Problems from Philosophy

PrefaceAbout the Third Edition1. THE LEGACY OF SOCRATES1.1 Why Was Socrates Condemned?1.2 Why Did Socrates Believe He Had to Die?2. GOD AND THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE2.1 Is It Reasonable to Believe in God?2.2 The Argument from Design2.3 Evolution and Intelligent Design2.4 The First Cause Argument2.5 The Idea That God Is a Necessary Being3. THE PROBLEM OF EVIL3.1 Why Do Good People Suffer?3.2 God and Evil3.3 Free Will and Moral Character4. DO WE SURVIVE DEATH?4.1 The Idea of an Immortal Soul4.2 Is There Any Credible Evidence of an Afterlife?4.3 Hume's Argument against Miracles5. THE PROBLEM OF PERSONAL IDENTITY5.1 The Problem5.2 Personhood at a Time5.3 Personhood over Time5.4 Bodily Continuity5.5 Memory6. BODY AND MIND6.1 Descartes and Elizabeth6.2 Materialist Theories of the Mind6.3 Doubts about Materialist Theories7. COULD A MACHINE THINK?7.1 Brains and Computers7.2 An Argument That Machines Could Think7.3 The Turing Test7.4 Why the Turing Test Fails8. THE CASE AGAINST FREE WILL8.1 Are People Responsible for What They Do?8.2 Determinism8.3 Psychology8.4 Genes and Behavior9. THE DEBATE OVER FREE WILL9.1 The Determinist Argument9.2 The Libertarian Response9.3 The Compatibilist Response9.4 Ethics and Free Will10. OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD AROUND US10.1 Vats and Demons10.2 Idealism10.3 What Evidence for These Views Might Be Like10.4 Descartes' Theological Response10.5 Direct vs. Indirect Realism10.6 Vision and the Brain10.7 Conclusion11. ETHICS AND OBJECTIVITY11.1 Thrasymachus's Challenge11.2 Is Ethics Just a Matter of Social Conventions?11.3 Ethics and Science11.4 The Importance of Human Interests12. WHY SHOULD WE BE MORAL?12.1 The Ring of Gyges12.2 Ethics and Religion12.3 The Social Contract12.4 Morality and Benevolence13. THE MEANING OF LIFE13.1 The Problem of the Point of View13.2 Happiness13.3 Death13.4 Religion and the Indifferent Universe13.5 The Meaning of Particular Lives Appendix: How to Evaluate Arguments Notes on Sources Index