Introduction; 1 Doing Philosophy; 2 Some Philosophical Terms; 3 Argument and Logic; 4 Possibility; 5 What Do We Know? 6 Perceiving the World; 7 Mind; 8 Right and Wrong; 9 Equality; 10 God; 11 Science; 12 Time; 13 Human Rights; 14 Freedom and Determinism; 15 Politics, Political Equality and the State of the World; 16 War; 17 Punishment; 18 Abortion; 19 Euthanasia; 20 Animal Rights; 21 Genetics; 22 Life, Death, Immortality and Reincarnation; 23 Evolution; 24 Cosmology; 25 The Meaning of Life; Annotated Bibliography, Extended Reading and Internet Resources; Index
Gerald Rochelle has worked as a visiting philosopher in schools for the Royal Institute of Philosophy Jacobsen Scheme and was editor of the journal Practical Philosophy. He has conducted workshops in Europe and in the US. His work with practical philosophy, in particular Cafe Philosophy, led him to write this simple down to earth guide to how to do philosophy.
'Angled towards more practical issues in philosophy - although by
no means exclusively - this book tests your understanding with
questions running right through the text, with further questions at
the end of each chapter. Sample question: Did the killing of Libyan
leader Gadaffi in October 2011 'raise any human rights issues'? An
excellent book to stimulate debate in an Introduction to Philosophy
class, or to work through on one's own.' Pathways to
PhilosophyWritten in an informative, easy and approachable style,
Rochelle’s book attempts to make philosophy accessible, to show
that it is exciting and that it has meaning in our everyday lives.
It does this by introducing a very broad range of topics (broader
than is usual in introductory books in philosophy) that have
relevance to most areas of human concern: moral, scientific,
social, theological, medical, and personal, as well as more purely
philosophical.Rochelle begins with an explanation of what
philosophy is and what doing philosophy means. Philosophy is an
activity that involves us in abstract thought and ideas. Though not
historical in itself, philosophical thinking is improved by
understanding what philosophers have already thought, so that we do
not waste time trying to think over the same ground. We do
philosophy in its weakest sense all the time, because we are
continually taking in information, thinking about it and coming up
with conclusions. To do philosophy in its strongest sense, however,
is to argue effectively in defense of new ideas we come up with or
to challenge existing ideas by providing rational arguments against
them. Rochelle then defines some philosophical terms and addresses
first issues in logic (“Argument and Logic,” “Possibility”),
epistemology (“What Do We Know?” “Perceiving the World”), and
philosophy of mind (“Mind”), before proceeding to moral philosophy
(“Right and Wrong”) and applied moral philosophy (“Abortion,”
“Euthanasia,” “Animal Rights”), political philosophy (“Equality,”
“Politics, Political Equality, and the State of the World,” “War”),
Philosophy of law (“Punishment”), philosophy of religion (“God”),
philosophy of science (“Science,” “Genetics,” “Evolution,”
“Cosmology”), and metaphysics (“Time,” “Life, Death, Immortality
and Reincarnation”). This remarkable tour of subjects closes with a
look at more personal questions such as “The Meaning of Life.”Each
chapter begins with a main question, and throughout the chapter
challenging and thought provoking questions are being asked.
Rochelle does not provide answers in the text; to the contrary,
each chapter finishes with at least one impressive list of further
questions that somehow manage to make you feel unable to ignore
them.As important background, philosophical figures of importance
in all the areas discussed are identified. A short bibliography
awaits the reader at the end of each chapter, drawn primarily from
various chapters in Roger Scruton’s Modern Philosophy: An
Introduction and Survey (2004), Peter Singer’s Ethics (1994), Hugh
LaFollette (ed.), Ethics in Practice: An Anthology (2002), and
Thomas Nagel’s writings (1979, 1986), though supplemented by more
specific books when necessary. An extensive reading list as well as
internet resources point the way at the end of the book for those
who wish to take any of these areas further.Rochelle’s preciseness
and clarity of expression is impressive; at times, however, the
discussion is sketchy, as is fitting, however, an introductory book
that manages to cover so many topics. As far as Philosophical
Counseling is concerned it would prove a very useful resource of
important considerations across a broad range of topics any of
which could be brought to the philosophical counselor by a
client.
PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE, Journal of the APPAThe purpose of the paper
is to explore to what extent the book Doing Philosophy written by
Gerald Rochelle can contribute to practical issues of teaching
philosophy as doing philosophy. Students often feel a gap between
what is offered in textbooks and what is required from the in
learning obectives: their own philosophical activity and
creativity. The outstanding feature of Doing Philosophy is the
author’s continual insistence on questioning; in the long term this
could develop a valuable philosophical attitude of
problematisation. Rochelle’s intention is not so much to present
philosophical content but more to invite the reader to explore the
recommended Further Reading. He guides the reader from the
questions through the argument to the conclusion. The growing edge
of the book and the approach is the domain of conceptualisation.
This attitude of questioning that could be expanded to this domain
as well remains within the areas of problematisation and
argumentation. The book can help students and teachers with its
novel encouragement of their questioning and can be combined with
other philosophical sources.
RUDI KOTNIK Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor on academia.edu
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
