosophy’s most skilled teachers, Louis P. Pojman, and now revised by best-selling author and editor of the INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY, James Fieser. ETHICS: DISCOVERING RIGHT AND WRONG, Sixth Edition, provides you with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the fundamental objectives and outlooks of ethical theory. Written in a conversational manner with strong learning aids and numerous classical and contemporary examples, this book teaches you how to develop your own moral theories and competently reason through ethical problems for yourself. The text even-handedly raises critical questions with its non-dogmatic style and generous presentation of various positions. This edition offers more feminist as well as multicultural ethical perspectives. Initial chapters discuss general concerns about meta-ethics before presenting major moral theories. Later chapters address special topics in personal and religious ethics as well as the most recent developments in moral theory. A helpful appendix teaches how to write ethics papers, while study questions for each chapter and useful bibliographies further assist you in review and additional exploration of topics. A companion website offers additional support with essay questions and numerous interactive learning aids. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
Argues that globalism and cosmopolitanism motivate the need for greater international cooperation based on enforceable international law. The author contends that the best way to realize the promises of globalism and cogent moral arguments for cosmopolitanism is through the establishment of a World Government.
The readings in this acclaimed topically organized collection cover five major areas of philosophy--philosophy of religion, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind, freedom and determinism, and ethics. Editor Louis P. Pojman enhances the topical organization by arranging the selections into a pro/con format to help students better understand opposing arguments. He also includes comprehensive, accessible introductions to each chapter, subsection, and individual reading, a unique feature for an anthology of this depth. While Introduction to Philosophy, 2/e focuses on a compelling sampling of classical material--including selections from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant--it also incorporates a representation of philosophy's best twentieth-century and contemporary work, featuring articles by such philosophers as Bertrand Russell, Richard Taylor, John Searle, and Thomas Nagel. This second edition contains an expanded glossary, a more extensive appendix on logic, and eight new selections: John Locke: "Philosophy: The Love of Truth versus Enthusiasm" Fyodor Dostoevsky: "Why Is There Evil?" from The Brothers Karamazov John Maynard Smith: "Science and Myth" Thomas Nagel: "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" John Searle: "Minds, Brains, and Computers" Richard Taylor: "Libertarianism: A Defense of Free Will" Galen Strawson: "The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility" Thomas Hobbes' defense of contractualism from Leviathan
Two distinguished social and political philosophers take opposing positions in this highly engaging work. Louis P. Pojman justifies the practice of execution by appealing to the principle of retribution: we deserve to be rewarded and punished according to the virtue or viciousness of our actions. He asserts that the death penalty does deter some potential murderers and that we risk the lives of innocent people who might otherwise live if we refuse to execute those deserving that punishment. Jeffrey Reiman argues that although the death penalty is a just punishment for murder, we are not morally obliged to execute murderers. Since we lack conclusive evidence that executing murderers is an effective deterrent and because we can foster the advance of civilization by demonstrating our intolerance for cruelty in our unwillingness to kill those who kill others, Reiman concludes that it is good in principle to avoid the death penalty, and bad in practice to impose it.
Can we ever achieve belief by a direct act of will? If it will help us to be happier, should we make ourselves believe propositions which the evidence alone does not warrant? These are the sort of questions which Professor Pojman examines in Religious Belief and the Will (originally published in 1986). He deals with a constellation of problems related to believing and willing to believe; his main concern is with religious faith and belief, though his analysis is also of interest to epistemology and ethics. Pojman asks what is so important about believing propositions in the first place, and why religious creeds have made propositional belief a necessary condition for salvation. He considers whether one can be rational and still use the will to believe what the evidence alone does not warrant. He also discusses whether faith and belief are generically related or distinct attitudes. This is the first full-length treatise on religious belief that approaches the subject from the viewpoint of volitional activity (i.e., related to the will). It presents a rethinking of the way the will interacts with belief, a relationship often misconstrued in works of philosophy and theology. Pojman believes that the will is central to religious commitment, and that by understanding the relationship between the attitude of belief and the activity of willing, we are enabled to get fresh insight into the classical problem of religious belief and the will.
Argues that globalism and cosmopolitanism motivate the need for greater international cooperation based on enforceable international law. The author contends that the best way to realize the promises of globalism and cogent moral arguments for cosmopolitanism is through the establishment of a World Government.
Capturing the inimitable enthusiasm of Louis Pojman's much acclaimed teaching, PHILOSOPHY: THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM introduces students to all the core topics in philosophy. Beginning with an inquiry into the nature and purpose of philosophy, this text moves through many traditional discussions--such as the existence of God, the problems of knowledge, the freewill/determinism debate, and the foundations of ethics--concluding with an exploration into existentialism and the meaning of life.
The readings in this acclaimed topically organized collection cover five major areas of philosophy--philosophy of religion, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind, freedom and determinism, and ethics. Editor Louis P. Pojman enhances the topical organization by arranging the selections into a pro/con format to help students better understand opposing arguments. He also includes comprehensive, accessible introductions to each chapter, subsection, and individual reading, a unique feature for an anthology of this depth. While Introduction to Philosophy, 2/e focuses on a compelling sampling of classical material--including selections from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant--it also incorporates a representation of philosophy's best twentieth-century and contemporary work, featuring articles by such philosophers as Bertrand Russell, Richard Taylor, John Searle, and Thomas Nagel. This second edition contains an expanded glossary, a more extensive appendix on logic, and eight new selections: John Locke: "Philosophy: The Love of Truth versus Enthusiasm" Fyodor Dostoevsky: "Why Is There Evil?" from The Brothers Karamazov John Maynard Smith: "Science and Myth" Thomas Nagel: "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" John Searle: "Minds, Brains, and Computers" Richard Taylor: "Libertarianism: A Defense of Free Will" Galen Strawson: "The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility" Thomas Hobbes' defense of contractualism from Leviathan
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