14. Ideas
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
In stating that the imagination cannot help us to picture God, but that we can form a conception of our Maker by other means, Descartes was articulating his theory of ideas. ‘Ideas’ shows ...
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2. Aims and Methods
A. J. Ayer
in Hume: A Very Short Introduction
Hume aimed to continue the empirical enquiry begun by Locke to criticise trust in reason and question the nature of causality. ‘Aims and Methods’ discusses Hume's attempts to create a ...
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Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Simon Blackburn
Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, by the fear that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated ...
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Some ethical ideas
Simon Blackburn
in Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
As our technologies of control increase, so do the new questions
about how to use them. ‘Some ethical ideas’ examines such issues as abortion, rights, and euthanasia, and explores how an ...
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1. Why do we need political philosophy?
David Miller
in Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
‘Why do we need political philosophy?’ examines the three ideas that stand at its very heart: that good and bad government profoundly affect the quality of human lives; that the form our ...
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3. Knowledge, belief, and faith
John Dunn
in Locke: A Very Short Introduction
‘Knowledge, belief and faith’ explores the link that Locke believed existed between knowledge, faith and morality. Locke thought that knowledge consisted of the union of the simple ideas of ...
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6. Art and ideas
Christopher Janaway
in Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction
‘Art and ideas’ examines Schopenhauer's treatment of aesthetic experience. Schopenhauer belongs to a tradition which equates aesthetic experience with a ‘disinterested’ attitude towards its ...
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4. Man
Roger Scruton
in Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction
Spinoza believed that all things exist necessarily in thoroughgoing interdependence. This seems to leave the whole of morality in doubt. ‘Man’ considers what Spinoza's philosophy has to say ...
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5. Counterfactual dependence: do causes make a difference?
Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum
in Causation: A Very Short Introduction
Causes, we might say, make a difference to what happens. They are difference makers. ‘Counterfactual dependence: do causes make a difference?’ considers counterfactual dependence as a test ...
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Introduction
Paul Strohm
in Conscience: A Very Short Introduction
The durable notion we call conscience has outlived political ideas, epochs, and empires for over 2,000 years. It has been embraced first by Romans, then by early Christians, Reformed ...
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2. A free market in ideas?
Nigel Warburton
in Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction
In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill defends the view that extensive freedom of speech is a precondition not just for individual happiness but also for a flourishing society. In other words, ...
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5. Free speech in the age of the Internet
Nigel Warburton
in Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction
The Internet has transformed our world by expanding channels of communication and opening up people to new ideas and ways of interacting with each other. ‘Free speech in the age of the ...
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Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
Edward Craig
Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction looks at different schools of philosophy and classic philosophical problems, via readings from Plato, Hume, Hobbes, Descartes, and early ...
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5. Freedom
Roger Scruton
in Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction
Missing from Spinoza's philosophy of mind is the notion of the self, or subject. However, he recognizes the existence of self-consciousness. This means that our ideas may be accompanied by ...
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Social Psychology: A Very Short Introduction
Richard J. Crisp
Social Psychology: A Very Short Introduction tells the story of social psychology, its history, concepts, and major theories. Discussing the classic studies that have defined ...
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7. Spinoza's legacy
Roger Scruton
in Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction
Spinoza's metaphysics states that reality corresponds to our adequate ideas, and concludes that we may have the same ‘absolute’ view of nature that we have of mathematics. ‘Spinoza's ...
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7. Shifting standards?
Jennifer Nagel
in Knowledge: A Very Short Introduction
Some words have context-sensitivity. Some words (like ‘I’ and ‘now’) are sensitive to the speaker's identity and location in time and space. Others (like ‘big’ and ‘tall’) are sensitive to ...
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6. The future
Robert Eaglestone
in Contemporary Fiction: A Very Short Introduction
The image of the future in contemporary fiction is inseparable from ideas about the impact of technology: expressions of hope or despair about that future are measured through the figure of ...
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3. Evolving trust and cooperation
Katherine Hawley
in Trust: A Very Short Introduction
Where does the concept of trust fit into evolutionary theory? The gene selection idea has a disadvantage: it appears unable to explain the altruistic behaviour of certain animals. ‘Evolving ...
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Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short introduction
Michael Beaney
Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction introduces some of the key ideas of the founders of analytic philosophy—Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, Ludwig ...
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