Abstract

A versatile text for graduate or undergraduate courses following a "problem" format, this is a technical manual, which if mastered would impart one of the indispensable skills of philosophers to its students. The responsibility for three of the six chapters lies with each author. Lehrer leads off with "The Contents and Methods of Philosophy," in which he presents the logical and semantic skills which are prerequisite to the following chapters. He considers valid argument forms, the method of counter-example, definition, induction, and so on, with exercises given for each topic. The chapters "Knowledge and Skepticism" and "Freedom and Determinism" are also his. Cornman contributes chapters on the "Mind-Body Problem," "Justifying the Belief in God," and "Justifying an Ethical Standard." Each chapter has an exhaustive bibliography running several pages, giving classical sources, anthologies, textbooks, recent books, other bibliographies where available, and paying special attention to contemporary articles of both immediate and related pertinence. Each chapter, after the first, begins with a statement of the topic in straightforward terms. The alternative positions on the issue are enumerated; each is given a clear elaboration, and the problems faced by each are brought out for consideration. There is considerable dialectical play between positions, as one arises in response to problems unsolvable by another. Each chapter ends by showing which of the alternatives seems most reasonable, and providing exercises for the student.--M. B. M.