Reason and Responsibility: Readings in Some Basic Problems of Philosophy

Seventy-nine readings ranging from the Classic to the contemporary periods represent the basic philosophical positions on religious belief, the limits of knowledge, the nature of mind, free will and responsibility, and ethics. Particular attention is given to the debates concerning the existence of God, the problem of evil, faith, skepticism, science, the mind-body problem, the nature of thought, personal identity, determinism, moral responsibility, and ethical problems such as famine, abortion, and animal rights. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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Rather than taking a smorgasbord approach to introducing students to philosophy, this 11th generation text provides two dozen classic and contemporary readings in representative problem areas: reason and religious belief, the grounds and limits of human knowledge, the place of mind in nature, and challenges to standard concepts of morality. Each section is introduced by Feinberg (U. of Arizona) and Shafer-Landau (U. of Kansas). Includes ten new selections specifically addressed to beginning students; a specially commissioned article offering a new theory of libertarianism; updated translations; and an updated glossary. Lacks an index and dates of previous editions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Joel Feinberg (Professor Emeritus, late of University of Arizona) was widely recognized as one of America's leading political and social philosophers. Acclaimed both for his ground-breaking scholarship and his exemplary teaching skills, Feinberg published widely on topics such as individual rights, legal theory, capital punishment, the treatment of the mentally ill, civil disobedience, and environmental ethics. Before joining the University of Arizona faculty, he taught at Brown, Princeton, and Rockefeller universities. Feinberg was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1987-88 to work in Japan and served as chairman of the National Board of Officers in the American Philosophical Association in the mid-1980s. Some of the royalties from Reason and Responsibility have been used to establish the Regents Professor Joel Feinberg Dissertation Fellowship in Philosophy at the University of Arizona.

Russ Shafer-Landau received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and currently teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he focuses on ethical theory and philosophy of the law. He is the author of The Fundamentals of Ethics; Moral Realism: A Defence; and Whatever Happened to Good and Evil? He also serves as series editor for Oxford Studies in Metaethics.