Philosophy: A Guide through the Subject

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198751575 ISBN 13: 9780198751571

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

This comprehensive new collection is designed as a complete introduction to philosophy for students and general readers. Consisting of eleven extended essays, specially commissioned for this volume from leading philosophers, the book surveys all of the major areas of philosophy and offers an accessible but sophisticated guide to the main debates.

An extended introduction provides general context and explains how the different subjects are related. The first part of the book deals with the foundations of philosophical inquiry: epistemology, philosophical logic, methodology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. The second part offers historical chapters, two on ancient philosophy and two on modern philosophy. Finally, two chapters deal with questions of value, ethics and aesthetics. Each chapter has a full bibliography. The contributors include Bernard Williams, Roger Scruton, Martin Davies, David Wiggins, Christopher Janaway, David Papineau, and Mark Sainsbury.

Designed to be as useful to the third-year student as to the beginner, this exciting new text will give each reader a unique sense of involvement in philosophy as it is practiced today.

About the Author:

A. C. Grayling is Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, London, and Senior Research Fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford. He is the author of the Past Masters volume on Wittgenstein (OUP, 1988).

Review:

`The Guide is consistently taxing, if not illuminating, and will be indispensable to students anxious to please the philosophy examiners at London University.' Times Higher Education Supplement

`This is an excellent resource for graduate students preparing for comprehensive exams. Each essay contains a good bibliography. The book's usefulness is enhanced by a detailed index.' Choice

`Its scope is well defined: it is a companion to undergraduate studies in philosophy, as taught in the University of London ... The book can be of immense help to students in India.' Swati Bhattacharjee, Indian Telegraph