Philosophy of Social Science: A Contemporary Introduction examines perennial questions of philosophy through engaging the empirical study of society. Questions of normativity concern the place of values in social scientific inquiry. Questions of naturalism concern the relationship between the natural and the social sciences. And questions of reductionism ask how social institutions relate to the people who constitute them. This accessible text offers a comprehensive overview of debates in the field, with special attention to new research programs. Topics include the relationship of social policy to social science, interpretive research, cognitive and evolutionary explanations, intentional action explanation, rational choice theory, conventions and social norms, joint intentionality, causal inference, and experimentation. Detailed examples of social scientific research motivate the philosophical questions and illustrate the important concepts. Treating philosophical commitments as implicit in social science, students of the social sciences will benefit from its application of philosophical argument to methodological and theoretical problems. The text argues that social science transforms philosophical questions, and students of philosophy will benefit from its direct engagement with contemporary debates. The Second Edition provides updates with the most recent literature and adds two new chapters: one on modeling and one on the role of race and gender in the social sciences. Key Updates to the Second Edition: A new chapter on "Modeling and Explaining," which explores how models represent social systems and whether highly idealized models explain A new chapter on "Race and Other Social Constructions," capturing much of the recent empirical research and philosophical interest in the social construction of categories like race and gender Revised and updated chapters throughout, clarifying earlier presentations and bringing discussions from the First Edition into line with new research Updated annotated Further Reading lists, which now include relevant publications from 2013 to 2022.

Perfect short introduction to critical thinking for those completely new to the topic Clearly explains how to spot poor arguments and faulty reasons and to build strong arguments of your own Lots of examples and applied cases such as conspiracy theories, advertising, political rhetoric and rhetoric New chapter on emotion and argument with extensive updates and refreshes to exercises and further reading

Packed with examples, this book offers a clear and engaging overview of ethical issues in business. It begins with a discussion of foundational issues, including the objectivity of ethics, the content of ethical theories, and the debate between capitalism and socialism, making it suitable for the beginning student. It then examines ethical issues in business in three broad areas. The first is the market. Issues explored are what can be sold (the limits of markets) and how it can be sold (ethics in marketing). The second is work. Topics in this area are health and safety, meaningful work, compensation, hiring and firing, privacy, and whistleblowing. The third area is the firm in society. Here readers explore corporate social responsibility, corporate political activity, and the set of ethical challenges that attend international business. Issues are introduced through real-world examples that underscore their importance and make them come alive. Arguments for opposing positions are given fair hearings and students are encouraged to develop and defend their own views. Key Features Introduces each topic with a real-world example, which is referenced regularly in the subsequent argument. Contains a critical evaluation of capitalism and socialism, with a focus on private property, the market system, and the welfare state. Explores the limits of markets and encourages students to ask what should and should not be for sale. Explores the phenomena of corporate political activity and ethical consumerism. Includes initial chapter overviews and - at the end of each chapter - study questions and suggested additional readings.

Hailed as the 'Guru of the New Left' and a leading figure of 1960s counterculture and liberation movements, the philosopher Herbert Marcuse is amongst the most renowned and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century. Eros and Civilization is one of his best-known books and brought him international fame. Taking his cue from Freud's view that repression of the instincts is a defining characteristic of the human mind, Marcuse fuses Freud's insight with Marx's theories of alienation and oppression. He argues that rather than our instincts turned in on themselves, it is modern capitalism itself that is preventing us from reaching the freedom we can find in a non-repressive society. A sweeping indictment of modern capitalism and consumerism that remains fresh and insightful, Eros and Civilization is a classic of activist and radical thinking that continues to fire debate and controversy today. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Douglas Kellner.

