Philosophy for Life · Teach Yourself · The Ideas That Shape Our World and How To Use Them by Thompson, Mel -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Taking it further Meet the author Introduction: Thinking to Enhance Your Life

Take back control! Different styles of argument Definite answers and progress? Philosophy as therapy Worth the hemlock? Why ‘Philosophy for Life’?

1 The What and How of Knowing

Knowledge and justification: are you certain? The external world: appearance and reality Starting with experience Intuitive knowledge Scepticism The genealogy of ideas The proof of the pudding … The philosophy of education Creative and personal knowing A personal postscript

2 Existentialism, Integrity and Happiness

Existentialism A feminist perspective The quest for happiness Altruism

3 The Philosophy of Science

A historical overview From evidence to theory: scientific method Experiments and objectivity Right, wrong or what? The social sciences What counts as science? Science and philosophy

4 Language and Communication

Language and certainty Language and perception Linguistic philosophy Formal logic Structuralism and the media

5 Minds, Bodies and Brains

Ancient minds: Plato and Aristotle ‘I think, therefore I am’ The relationship between mind and body The concept of mind Survival? Knowing me, knowing you Cognitive science and artificial intelligence Neuroscience and consciousness A personal postscript

6 Art and Creativity

The philosophy of art So what is art? What does art do? Aesthetics and the sublime Postmodernism The self as art Nietzsche, art and religion

7 The Philosophy of Religion

Faith, reason and belief Religious language Religious experience Does God exist? The origin and design of the universe: religion or science? Miracles The problem of evil Psychological and sociological explanations of religion Locating what is most real?

8 Ethics

Facts, values and choices Am I free to choose? Ethical language Natural law Virtue ethics Utilitarianism The categorical imperative Absolute or relative morality? The values and life you choose Applying ethical theories Environmental ethics

9 Political Philosophy

Only individuals? The social contract The general will Marx and materialism Justice The banality of evil Homo economicus Freedom and rights The philosophy of history Enframing in a complex world

10 The Philosophy of Everything Glossary Copyright