Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy

Humor and drawings make this survey of Western philosophy less of a slog than it would otherwise be. The book is intended as a college textbook. As a result, it covers a lot of material, but not very deeply.

If I were going to teach an introduction to philosophy, this would be the text I'd use. It's exceedingly accessible and designed in a fashion that would interest even many who were required to take a class they did not want. Don't be fooled by the goofy illustrations and the cartoonish font; the content here is much more serious and the scope broader than would first appear. Key terms are not avoided, but there is no stuffy tone and complex sentence structure needed more for academic prestige than for explanation. This is a textbook with fairly good introductions to various concepts and figures, but it contains no excerpts. For this, there are many ways to get at the works themselves, and Palmer gives the instructor leeway to choose the show more works most appropriate for a particular class. Each chapter is followed by topics for consideration, suggestions for further reading, and notes pointing to the original sources. The glossary and index are sufficient but not overly thorough. Chapters are arranged by divisions within philosophy (e.g ontology, ethics, aesthetics) rather than chronologically. Overall, I very much recommend this book. show less

One of the best "Introductions", with accessible but challenging summaries of the people and the conventional themes taught in Western Philosophy classes. The themes are kept alive throughout the calligraphic text with cartoons, explicit connections to the arts and sciences, and by the personal eccentric and Jamesian positions of the author. With Glossary and Index.

Chapter 1 - PHILOSOPHY. Origins and contemporary branches. Socrates.

Chapter 2 - EPISTEMOLOGY. The difference between opinion and knowledge. Rationalism, Plato and Descartes.

Chapter 3 EMPIRICISM. [WUCUG what you see you get]. John Locke, Berkeley, phenomenalism. Hume - without god.

Chapter 4 - ONTOLOGY. Materialism, Behaviorism (Skinner vs Chomsky), Pluralism (the alternative show more to dualism and materialistic monism). Aristotle -- "substances", Wittgenstein.

Chapter 5 - RELIGION. Theism - proof from ontology, cosmology. Teleology (design) - Summa Theologica (Aquinas).

Criticism: Hume (Causality 193). Darwin - the purposed relation between the world and a designer fails empirically. Feuerbach (b. 1804) - religion is the result of confusion and prevents solutions to serious problems. Marx - "opiate" addresses real pain. Marcuse - the transfiguring content of religion cannot be liberated by surrender to science.[211] Freud - the mind preserves its earlier stages, onto- and phylogenetically.[212] [Making "scientific religious art"! 215]. Pragmatism ["ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers"] William James (b. 1842) -- passional argument -- only meaningful sentences can be true.

Existentialsm - Kierkegaard - interpretation of Abraham's acceptance of the murder assignment, in which the individual is responsible, is the beginning.[230]

Chapter 6 - Freedom. Determinism - Skinner, Freud. Libertarianism. Heisenberg indeterminism. Sartre (b.1905) "facticity". Dostoyevsky's Notes from Under the Floorboards" -- perverse freedom [270], resentment against prudence and reason, an Arab's "whim".

Chapter 7 - Ethics. Justice/ Morality, City / Soul. Greeks, Utilitarians, Kant - duty-oriented morality.

Chapter 8 - Morality. Naturalism, Positivism, Relativism.

Chapter 9 - Political Philosophy: the legitimacy of Government. Plato, Hobbes (and Freud) the selfish atom, Locke (and Marx) cooperative nature, Rousseau, Mill. Why do we put up with "rules" enforced by a threat of force? Colin Turnbull's work with the Ik, and the BaMbuti. [ 403].

Chapter 10 - Justice: The key concept of social philosophy. Fairness in the distribution of goods and services, allocating resources. (1) statist communism, (2) minimal-state anarchism, (3) liberalism.

(1) Statist : Hegel (b. 1770) - idealist organicism. Marx (b. 1818) - materialist evolutionary.

(2) Non-statist: Nozick "historical patterns" and agencies in anarchy [421]. Holdings have absolute rights - upon just acquisition, then to transfer, rectify, defend, punish. Critics (MacIntryre, Brown) note that in the absence of a just acquisition of anything, the theory is utopian and irrelevant to any actual choices.

(3) The Liberal State. John Rawls "A Theory of Justice" (1971, 1999). A social contract guides conduct, and it is negotiated behind a "veil of ignorance". State regulations to foster low inflation and high employment, protecting the free market, capital, and resources. The right to fair treatment is as basic as Nozick's right to property.

Chapter 11 - Art. Plato and Freud, Aristotle. Marx, Marcuse, Existentialism, Wittgenstein "open concepts". Nietzsche (redeeming), Rilke -- "du musst dein Leben andern!". show less

2/27/22