Marcuse's famous interpretation of Hegel, rescuing his thought from association with proto-Nazism New foreword by Jay Bernstein Joins Marcuse's One-Dimensional Man in the Classics series, which has sold over 20,000 copies

Can human life be meaningful? What does talk about life’s meaning even mean? What is God’s role, if any, in a meaningful life? These three questions frame this one-of-a-kind debate between two philosophers who have spent most of their professional lives thinking and writing about the topic of life’s meaning. In this wide-ranging scholarly conversation, Professors Thaddeus Metz and Joshua Seachris develop and defend their own unique answers to these questions, while responding to each other’s objections in a lively dialogue format. Seachris argues that the concept of life’s meaning largely revolves around three interconnected ideas—mattering, purpose, and sense-making—that a meaningful human life involves sufficiently manifesting all three, and that God would importantly enhance the meaningfulness of life on each of these three fronts. Metz instead holds that talk of life’s meaning is about a variety of properties such as meriting pride, transcending one’s animal self, making a contribution, and authoring a life-story. For him, many lives are meaningful insofar as they exercise intelligence in positive, robust, and developmental ways. Finally, Metz argues that God is unnecessary for an objective meaning that suits human nature. Metz and Seachris develop and defend their own unique answers to these three questions, while responding to each other’s objections in a lively dialogue format that is accessible to students though—given their new contributions—will be of great interest to scholars as well. Key Features Offers an up-to-date scholarly conversation on life’s meaning by two researchers at the forefront of research on the topic. Provides a wide-ranging, yet orderly discussion of the most important issues. Accessible for the student investigating the topic for the first time yet valuable as well to the scholar working on life’s meaning. Includes helpful pedagogical features, like: - Chapter outlines and introductions - Annotated Reading Lists for both students and research-level readers - A glossary - Clear examples, thought experiments, narratives, and cultural references, which enhance the book’s role in thinking about life’s meaning and related topics.

D. M. Armstrong's A Materialist Theory of the Mind is widely known as one of the most important defences of the view that mental states are nothing but physical states of the brain. A landmark of twentieth-century philosophy of mind, it launched the physicalist revolution in approaches to the mind and has been engaged with, debated and puzzled over ever since its first publication over fifty years ago. Ranging over a remarkable number of topics, from behaviourism, the will and knowledge to perception, bodily sensation and introspection, Armstrong argues that mental states play a causally intermediate role between stimuli, other mental states and behavioural responses. He uses several illuminating examples to illustrate this, such as the classic case of pain. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Peter Anstey, placing Armstrong's book in helpful philosophical and historical context.

A full-spirited defence of the self against the scientific and materialist view that it doesn't exist Mary Midgley at her best, with her critical pen skewering figures ranging from Descartes to Richard Dawkins Widely reviewed on its first publication, including The Financial Times This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Stephen Cave

Basic Ethics presents for a wide range of students and other interested readers the questions raised in thinking about ethical problems, the answers offered by moral philosophy, and the means to better integrate into both the reader's world and personal life. It takes up what the author calls a "worldview theory," which shows readers how to begin with the values and understanding of the world that they already possess in order to transition from there to new levels of increasing ethical awareness. Updates to the third edition include the more thorough integration of feminist ethics into the principal theoretical traditions, a new chapter on the ethical responsibility to be well informed of current events, expanded coverage of human rights, and additional opportunities on how to use ethical reasoning in thinking about one's own life and about public policy. Key Features: Links personal values to a philosophical treatment of the major ethical theories Presents ethics in the context of social/political issues that face our nation and the world Challenges the student to react to the presented material through critical exercises that may be used as weekly assignments and can form the basis of class discussion and evaluation. Engages the student to think about underlying issues first (in the basic questions) before presenting the most popular solutions (in the basic answers) Invites the reader to make up her own mind on how to formulate an ethical theory that will help her in her own life Offers a 16-chapter format to fit into most college-semester calendars Presents an overall structure that establishes foundational problems in ethical theory in the first section of the book that are variously addressed by the different ethical theories in the second section of the book Highlights key terms to help the reader grapple with issues raised (which are reviewed and defined in a final Glossary) Includes a final chapter designed to help students comprehend the book in its entirety. Updates to the Third Edition: Highlights new research on human rights and their relevance to ethical thinking and contemporary moral issues Integrates feminist ethics into the principal theoretical traditions: virtue ethics, ethical intuitionism, and some versions of deontology Provides new coverage of "fake news" and the moral responsibility to be well and accurately informed of current events Expands opportunities to use ethical reasoning in thinking about one's own life and about public policy.

