Philosophy: A Beginners Guide

Philosophy: A Beginner′s Guide is unique in its approach to introducing philosophy. Its succinct and self–contained chapters make this jargon–free text accessible to people who have had little or no previous contact with philosophy. In this new, revised and extended edition of the popular student text, Teichman and Evans introduce philosophy as it is studied in mainstream colleges and universities. Assuming no previous contact with philosophy, the authors guide the reader through the most central and important questions of philosophy, including the nature of existence, knowledge, freedom, feminism, God, morality, politics, science, reason, logic, and human purpose. This edition includes a new chapter on scepticism.

Preface. Introduction: What is Philosophy?. Part I: Metaphysics: The Philosophy of Being and Knowing: . 1. Some Puzzles about Existence. 2. The Existence of God. 3. The Existence and Identity of Persons. 4. The Problem of Free Will. 5. The Existence of Evil. 6. The Problem of Knowledge. 7. Scepticism Old and New. Part II: Ethics: The Philosophy of Value: . 8. Morality and Illusion. 9. Egoism and Altruism. 10. Utility and Principles. 11. Life and Death. Part III: Political Philosophy: The Philosophy of State and Citizen: . 12. Authority and Anarchy. 13. Liberty. 14. Equality. 15. Marx and Marxism. 16. Politics and Sex. Part IV: The Philosophy of Science: . 17. The Methods of Science. 18. Causation. 19. Induction. Part V: Logic: The Philosophy of Inference and Argument: . 20. The Subject Matter of Logic. 21. Syllogistic Logic. 22. Modern Logic. 23. The Propositional Calculus. 24. The Predicate Calculus. Part VI: Philosophy and Life: . 25. The Meaning of Life. 26. The Influence of Philosophy on Life. Appendix I: The Great Philosophers. Appendix II: Philosophy in the Twentieth Century. Appendix III: Some Well–known Contemporary Philosophers. Bibliography and Further Reading. Index.

Jenny Teichman is a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge. She is the author of The Mind and the Soul (1974), Illegitimacy (1982), Pacifism and the Just War (1986), Philosophy and the Mind (1988), and Social Ethics: A Student′s Guide (Blackwell, 1996). Katherine Evans, a graduate of Cambridge, is an attorney for an international telecommunications company and writes logical aptitude tests for law students.

"It is gracefully written and beautifully organized, making it a pleasure to read." Times Literary Supplement