Making Sense of It All: An Introduction to Philosophical Inquiry

This brief, engaging problems-based approach to philosophic inquiry shows readers why and how philosophic thought about fundamental problems in epistimology, ontology, and moral theory can be of great help to us in our attempt to “make sense of it all” and to live “the good life” — characterized (in part) by a deeper understanding of the world within and around us. It encourages higher-order thought — the critical examination of views, conceptual analysis, integrative thought, and the evaluation of arguments — and shows readers what an important and mind-transforming activity philosophic inquiry can be. Explores nine fundamentally important intellectual problems or issues — each of which must be addressed to arrive at an adequate understanding of ourselves and the world around us — “to make sense of it all” : Knowledge, Reality, The Mental and the Physical, Self, God, Free Will, Value and Morality, Death, and The Meaning of Life. Shows that the aim of philosophizing is not exhausted in merely raising questions, considers the lines along which a satisfactory resolution might be attained, and even arrives at tentative solutions or conclusions. For anyone interested in techniques and methods of philosophic inquiry.