A pioneering work of ecological philosophy that has been acclaimed since its first publication A highly original and engaging linking of philosophy and science and Spinoza and Einstein, resulting in a new theory of ecological ethics Even more topical and relevant now than its first publication Includes a substantial new Introduction by the author

First published in 1946, History of Western Philosophy went on to become the best-selling philosophy book of the twentieth century. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy.

Providing a sophisticated overview of the ideas that have perplexed people from time immemorial, it is 'long on wit, intelligence and curmudgeonly scepticism', as the New York Times noted, and it is this, coupled with the sheer brilliance of its scholarship, that has made Russell's History of Western Philosophy one of the most important philosophical works of all time.

The Analysis of Matter is the product of thirty years of thinking by one of the twentieth century's best-known philosophers. An inquiry into the philosophical foundations of physics, it was written against the background of stunning new developments in physics earlier in the century, above all relativity, as well as the excitement around quantum theory, which was just being developed. Concerned to place physics on a stable footing at a time of great theoretical change, Russell argues that the concept of matter itself can be replaced by a logical construction whose basic foundations are events. He is careful to point out that this does not prove that matter does not exist, but it does show that physicists can get on with their work without assuming that matter does exist. Russell argues that fundamental bits of ''matter'', such as electrons and protons, are simply groups of events connected in a certain way and their properties are all that are required for physics. This Routledge Classics edition includes the 1992 Introduction by John G. Slater.

Superb insight into the development of Russell's thinking by the master himself Clearly and engaging written, charting his intellectual development from young idealist to celebrated sceptic This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Nicholas Griffin Ideal companion to Russell's own Autobiography, which is concerned with his incredibly colourful life rather than philosophy

Long-regarded as a classic in philosophical circles for launching the theory of fictionalism, Vaihinger's reputation has grown steadily over the years - now is the perfect time to enter the Routledge Classics pantheon The Philosophy of As If influenced various schools of philosophy, especially pragmatism, North America's most important philosophical movement The Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Michael Rosenthal

The Explanation of Behaviour was the first book written by the renowned philosopher Charles Taylor. A vitally important work of philosophical anthropology, it is a devastating criticism of the theory of behaviourism, a powerful explanatory approach in psychology and philosophy when Taylor's book was first published. However, Taylor has far more to offer than a simple critique of behaviourism. He argues that in order to properly understand human beings, we must grasp that they are embodied, minded creatures with purposes, plans and goals, something entirely lacking in reductionist, scientific explanations of human behaviour. Taylor's book is also prescient in according a central place to non-human animals, which like human beings are subject to needs, desires and emotions. However, because human beings have the unique ability to interpret and reflect on their own actions and purposes and declare them to others, Taylor argues that human experience differs to that of other animals. Furthermore, the fact that human beings are often directed by their purposes has a fundamental bearing on how we understand the social and moral world. Taylor's classic work is essential reading for those in philosophy and psychology as well as related areas such as sociology and religion. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Preface by the author and a new Foreword by Alva Noe, setting the book in philosophical and historical context.

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) was a German psychiatrist and philosopher and one of the most original European thinkers of the twentieth century. As a major exponent of existentialism in Germany, he had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry and philosophy. He was Hannah Arendt's supervisor before her emigration to the United States in the 1930s and himself experienced the consequences of Nazi persecution. He was removed from his position at the University of Heidelberg in 1937, due to his wife being Jewish. Published in 1949, the year in which the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, The Origin and Goal of History is a vitally important book. It is renowned for Jaspers' theory of an 'Axial Age', running from the 8th to the 3rd century BCE. Jaspers argues that this period witnessed a remarkable flowering of new ways of thinking that appeared in Persia, India, China and the Greco-Roman world, in striking parallel development but without any obvious direct cultural contact between them. Jaspers identifies key thinkers from this age, including Confucius, Buddha, Zarathustra, Homer and Plato, who had a profound influence on the trajectory of future philosophies and religions. For Jaspers, crucially, it is here that we see the flowering of diverse philosophical beliefs such as scepticism, materialism, sophism, nihilism, and debates about good and evil, which taken together demonstrate human beings' shared ability to engage with universal, humanistic questions as opposed to those mired in nationality or authoritarianism. At a deeper level, The Origin and Goal of History provides a crucial philosophical framework for the liberal renewal of German intellectual life after 1945, and indeed of European intellectual life more widely, as a shattered continent attempted to find answers to what had happened in the preceding years. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Christopher Thornhill.

