PHILOSOPHY The Quest for Truth SIXTH EDITION Louis P. Pojman New York * Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York ‘Auckland Cape Town Dares Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi ‘New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Pret, Inc 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 huep://www.oup.com Oxford isa registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, clectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, ‘without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Philosophy : the quest for truth / [edited] by Louis P. Pojman.—6th ed. p-cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-518944-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 0-19-518944-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy—Introductions. I. Pojman, Louis P. BD21.P48 2005 100—de22 2005040859 987654321 Printed in the United States of America ‘on acid-free paperDedicated to Teachers who themselves are dedicated to opening the hearts of the young to the love of wisdom and the quest for truthContents Preface I. What Is Philosophy? Introduction 1, Plato: Socratic Wisdom 2. John Locke: Of Enthusiasm and the Quest for Truth, 3. Bertrand Russell: The Value of Philosophy Excursus: A Little Bit of Logic Deductive and Inductive Reasoning Abductive Reasoning Some Applications Fallacies of Reasoning Logic Exercises Suggestions for Further Reading II. Philosophy of Religion Introduction ILA. Is Belief in God Rationally Justified? Arguments for the Existence of God The Cosmological Argument Pro 4. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways 5. William Lane Craig: The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the Anthropic Principle Contra 6. Paul Edwards: A Critique of the Cosmological Argument The Teleological Argument Pro 7. William Paley: The Watch and the Watchmaker Contra 8. David Hume: A Critique of the Teleological Argument The Ontological Argument Pro et Contra 9. St. Anselm and Gaunilo: The Ontological Argument 10. William Rowe: An Analysis of the Ontological Argument xiii 18 24 29 30 34 36 38 4l 45 47 48 48 49 50 54 72 82 83 86 93 94 98conrents ILB. Why Is There Evil? 109 11. Fyodor Dostoevsky: Why Is There Evil? ll 12. B. C. Johnson: Why Doesn’t God Intervene to Prevent Evil? 115 13. John Hick: There Is a Reason Why God Allows Evil 120 ILC. Is Faith Compatible with Reason? 125 14, Blaise Pascal: Yes, Faith Is a Logical Bet 126 15. W. K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief 129 16, William James: The Will to Believe 134 17. Antony Flew, R. M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell: A Debate on the Rationality of Religious Belief 143 18. Alvin Plantinga: Religious Belief Without Evidence 149 Suggestions for Further Reading 161 III. Knowledge 163 Introduction 164 TILA. What Can We Know? Classical Theories of Knowledge 164 19, René Descartes: Cartesian Doubt and the Search for Foundational Knowledge 165 20. John Locke: The Empiricist Theory of Knowledge 171 21. George Berkeley: An Idealist Theory of Knowledge 183 22. David Hume: The Origin of Our Ideas and Skepticism about Causal Reasoning 192 23. John Hospers: An Argument Against Skepticism 201 IILB. Truth, Rationality, and Cognitive Relativism 209 24. Bertrand Russell: The Correspondence Theory of Truth 21 25. William James: The Pragmatic Theory of Truth 216 26. Richard Rorty: Dismantling Truth: Solidarity versus Objectivity 225 27. Daniel Dennett: Postmodernism and Truth 233 Suggestions for Further Reading 240 IV. Philosophy of Mind: The Mind-Body Problem 241 Introduction 242 IV.A. What Am I? A Mind or a Body? 242 28, René Descartes: Dualistic Interactionism 245 29. Gilbert Ryle: Exorcising Descartes’ “Ghost in the Machine” 252 30. J. P. Moreland: A Contemporary Defense of Dualism 258 31. Paul Churchland: On Functionalism and Materialism 269 32. Thomas Nagel: What Is It Like to Be a Bat? 285 33. John Searle: Minds, Brains, and Computers 293 IV.B. Who Am I? Do We Have Personal Identity? 301 34. John Locke: Our Psychological Properties Define the Self 305Contents 35. David Hume: We Have No Substantial Self with Which We Are Identical 309 36. Derek Parfit and Godfrey Vesey: Brain Transplants and Personal Identity: A Dialogue 312 IV.C. Is There Life after Death? Am I Immortal? 318 37. Plato: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul 319 38. Paul Edwards: An Argument Against Survival: The Dependence of Consciousness on the Brain 324 39. John Hick: In Defense of Immortality 333 Suggestions for Further Reading 341 V. Freedom of the Will and Determinism 343 Introduction 344 Contra 40. Baron d’Holbach: We Are Completely Determined 349 Pro 41. William James: The Dilemma of Determinism 355 42. Corliss Lamont: Freedom of the Will and Human Responsibility 365 Pro et Contra 43. W. T. Stace: Compatibilism 368 44. Harry Frankfurt: Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person 374 Contra 45. Richard Taylor: Fate 384 Suggestions for Further Reading 393 VI. Ethics 395 Introduction 396 VLA. Are There Any Moral Absolutes or Is Morality Completely Relative? 