Philosphical Traditions—A Text With Readings

Pojman (philosophy, Cambridge U.) combines primary sources with analytic commentary to explain the vitality of philosophy and its history from the ancient Greeks to current practitioners. Pojman is very innovative in his choice of primary texts (such as including a passage from Doyle's "The Red Headed League" in the section on reasoning) and includes questions for discussion and reflection with each chapter. His major topics include the sophists, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle; the philosophy of religion, including the cosmological, teleological and ontological arguments for the existence of God; the problem of evil; faith and reason; the theory of knowledge; metaphysics; freedom of will and determinism; ethics; and existentialism and the meaning of life. Pojman has added material on Aristotle, Kant and Schopenhauer for this edition, as well as an essay on reading and writing philosophical papers. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)