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does that mean that God must exist in reality (#4)? What was Pascal ’ s |
Wager (#5)? Is it rational to have religious belief without suffi cient evidence |
(#6)? Does the existence of evil in the world disprove the existence of God |
(#7)? What if God permits evil so that humans have the greater good of |
free will (#8)? Does free will entail the power to sin (#9)? Is it justifi able |
to believe in a miracle on the basis of empirical evidence (#10)? Is what is |
holy holy because the gods approve it, or do they approve it because it |
is holy (#11)? What did Nietzsche mean when he said “ God is dead ” and |
where does this leave truth (#12)? What is Ockham ’ s Razor (#13)? |
Metaphysics |
Is change real (#14)? If change is not real, then is time real (#15)? Are only |
things that are perceived real (#16)? How did Kant argue against this kind |
of idealism and skepticism (#17)? What is the relationship between necessity |
and possibility in terms of the past, present, and future (#18)? If things |
4 Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone |
could have been different in the past, does that mean that there are different |
possible worlds (#19)? What are “ persons ” and what makes a person |
maintain her numerical identity over time (#20)? Is there a decisive factor |
– for example, body mass, brain mass, or memories – for personal identity |
(#21)? In what way do things both persist over time and change (#22, 23)? |
Do humans have nonbodily immaterial parts called souls (#24)? Is it irrational |
to fear death (#25)? How do we know things if they are in constant |
fl ux (#26)? How did Aristotle argue against Plato ’ s Forms (#27)? Is the |
same logical theory to be applied in all domains, or do different domains |
require different logics (#28)? Can there be a totality of true propositions |
without running into paradoxes (#29)? What is the connection between free |
will and moral responsibility (#30)? Do I have free will only if I had the |
option to do otherwise (#31)? Are free will and determinism compatible |
(#32)? If everything is either going to happen or not, isn ’ t fatalism tenable |
(#33)? How does Sartre ’ s existentialism – “ Man is condemned to be free ” |
– enter into the conversation (#34)? |
Epistemology |
How do I know that I exist (#35)? Am I certain that I am not dreaming |
(#36)? Am I directly conscious of features of sensations or experiences |
(#37)? Does every belief need to be justifi ed by other beliefs and will that |
lead to an infi nite regress (#38)? Isn ’ t there a commonsense response to |
skepticism (#39)? If there can be no justifi ed procedure for normatively |
distinguishing among competing epistemic views, then are all accounts are |
epistemically equal (#40)? How does the traditional account of knowledge |
being a true justifi ed belief fail (#41)? Is something true solely because |
people agree that it is true (#42)? Is it possible to differentiate knowledge |
or experience between a conceptual component and an empirical component |
(#43)? Is there a sharp division between analytic truths and synthetic |
truths (#44)? Is there a rational justifi cation for inductive inferences and |
the foundation of modern science (#45)? If things are similar in certain |
observable or identifi ed cases, are they are also similar in some other unobservable |
or unidentifi ed cases (#46)? Should philosophy look to science to |
explain and justify our knowledge of the world (#47)? Are some cognitive |
states in direct contact with reality and form a fi rm foundation that supports |
the rest of our knowledge (#48, #49)? Are there limitations to what reasoning |
can accomplish (#50)? |
Ethics |
Does the just life bring happiness (#51)? Is the happy life one in accord with |
reason (#52)? Is the Good one thing or many (#53)? What is the best posIntroduction: |
Show Me the Arguments 5 |
sible life that a person can lead (#54)? Did Kant have an argument for the |
categorical imperative (#55)? And why did he think that autonomy deserves |
respect (#56)? Should the Good be conceived of in terms of utility (#57)? |
Are humans just hedonists, who champion pleasure over everything else |
(#58)? Is all morality relative or are there objective principles across cultures |
(#59)? Can the good be defi ned (#60)? Should we accept the authority of |
the state (#61)? Is taxation forced labor (#62)? Do we have a moral duty to |
give to charity (#63)? Would it be better if, in the future, a greater rather |
than lesser number of people lived (#64)? Is a great loss to one person justifi |
ed by smaller benefi ts to a great many others (#65)? Is it better to bring |
everyone down to the same level than to accept an inequality (#66)? Does |
justice demand preserving a patterned distribution of property (#67)? |
What are the central arguments of liberal feminism (#68)? What is the |
moral status of marginal cases; that is, when is there not a clearly drawn |
line between human and nonhuman animals (#69)? What is the most robust |
argument in favor of vegetarianism (#70)? What does a famous violin player |
have to do with the most discussed argument in the abortion debate (#71)? |
Is abortion immoral due to the loss of future experiences, activities, projects, |
and enjoyments (#72)? Does something need to be able to desire or conceive |
of something in order to have the right to something; for example, life |
(#73)? Is there an ethical difference between active and passive euthanasia |
(#74)? |
Philosophy of Mind |
Is the mind a blank slate or are there innate ideas (#75)? What is Cartesian |
dualism and is the mind distinct from the body (#76)? What is the mind – |
body problem (#77)? What is property dualism and how is it different than |
substance dualism (#78)? Are mental events identical with physical events |
(#79, #80)? Is every mental property realized in exactly one physical way |
(#81)? How does the nonphysical mind move the physical body (#82)? Do |
I have privileged access to my mental states and can I know the mental |
states of others (#83)? Does physicalism capture all the essential facts of |
experience (#84, #85)? If a zombie world is metaphysically possible, how |
would that critique physicalism (#86)? Does the sensation of color reveal |
intrinsic features about color (#87)? If a computer had the right programs, |
would it have a mind; in other words, is true artifi cial intelligence possible |
(#88)? |
Science and Language |
How do we discern science from pseudo - science (#89)? Do scientifi c paradigms |
build from previous ones; that is, are they commensurable (#90)? Is |
6 Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone |
the shift from one paradigm to another a rational process (#90)? Is scientifi c |
realism the only way that makes progress in science and technology not |
miraculous (#91)? How did Galileo know that all objects fall at the same |
rate of speed regardless of their respective weights without experimenting |
(#92)? If a theory is fallible, should it be eliminated (#93)? |