Problems from Philosophy

An Introductory Text

By: James Rachels, Stuart Rachels

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eText | 8 January 2026 | Edition Number 5

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This introduction to philosophy guides students through great philosophical problems, such as the existence of God, the nature of the mind, human freedom, the limits of knowledge, and the truth about ethics.

The book begins by reflecting on the life of the first great philosopher, Socrates. Then it takes up the fundamental question of whether God exists. Next comes a discussion of death and the soul, which leads to a chapter about persons. The later chapters consider whether objective knowledge is possible in science and ethics.
Problems from Philosophy represents the final work of philosopher James Rachels. In it, he brings the same liveliness and clarity to the introduction of philosophy present in his other best-selling books. Problems from Philosophy has been revised by James Rachels' son Stuart, who has carefully refined his father's work to further strengthen its clarity and accessibility.
The fifth edition features a new chapter on government and new content on AI and large language models in the chapter "Can a Machine Think?"