This volume brings together 13 interviews with some of the brightest names in contemporary philosophy, including W.V.O. Quine, Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Hilary Putnam, as well as John Rawls. Covering a wide range of topics from the philosophy of law and logic to metaphysics to literature, the interviews in this text provide an introduction to some of the most influential thinkers of the day.

Philosophical Conversations is a light, informal, and contemporary introduction to the study of philosophy. Using a dialogue format, Robert M. Martin delves into the traditional questions of philosophy in a manner that readers will find engaging. These substantive yet entertaining conversations emphasize that philosophical questions are contested and open-ended. The characters in each dialogue advocate different answers to questions on religion, ethics, personal identity, and other topics equitably and without naming any clear winners. Philosophic positions are presented with maximum clarity and persuasiveness, so that readers can appreciate all sides of an issue and make their own choices. An excellent tool for newcomers to philosophy, Philosophical Conversations provides the necessary background for further study while vividly portraying the back-and-forth argument that is essential to the philosophical method.

The collection of essays in this anthology is divided into three categories, namely “social epistemology”, “epistemology”, and “freedom”, respectively. The first category addresses questions related to the social dimensions of knowledge. Various issues are interrogated, including the lack of attention to testimony in much standard philosophizing, the need for advocacy, and the role of history-making in social reconstruction. The second category deals more directly with some of the concepts that generally crop up in the theory of knowledge, provoking questions such as: How much do we really know about each other? What is the content of the knowledge we think we have, and how far does it depend upon our social being? What is the relationship between knowledge and truth? Essays in the third category deal with the concept of freedom both at a personal and a social level and discuss dilemmas such as: To what extent are some of the arguments put forward in favour of genetic determinism flawed or sensible? Does the idea of genetic influence pose a threat to freedom? What is the area within which the subject is, or should be left to do, or be, without interference from other persons? In this era of globalization, is cosmopolitanism or communitarianism by itself sufficient for promoting freedom? Conversations in Philosophy: Knowledge and Freedom is the second book in a series, based on a selection of papers presented at the annual Cave Hill Philosophy Symposium. The first book, Conversations in Philosophy: Crossing the Boundaries (published in 2008, also by Cambridge Scholars Publishing) consisted of essays that revolved around the question of the nature and meaning of philosophy. This second volume of Conversations in Philosophy offers a careful and balanced examination of many issues that recur in discussions on knowledge and freedom. The essays are thoughtful, provocative, and challenging.

Traces the exchange of ideas between history's key philosophers. Hesiod - Homer - Socrates - Sophists - Plato - Aristotle - Epicureans - Stoics - Skeptics - Christians - Anselm - Aquinas - Descartes - Hobbes - Locke - Berkeley - Hume - Kant - Hegel - Kierkegaard - Marx - Utilitarians - Nietzsche - Pragmatists - Heidegger - Postmodernism.

Critical Conversations in Philosophy of Education presents a series of conversations expressing many of the multiple voices that currently constitute the field of philosophy of education. Philosophy of education as a discipline has undergone several turns--the once marginal perspectives of the various feminisms, critical Marxism, and poststructuralist, postmodernist and cultural theory have gained ground alongside those of Anglo-analytic and pragmatic thought. Just as Western philosophers in general are coming to terms with the "end of philosophy" pronouncement implicit in postmodernism, so too are philosophers of education faced with similar challenges--challenges to long-held moral, political, aesthetic and epistemological commitments. The contributors take up these challenges through a dialogical structure, expressing differing positions without engaging in destructive critique.

Can we trust our intuitive judgments of right and wrong? Are moral judgements objective? What reason do we have to do what is right and avoid doing what is wrong? In Conversations on Ethics, Alex Voorhoeve elicits answers to these questions from eleven outstanding philosophers and social scientists: Ken Binmore Philippa Foot Harry Frankfurt Allan Gibbard Daniel Kahneman Frances Kamm Alasdair MacIntyre T. M. Scanlon Peter Singer David Velleman Bernard Williams The exchanges are direct, open, and sharp, and give a clear account of these thinkers' core ideas about ethics. They also provide unique insights into their intellectual development - how they became interested in ethics, and how they conceived the ideas for which they became famous. Conversations on Ethics will engage anyone interested in moral philosophy.

Based on a highly successful BBC television series, this book presents fifteen dialogues between author and broadcaster Bryan Magee and some of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. Isaiah Berlin considers the fundamental question, "What is philosophy?," A. J. Ayer reviews logical positivism, and Iris Murdoch talks about the relation between philosophy and literature. Moral philosophy, political philosophy, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of science are all treated in depth by the thinkers who have shaped these fields--including Noam Chomsky, W. V. O. Quine, and Herbert Marcuse. Written in an informal, conversational style, even the most difficult philosophical ideas are made accessible to the general reader.