Philosophical skepticism / edited by Charles Landesman and Roblin Meeks.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Landesman, Charles.

Meeks, Roblin.

Series:

Blackwell readings in philosophy ; 6.

Blackwell readings in philosophy ; 6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Skepticism.

Physical Description:

xi, 364 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2003.

Summary:

Philosophical Skepticism provides a selection of important writings by both skeptics and opponents of the skeptical tradition of Western philosophy. These writings, together with the historical introduction by Landesman and Meeks, clearly illustrate the profound influence that skeptical stances have had on the nature of philosophical inquiry.

This collection spans the centuries of skeptical and anti-skeptical arguments, from Socrates to Rorty. It includes selections from the writings of Plato, Diogenes Laertius, Cicero, Sextus Empiricus, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Russell, Quine, Nagel, and many others. From this collection, readers will gain a sufficient background to engage in further study of skepticism from both classical and contemporary sources.

Contents:

Part I Global Skepticism 7

1 from Apology / Plato 9

2 from Pyrrho / Diogenes Laertius 23

3 from Academica / Cicero 30

4 from Outlines of Pyrrhonism / Sextus Empiricus 34

5 "Meditation I" / Rene Descartes 45

6 from An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding / David Hume 51

7 from The View from Nowhere / Thomas Nagel 78

8 "A Defense of Skepticism" / Peter Unger 90

Part II Skeptical Topics 111

Perception 113

9 "The Refutation of Realism" / W. T. Stace 114

10 from "Proof of an External World" / G. E. Moore 125

11 from Sense and Sensibilia / J. L. Austin 132

Induction 147

12 from The Theory of Probability / Hans Reichenbach 148

13 "Reliabilism and Induction" / Michael Levin 158

Other Minds 169

14 "Other Minds" / Thomas Nagel 170

15 "Analogy" / Bertrand Russell 175

16 "Knowledge of Other Minds" / Norman Malcolm 180

Self-Knowledge 191

17 "Meditation II" / Rene Descartes 192

18 "Of Personal Identity" / David Hume 201

19 from "The Paralogisms of Pure Reason" / Immanuel Kant 214

20 from Beyond Good and Evil / Friedrich Nietzsche 219

21 from Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus / Ludwig Wittgenstein 222

Religious Belief 225

22 from "Apology for Raymond Sebond" / Michel de Montaigne 226

23 from Pensees / Blaise Pascal 232

24 from "Of Miracles" / David Hume 242

25 from Concluding Unscientific Postscript / Soren Kierkegaard 256

Part III Responses and Reactions 271

26 from "Meditation VI" / Rene Descartes 273

27 from The Forced Marriage / Jean-Baptiste Moliere 284

28 from A Treatise of Human Nature / David Hume 287

29 from Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man / Thomas Reid 296

30 from Prolegomena and Critique of Pure Reason / Immanuel Kant 310

31 from Being and Time / Martin Heidegger 322

32 from "Two Dogmas of Empiricism" and "Epistemology Naturalized" / W. V. Quine 324

33 "Solidarity or Objectivity?" / Richard Rorty 344.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0631213538

0631213546

OCLC:

49394242