Six Philosophical Appetizers

Are you curious about philosophy, but unsure about how to begin? This brief, affordable book can help you get started by offering a selection of bitesize philosophical reasonings to sample. If you are new to philosophy, then these appetizers in just a few pages present a concise overview of some of the main problems and methods of philosophy. This book invites you to think systematically about some of the most intellectually challenging and personally important areas of inquiry of philosophy. It poses – and proposes answers to – a series of philosophical questions, which are illustrated by examples from everyday life and by many imaginative thought experiments.

The topics include the meaning of life, the possibility of knowledge, the concept of mind as it relates to the freedom of will, the existence and nature of God, the difference and reasons for choosing between moral right and wrong, and the practice, scope, and limitations of philosophy itself. To concentrate attention on these problems, no philosophers or philosophical writings are referred to by name, and no prior background in philosophical methods or the history of philosophy is assumed.

A companion collection of readings, Philosophical Entrées: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Philosophy, also published by McGraw-Hill, is designed to accompany Six Philosophical Appetizers. The six sections of readings in the Entrées are main courses, philosophical food for thought. They correspond to, provide historical background for, and illustrate each of the six philosophical topics of the Appetizers.