What Is the Argument?: An Introduction to Philosophical Argument and Analysis

479 Pages·2016·14.4 MB·English

by  Maralee Harrell

What Is the Argument?

What Is the Argument?
An Introduction to Philosophical Argument and Analysis
Maralee Harrell
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical
means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in
writing from the publisher.
This book was set in ITC Stone Serif & ITC Stone Sans by Jen Jackowitz. Printed and bound in the United
States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-0-262-52927-3
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface ix
I Doing Philosophy 1
1 Introduction 3
1.1 What Is Philosophy? 3
1.2 How Do We Do Philosophy? 6
1.3 Purpose and Structure of This Book 11
1.4 In-Class Exercise 12
1.5 Reading Questions 13
2 Types of Arguments 15
2.1 Vocabulary 16
2.2 Necessary versus Sufficient Conditions 22
2.3 Deductive versus Nondeductive Arguments 24
2.4 Forms of Valid and Invalid Deductive Arguments 24
2.5 A Priori versus A Posteriori Deductive Arguments 27
2.6 Types of Nondeductive Arguments: Induction, Argument by Analogy, and Abduction 28
2.7 Answers to Self-Assessment Exercises 29
2.8 In-Class Exercises 30
3 Argument Analysis and Diagramming 33
3.1 Visual Representations of Reasoning 34
3.2 Understanding and Representing Argument Structure 39
3.3 Interpreting Arguments to Create Diagrams 51
3.4 Diagramming Objections and Replies 59
3.5 Summary 65
3.6 Answers to Self-Assessment Exercises 66
3.7 In-Class Exercises 72
vi Contents
II Philosophy of Religion 85
Introduction 87
4 Deductive Arguments for the Existence of God 93
4.1 St. Anselm, Proslogion 93
4.2 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 101
4.3 In-Class Exercises 113
5 Deductive Arguments against the Existence of God 119
5.1 Michael Martin, “Three Reasons for Nonbelief” 119
5.2 John Mackie, “Evil and Omnipotence” 126
5.3 In-Class Exercises 132
5.3 Reading Questions 136
6 Nondeductive Arguments for the Existence of God 137
6.1 David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion 137
6.2 William Paley, Natural Theology 144
6.3 In-Class Exercises 156
6.4 Reading Questions 161
III Epistemology 163
Introduction 165
7 The Definition of Knowledge 171
7.1 Plato, Theaetetus 171
7.2 Edmund L. Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” 175
7.3 In-Class Exercises 180
7.4 Reading Questions 184
8 Justification and Certainty 187
8.1 René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy 187
8.2 John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 206
8.3 David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 212
8.4 In-Class Exercises 221
8.5 Reading Questions 227
9 The Problem of Induction 229
9.1 Hans Reichenbach, Experience and Prediction 229
9.2 Karl Popper, “Science: Conjectures and Refutations” 234
9.3 Nelson Goodman, Fact, Fiction, and Forecast 241
9.4 In-Class Exercises 247
9.5 Reading Questions 252
Contents vii
IV Theory of Mind 253
Introduction 255
10 Dualism 259
10.1 René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy 259
10.2 Gilbert Ryle, “Descartes’ Myth” 267
10.3 In-Class Exercises 273
10.4 Reading Questions 275
11 Materialism 277
11.1 J. J. C. Smart, “Sensations and Brain Processes” 277
11.2 Jerry Fodor, “The Mind–Body Problem” 281
11.3 In-Class Exercises 283
11.4 Reading Questions 288
12 Antimaterialism 289
12.1 Thomas Nagel, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” 289
12.2 Frank Jackson, “Epiphenomenal Qualia” 293
12.3 Paul Churchland, “Knowing Qualia: A Reply to Jackson” 296
12.4 In-Class Exercises 300
12.5 Reading Questions 305
13 Consciousness 307
13.1 John Searle, “Can Computers Think?” 307
13.2 Dan Dennett, “Consciousness Imagined” 311
13.3 In-Class Exercises 314
13.4 Reading Questions 316
V Free Will and Determinism 317
Introduction 319
14 Hard Determinism 323
14.1 Baron d’Holbach, “Of the System of Man’s Free Agency” 323
14.2 Galen Strawson, “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility” 328
14.3 In-Class Exercises 333
14.4 Reading Questions 336
15 Compatibilism 337
15.1 David Hume, “Of Liberty and Necessity” 337
15.2 W. T. Stace, “The Problem of Free Will” 341
15.3 In-Class Exercises 346
15.4 Reading Questions 348
viii Contents
16 Libertarianism 349
16.1 Roderick M. Chisholm, “Human Freedom and the Self” 349
16.2 Peter van Inwagen, “The Powers of Rational Beings: Freedom of the Will” 354
16.3 In-Class Exercises 360
16.4 Reading Questions 363
VI Ethics 365
Introduction 367
17 Meta-ethics: Divine Command Theory 373
17.1 Plato, Euthyphro 373
17.2 James Rachels, “Does Morality Depend on Religion?” 379
17.3 In-Class Exercises 385
17.4 Reading Questions 388
18 Meta-ethics: Relativism 389
18.1 Ruth Benedict, “Anthropology and the Abnormal” 389
18.2 James Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” 393
18.3 In-Class Exercises 397
18.4 Reading Questions 399
19 Normative Ethics: Virtue Ethics, Egoism, and Contractarianism 401
19.1 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 401
19.2 James Rachels, “Egoism and Moral Skepticism” 405
19.3 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan 412
19.4 In-Class Exercises 418
19.5 Reading Questions 428
20 Normative Ethics: Utilitarianism and Deontological Ethics 429
20.1 Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation 429
20.2 John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism 435
20.3 Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals 440
20.4 In-Class Exercises 445
20.5 Reading Questions 448
Notes 451
Index 457
Preface
I consider myself to be very fortunate to be a philosophy teacher—it is one of the few aca-
demic disciplines in which a student can, even on the first day of an introductory course,
engage in doing the subject rather than merely learning about the subject. As an instructor, I
strive to build on this advantage to engage my students in not only studying philosophers
and their ideas, but actually participating in philosophical discourse. If we think of philos-
ophy as a great, centuries-long conversation, then I want my students to enter into that
conversation rather than just understanding what the conversation is about and what others
have to say.
To enter into this conversation, students need to read and wrestle with original sources.
We can gain great insight from those who have either started new conversations, or advanced
old conversations in significant ways. Having introductory students enter into this conver-
sation with some of the greatest minds in history is, of course, a rather lofty goal—one that
would ideally be met by engaging in a wide variety of philosophical endeavors.
One subset of these endeavors concerns the way in which we read philosophy. There are
many ways to do this; Jay Rosenberg, for example, has very usefully and succinctly laid out
six different ways in his excellent book, The Practice of Philosophy:1
1. For conclusions: Reading for what the philosopher thinks.
2. For arguments: Reading for why the philosopher believes what he does.
3. In the dialectical setting: Reading for how the philosopher thinks—the dialectical setting,
contribution.
4. Critically: Reading to determine whether the argument a philosopher gives is good.
5. Adjudicatively: Reading to determine which of two or more different philosophical posi-
tions is more reasonable.
6. Creatively: Reading to inform and enhance one’s own thinking about a particular issue
or problem.