Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology

by Steven M. Cahn (Editor)

Exploring An Introductory Anthology, Second Edition, is a remarkably accessible and engaging introduction to philosophy. Steven M. Cahn brings together extraordinarily clear, recent essays by noted philosophers and supplements them with influential historical sources. Most importantly, the articles have been carefully edited to make them understandable to every reader. The topics are drawn from the major fields of philosophy and include knowledge and skepticism, freedom and determinism, mind and body, the existence of God, the problem of evil, cultural relativism, abortion, euthanasia, democracy, capital punishment, affirmative action, and the meaning of life.
Exploring Philosophy, Second Edition, contains, in preeminent translations and with explanatory notes, the complete texts of Plato's Meno, Euthyphro, Defence of Socrates, and Crito as well as specially selected materials by Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Mill. The second edition has been expanded to present the material on knowledge and mind in two separate sections; the latter contains an essay on artificial intelligence by John Searle and updated selections on the mind-body problem by Thomas Nagel, Gilbert Ryle, and Richard Taylor. This edition also adds essays by Simon Blackburn, Martin Luther King, Jr., Norman Malcolm, and Robert McKim, and additional excerpts from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. An introduction to logic and scientific method and guiding commentary by the editor are also provided. Exploring Philosophy, Second Edition, is a landmark collection that enables all readers to appreciate for themselves the importance and fascination of philosophical inquiry.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2000

About the author

Steven M. Cahn, Ph.D. (Philosophy, Columbia University, 1966; A.B., Columbia College, 1963), teaches academic ethics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education at the Graduate Center and has published widely in the field of philosophy and education.

Cahn joined the Graduate Center as professor of philosophy and dean of graduate studies in 1983. He was named provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1984, remaining in that position until 1992. He previously taught at Dartmouth College, Vassar College, the University of Rochester, New York University, and the University of Vermont, where from 1973 to 1980 he headed the department of philosophy. He held executive positions with the Exxon Education Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he is longtime president of the John Dewey Foundation.

Reviews

[Zach M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploring Philosophy is a great introduction to the variety of questions and elements that philosophy has engaged with.

Broken up into sections based on different topics, the book is packed with quality essays that are very insightful.

[Ilyaas Maxamed Diiriye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology primer on philosophy, i have read some important parts of it, will go back to it in the future.

[Tara Lnberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to get it for a class. We didn't read more than 40 pages or so, but after the class I went on and finished it cover to cover. ('Course it took me QUITE a while.) What a fantastic read; what a perfect anthology! Professor Cahn is an utter genius!