Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings

by John R. Perry (Editor), Michael E. Bratman

Introduction to Philosophy, 3/e is the most comprehensive topically organized collection of classical and contemporary philosophy available. Ideal for introductory philosophy courses, the third edition of this classic text now includes a general introduction and features eighteen selections
new to this volume and an expanded glossary of philosophical terms. A serious and challenging work, it includes sections on the meaning of life, God and evil, epistemology, philosophy of science, the mind/body problem, freedom of will, consciousness, ethics, and philosophical puzzles. This
exceptionally successful anthology presents a large number of substantial--and in some cases complete--selections from major works, offering a unique balance between classical and contemporary readings.
This third edition adds selections by Plato, Nelson Pike, J.L. Mackie, Elizabeth Anderson, David Lewis, Hilary Putnam, Frank Jackson, John Perry, Peter Strawson, Rosalind Hursthouse, G.A. Cohen, Samuel Scheffler, Debra Satz, and Kwame Anthony Appiah as well as Kavka's Toxin Puzzle and Quinn's
Puzzle of the Self-Torturer .

Genres: Philosophy, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Reference

848 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John R. Perry (born 1943) is Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. He has made significant contributions to areas of philosophy, including logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. He is known primarily for his work on situation semantics (together with Jon Barwise), reflexivity, indexicality, and self-knowledge.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second read through of this book was even better than the first. Some of the texts in this book are very dense. I appreciate that classical texts are always accompanied by a modern counterpart that furthers the discussion. Certain sections really spoke to me and I think would do the same for other readers. This book is comprehensive in its coverage of Western philosophy (doesn't deal with other regions). From there, one can comfortably follow an author to their other works to further the debate. Great job to the editors.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good textbook as an introduction to philosophy. I feel like the text strikes an excellent balance between historical or classical readings and contemporary readings. Overall, the text is composed of important works that philosophy students should be familiar with. Surely not everyone will be happy with the selection here, but I feel that there is enough included in the text that it should serve well for a variety of approaches to introducing philosophy.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the introduction, we are told Philosophy is to be read "slowly and aggressively," and if you want to maximize the enjoyment/utility/overall effect of this particular anthology, I highly recommend that you take this approach. I took notes as I read to help comprehension so that I could better engage with the text. Without them, I feel like this read would have been much more of a chore and not as beneficial for my overall comprehension regarding various facets of philosophy.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a great textbook. You could probably use it to self-teach philosophy, although I think it's best-used in conjunction with a class. Very usefull glossary and discussion questions throughout.

[Khial King]

ok

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good excerpts from contemporary philosophy that give any students enough knowledge of the classics to draw upon their beliefs in everyday life and conversation. Nothing phenomenal or groundbreaking though

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a textbook for college students filled with lots of essays and explanations on philosophy terms. This textbook could not only be used in college classrooms but can also be used as a self taught textbook. I don't think I would ever sit down and read it from cover to cover for fun.

[Liza P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never really had time to seriously study and read philosophy, but this was a good collection of important essays, and theory parts that you really SHOULD know.

highly recommended.

[Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of the essential classical and modern western philosophical writings