399 46. Ruth Benedict: Morality Is Relative 400 47. James Rachels: Morality Is Not Relative 405 VLB. Ethics and Egoism: Why Should We Be Moral? 414 48. Plato: Why Should I Be Moral? Gyges’ Ring and Socrates’ Dilemma 415 49. Ayn Rand: In Defense of Ethical Egoism 420 50. Louis P, Pojman: A Critique of Ethical Egoism 427 VIC. Which Is the Correct Ethical Theory? 438 51. Aristotle: The Ethics of Virtue 439 52. Immanuel Kant: The Moral Law 449conrenTs 53. John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism 462 54, Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Ethics 469 Suggestions for Further Reading 475 VII. Political Philosophy 479 Introduction 480 55. Robert Paul Wolff: In Defense of Anarchism 481 56. Thomas Hobbes: The Absolutist Answer 486 57. John Locke: The Democratic Answer 496 58. John Stuart Mill: A Classical Liberal Answer 502 59. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: The Communist Answer 509 60. John Rawls: The Contemporary Liberal Answer 518 Suggestions for Further Reading 528 VIII. What Is the Meaning of Life? 529 Introduction 530 61. Epicurus: Moderate Hedonism 531 62. Epictetus: Stoicism 537 63. Albert Camus: Life Is Absurd 546 64. Lois Hope Walker: Religion Gives Meaning to Life 551 65. Thomas Nagel: The Absurd 555 66. Bertrand Russell: Reflections on Suffering 563 Suggestions for Further Reading 565 IX. Philosophy in Action 567 Introduction 568 IX.A. Is Abortion Morally Permissible? 568 Contra 67. John T. Noonan, Jr.: Abortion Is Not Morally Permissible 569 Pro 68. Mary Anne Warren: Abortion Is Morally Permissible 574 Pro et Contra 69. Jane English: The Moderate Position 581 IX.B. Is the Death Penalty Morally Permissible? 588 Contra 70. Thurgood Marshall: The Death Penalty Is a Denial of Human Dignity 589 Pro 71. Burton Leiser: The Death Penalty Is Permissible 593Contra 72, Hugo Adam Bedau: No, the Death Penalty Is Not Morally Permissible IX.C. Do Animals Have Rights? Pro 73. Peter Singer: The Case for Animal Liberation Contra 74. Carl Cohen: The Case Against Animal Rights IX.D. Is Affirmative Action Morally Justified? Pro 78. Albert Mosley: ‘The Case for Affirmative Action Contra 76. Louis P. Pojman: The Case Against Affirmative Action Suggestions for Further Reading Appendix: How to Read and Write a Philosophy Paper Glossary Contents 598 608 609 613 617 620 631 645 647 651Preface book received and am happy to bring forth an improved edition, Many instructors sent in constructive suggestions for this edition. I have given them serious consid- eration and incorporated many of them without sacrificing the central focus and methodology. “This anthology was designed for lower-division (freshmen and sophomore) stu- dents in Introduction to Philosophy courses. After several years of using some of the more comprehensive anthologies, and rejecting spoon-fed introductory texts, I came to the conclusion that the more rigorous anthologies are simply too hard for the aver- age undergraduate nonphilosophy major. There was need for an anthology with more modest ambitions—but one that concentrated on the classic texts and raised the clas- sic issues: the nature of philosophy, the existence of God, immortality, knowledge, the mind-body question, personal identity, free will and determinism, ethics, political phi- losophy, and the meaning of life. Thave sought to provide such a middle way between the heavy-duty textbooks and those that seem trendy and simplistic. Although other fine anthologies are available, few are centered in classic texts, as this book is. My book raises some questions not, usually covered. It provides more and different readings to discuss all the questions and, at the end of each reading, it provides reflective questions. In this way Philosophy: The Quest for Truth fills a need and establishes a niche of its own. [= GRATEFUL FOR THE WIDE USE the first five editions of this introductory text- Organization Each of the nineteen questions considered in this book has a substantial introduction; in addition, individual introductions, including biographical sketches, are provided for each of the seventy-six readings. Each reading is preceded by a set of study questions and followed by a set of reflective questions that challenge the student to analyze, cri- tique, and develop the arguments presented in the readings. A short bibliography fol- lows each major part of the book. There is an appendix on how to read and write a philosophy paper. A glossary appears at the end. ‘Teachers will use the two sets of questions in different ways. The study questions, at the beginning of the readings, center on the content of the article and highlight