Featuring selections from around the globe, Introduction to World Philosophy: A Multicultural Reader provides a diverse and engaging introduction to five key areas of philosophy: ethics, philosophy of mind and self, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophical theology. The editors have arranged these topics according to their increasing complexity--from the most concrete (ethics) to the most theoretical (philosophical theology)--making the material as accessible as possible for students. Organized both chronologically and geographically, the anthology's five parts include readings from Indian, Chinese, Greek, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Spanish, Latin-American, and African traditions, as well as selections from early modern, Kantian, and post-Kantian philosophy. Introduction to World Philosophy contains 136 selections (24 by women), organized into 25 chapters; these chapters are divided into 93 sections, each of which opens with a detailed introduction that prepares students for the readings that follow. The parts and chapters can be used in any order and in any combination. The text's unique modular structure gives instructors great flexibility in designing and teaching introduction to philosophy courses. T

One day Sophie comes home from school to find two questions in her mail: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" Before she knows it she is enrolled in a correspondence course with a mysterious philosopher. Thus begins Jostein Gaarder's unique novel, which is not only a mystery, but also a complete and entertaining history of philosophy.

How philosophy transformed human knowledge and the world we live in Philosophical investigation is the root of all human knowledge. Developing new concepts, reinterpreting old truths, and reconceptualizing fundamental questions, philosophy has progressed—and driven human progress—for more than two millennia. In short, we live in a world philosophy made. In this concise history of philosophy's world-shaping impact, Scott Soames demonstrates that the modern world—including its science, technology, and politics—simply would not be possible without the accomplishments of philosophy. Firmly rebutting the misconception of philosophy as ivory-tower thinking, Soames traces its essential contributions to fields as diverse as law and logic, psychology and economics, relativity and rational decision theory. Beginning with the giants of ancient Greek philosophy, The World Philosophy Made chronicles the achievements of the great thinkers, from the medieval and early modern eras to the present. It explores how philosophy has shaped our language, science, mathematics, religion, culture, morality, education, and politics, as well as our understanding of ourselves. Philosophy's idea of rational inquiry as the key to theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom has transformed the world in which we live. From the laws that govern society to the digital technology that permeates modern life, philosophy has opened up new possibilities and set us on more productive paths. The World Philosophy Made explains and illuminates as never before the inexhaustible richness of philosophy and its influence on our individual and collective lives.

This volume provides the advanced student or scholar a set of introductions to each of the world's major non-European philosophical traditions. Sections on Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, East Asian philosophy, African philosophy, and trends in global philosophy are all edited by an expert.

This unique introduction to comparative philosophy brings together Chinese, Indian, and Western philosophers of roughly the same sort, of comparable stature, on the same philosophical topics and issues. Discussions are arranged in traditional clusters -- logic, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Compares equals to equals -- logicians with logicians, metaphysicians with metaphysicians, ethicists with ethicists -- e.g., compares Indian, Chinese and Western empiricists, utilitarians, hedonists, egoists, atheists, theists, monists, pluralists, idealists, materialists, dualists, skeptics, relativists, political realists, etc. Treats the strictly philosophical arguments as roughly similar across cultures, but presents the larger cultural contexts in which they occur as considerably different. For anyone interested in comparative philosophy.

Breaks through the cultural barriers between Western, Indian, and Chinese philosophy and demonstrates that despite considerable differences between these three great philosophical traditions, there are fundamental resemblances in their abstract principles.

You won’t see the world in the same light after reading this urgent and inspiring call to action. In this thought-provoking book, Dutch philosopher Floris van den Berg proposes a new perspective, called universal subjectivism, which can be adopted by anyone regardless of religious or philosophical orientation. It takes into consideration the universal capacity for suffering and, through raising awareness, seeks to diminish that suffering and increase happiness. With consistent and compelling moral reasoning, van den Berg shows that the world can be organized to ensure more pleasure, beauty, justice, happiness, health, freedom, animal welfare, and sustainability. The author emphasizes that today the near-term future is our greatest challenge: our affluent western lifestyle will soon exceed the limits of the earth’s sustainable capacity and must soon change drastically to ward off a worldwide environmental collapse. Knowing this, we should all reevaluate the daily routines we take for granted: taking the car to work, boarding a plane to a business or vacation destination, eating meat, or using plastic bags in stores. There are ethical and ecological objections to each of these examples. In fact, if we applied a strict ethical analysis to our lifestyle, almost nothing we do would pass muster. A lot of avoidable suffering attaches to our way of life. After reading this book, the world won’t look the same. Concluding with an eco-humanist manifesto, this book not only offers much food for thought but, more importantly, an urgent and inspiring call to action.