Skeptical Philosophy for Everyone / Edition 1

by Richard H. Popkin, Avrum Stroll

Overview

This lucid, informal, and very accessible history of Western thought takes the unique approach of interpreting skepticism—i.e., doubts about knowledge claims and the criteria for making such claims—as an important stimulus for the development of philosophy. The authors argue that practically every great thinker from the time of the Greeks to the present has produced theories designed to forestall or refute skepticism: from Plato to Moore and Wittgenstein. The influence of and responses to such 20th-century skeptics as Russell and Derrida are also discussed critically.

Popkin and Stroll review each major theory of philosophy chronologically and then further organize these theories into their respective subject areas: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of religion. Within each subject area the authors discuss how the skeptical challenge gave rise to new philosophical positions. The volume concludes with an especially interesting debate between the authors on the merits of skepticism today. Stroll thinks that ultimately the doubts expressed by skeptics can be refuted, while Popkin denies this.

This is an outstanding introduction to the problems of philosophy by two eminent philosophers with a gift for presenting the history of ideas in a very enjoyable fashion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573929363
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/01/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	325
Sales rank:	599,728
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Richard Popkin (Los Angeles, CA) is professor emeritus of philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, and adjunct professor of history and philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Avrum Stroll (San Diego, CA) is research professor of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	9
1.	Why Do People Philosophize?	11
2.	Does Anyone Ever Know Anything?	35
3.	Modern Skepticism	59
4.	The Twentieth Century	103
5.	Philosophy of Religion	145
6.	Ethics	189
7.	Political Philosophy	245
8.	Skepticism Today: A Debate between Avrum Stroll and Richard H. Popkin	291
	Index	325

Editorial Reviews

This clearly written book introduces philosophy by presenting a variety of philosophical theories and skeptical challenges to each. After an introductory chapter explaining the nature of a philosophical problem and distinguishing two kinds of skepticism, Popkin and Stroll discuss theories drawn from six areas of philosophy: epistemology, the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, moral philosophy, and political philosophy. The authors of the theories are Plato, Descartes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Russell, Moore, Wittgenstein, and Derrida, among others. The final chapter is a pair of letters in which one author criticizes skepticism and the other defends it. Highly recommended as a first philosophy book and for college collections and large public libraries. Robert Hoffman, York Coll., CUNY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Casting skepticism in a central role, this history of Western philosophy looks at the efforts of major thinkers seeking to overcome skeptical challenges. The role of skepticism in producing new theoretical positions is explicated, and the influence of contemporary skeptics examined. The relative merits of skeptical claims are also debated. Popkin taught philosophy at Washington University. Stroll teaches philosophy at the University of California at San Diego. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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