Elements of Philosophy : an Introduction, 4Th Edition

by Samuel Enoch; Abel Donald C. Stumpf

The new edition of this introductory text presents, in an accessible way, classical and contemporary readings on topics central to and representative of all major periods of the Western philosophical tradition. The book presents 55 readings (23 of which are new to the fourth edition) on seven epistemology, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, personal identity and immortality, free will and determinism, ethics, and political and social philosophy. Pedagogical features make these readings accessible and interesting to beginning students. All the introductions and biographical sketches have been revised for the fourth edition, as have the study questions and glossary. The explanatory footnotes and the stylistic modernization of texts are new to the fourth edition.

Genres: Philosophy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Brian Pate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to philosophy. It explores key areas (ethics, politics, the existence of God, metaphysics, etc.) through the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hume, Kant, James, Sarte, and many more. (I read this my freshman year for Intro to Philosophy.)

[Sisa Petse · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in philosophy I recommend this book. It's presented in an accessible way. It contains classical readings from Buddha, Plato, Thams Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsthe, Sarte to modern and contemporary readings by Amstrong, Nozick and Anthony O'Hear. This pedagogy contains seven chapters namely: Theory of knowledge; Philosophy of religion; Metaphysics; Personal identity and immortality; Freedom to choose; Ethics and Political and Social Philosophy. At the end there is a glossary that I found very useful. With this you will never find philosophy a stupefying mental gymnastics hitherto a valuable epistemology.