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Introduction: Show Me |
the Arguments |
Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone |
“ We are going to ruin undergraduate philosophy. ” That was what we told |
our friends and teachers when we pitched the idea of this book to them. It |
was our experience that for almost any given philosophy class that we took |
as undergraduates, there were only a handful of arguments, totaling no |
more than a few pages of carefully crafted notes, that we needed to know. |
We imagined a rolodex of arguments in front of us, which we could spin |
through with ease to fi nd the argument and move on. Midterm or fi nal |
examinations in one of these classes would be reduced to presenting a philosopher |
’ s argument, followed by a critique – usually another philosopher ’ s |
argument. The ability to state an argument clearly and concisely, in a term |
paper, for example, demonstrates that one succinctly understands the material. |
The following arguments can be viewed as answers to such test questions |
and also to some of life ’ s questions as well. |
“ Show me the argument ” is the battle cry for philosophers. Everyone |
has subjective personal experiences, sentiments, and opinions, so philosophy |
appeals to the common ground of reason to evaluate claims objectively. |
Logical reasoning is independent of political and religious commitments. |
Put simply, an argument is valid or it is not. (Whether or not it is convincing |
is another issue.) When one analyzes a position in terms of its argument, |
one responds with a certain level of rigor and attention. Uncompelling |
arguments can be dismissed out of hand as absurd and forgotten; however, |
arguments that evoke strong reactions, often due to the potential consequences |
of the argument, are countered by a restatement of the initial |
argument, explicitly displaying the inferences, assumptions, and justifi cations |
and why the conclusions do not follow. When things become serious, |
one wants just the arguments . |
Just the Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Arguments in Western Philosophy, |
First Edition. Edited by Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone. |
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2011 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |
2 Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone |
The time has long passed when it was possible for one to read the entire |
Western philosophical canon. Philosophy needs new didactic tools to |
address the fact that the quantity of infl uential arguments will increase while |
the number of hours that a student at any level has will remain relatively |
the same. Philosophy as a formal discipline will increasingly need to “ get |
smart ” about how it selects which arguments deserve more attention than |
others in the classroom and then how to teach them. Outside of the classroom, |
there are little - to - no resources that function as study guides. Detailed |
study guides are made for everything – the Bible, calculus, grammar, biology |
– except for philosophy. There are laminated sheets in bookstores that list |
all the standard mathematical equations, sheets that have common Spanish |
verbs, and even one on “ Golf for Women, ” but not one has arguments on |
the existence of God, free will, or moral responsibility. Many books present |
important philosophical arguments, but it is often the case that these books |
outline only a single argument or a string of related arguments. Encyclopedias |
of philosophy are great for limited descriptions of philosophers and concepts, |
but there is a need for reference tools that offer specifi c arguments. |
In the end, these secondary sources often bury the argument in commentary |
and analysis and do not lend themselves to concise and effi cient referencing. |
It can take just as long to fi nd an argument in the analysis as it would to |
go to the original text. This volume acts as a compact and accessible companion |
to both sources. |
It deserves to be underscored that this volume showcases 100 of the most |
important arguments and that this list is not exhaustive or uncontroversial. |
This is the fi rst project of its kind. There are not standardized accounts of |
arguments that are univocally accepted in the fi eld. Experts in every fi eld |
disagree – perhaps even more so in philosophy. Arguments that are valued |
now may not be considered to be as equally important in the future. Even |
when there is an agreement that an argument is important, it can be far |
from clear how the argument goes or what the correct conclusion is. |
Authors in this volume have selected representative quotations in support |
of their versions of the arguments. The following arguments are not ranked |
against each other as more or less important. Aquinas ’ Five Ways should |
not be considered more important than other arguments based on the fact |
that it comes fi rst. There are many more, important arguments that are not |
included here, and we hope to provide these in forthcoming installments. |
We have selected arguments that an undergraduate philosophy major |
would be likely to encounter, though many of the issues arise in general |
education classes outside of philosophy. A majority of the arguments employ |
intuitive logical inferences, allowing readers without formal training in logic |
to follow the argument. The inference rule used to draw each conclusion is |
named to enable the reader to see explicitly the argument ’ s valid structure. |
We provide an overview of the inferences in the appendices. There are a |
Introduction: Show Me the Arguments 3 |
few arguments that require a more advanced understanding of logic, and |
readers will benefi t from the introduction and commentary that provide the |
general strategy. |
This volume is divided into six parts: philosophy of religion, metaphysics, |
epistemology, ethics, philosophy of mind, and philosophies of science |
and language. There are more branches of philosophy than there are sections |
in the volume, and there are other important arguments within the |
given domains than those presented here. It is common that arguments in |
one area are also important and infl uence arguments in another. Many |
arguments could have been included in multiple sections. These divisions |
are provisional, and arguments will reference related arguments in the book, |
signaled by “ # ” and then the number of the argument. The bibliographic |
information in each article will also be instructive for further reading. The |
following are introductions to the arguments in the form of the questions |
that they address. In other words, we provide the questions that would |
naturally lead one to the argument. For example, “ Is change real (#14)? ” |
directs readers to the article “ Parmenides ’ Refutation of Change, ” argument |
#14. |
Philosophy of Religion |
What were Aquinas ’ “ Five Ways ” to prove the existence of God (#1)? Must |
there be at least one self - existent being that explains why there is something |
rather than nothing (#2)? If something begins to exist, then does it have a |
cause (#3)? If God is something than which nothing greater can be thought, |
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