'When we claim to have been injured by language, what kind of claim do we make?' - Judith Butler, Excitable Speech Excitable Speech is widely hailed as a tour de force and one of Judith Butler's most important books. Examining in turn debates about hate speech, pornography and gayness within the US military, Butler argues that words can wound and linguistic violence is its own kind of violence. Yet she also argues that speech is 'excitable' and fluid, because its effects often are beyond the control of the speaker, shaped by fantasy, context and power structures. In a novel and courageous move, she urges caution concerning the use of legislation to restrict and censor speech, especially in cases where injurious language is taken up by aesthetic practices to diminish and oppose the injury, such as in rap and popular music. Although speech can insult and demean, it is also a form of recognition and may be used to talk back; injurious speech can reinforce power structures, but it can also repeat power in ways that separate language from its injurious power. Skillfully showing how language's oppositional power resides in its insubordinate and dynamic nature and its capacity to appropriate and defuse words that usually wound, Butler also seeks to account for why some clearly hateful speech is taken to be iconic of free speech, while other forms are more easily submitted to censorship. In light of current debates between advocates of freedom of speech and 'no platform' and cancel culture, the message of Excitable Speech remains more relevant now than ever. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Preface by the author, where she considers speech and language in the context contemporary forms of political polarization.

Metaphysics: The Basics is a concise and engaging introduction to the philosophical study of some of the most important and foundational aspects of the world in which we live. Concerned with questions about existence, time, identity, change, and other basic elements of our common-sense and scientific ways of thinking about the world, metaphysics has long fascinated people. But to the uninitiated, many of the issues and problems can appear bewilderingly complex and intractable. In this lively and lucid book, Michael Rea examines and explains the core questions in the study of metaphysics-questions such as: What is the relationship between an object and its properties, or between an object and its parts? What is time, and is time travel possible? Are human beings free? What is it for an object or person to persist over time? This second edition has been thoroughly revised and includes a new chapter on the metaphysics of gender. With suggestions for further reading and a glossary of key terms, Metaphysics: The Basics is an ideal introduction for those coming to the subject for the first time.

A showcase of some of Russell's best writing, ranging from snapshots of H.G Wells and Joseph Conrad to some of his classic shorter pieces, such as How I Write and A Plea for Clear Thinking A new foreword by Russell scholar Nicholas Griffin helps place the book in context (it was first published in 1956) Russell remains as popular as ever with his books selling hundreds of thousands of copies and Routledge his primary English-language publisher

Franz Brentano is one of the founding fathers of twentieth century philosophy, celebrated for introducing the concept of intentionality to philosophy as well as making significant contributions to ethics and logic. His work exerted great influence on major philosophers such as Edmund Husserl, but also philosophers travelling in the opposite direction, such Gottlob Frege. He counted Sigmund Freud amongst his students and Freud expressed great admiration for his teacher in several letters. Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint is Brentano's most important and brilliant work. It helped to establish psychology as a scientific discipline, but did so in a highly original and distinctive manner by arguing for a form of introspectionism. Brentano argued that consciousness is always unified and that the hallmark of the mind is that one's thoughts are always directed towards something - his famous theory of 'intentionality' - arguments that have deep implications not just for philosophy but psychology, cognitive science and consciousness studies. With a new foreword by Tim Crane.

A classic work from early in Russell's career and his major engagement with the nature of the mind Set the path for much of his subsequent philosophical beliefs about mind and consciousness Revised and updated Introduction by Thomas Baldwin places the book in helpful historical and philosophical context

Russell's first book on philosophy and a fascinating insight into his early thinking A classic in the history and philosophy of mathematics and logic by one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Michael Potter, a renowned expert on analytic philosophy

Covers traditional topics - like the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments for the existence of God, and the problem of Evil - while making room for emerging trends in the philosophy of religion, which look beyond the beliefs of given religions to an examination of their practices. Analytic philosophy of religion is often practiced in an almost exclusively Christian environment. This can sometimes make the topic less hospitable to non-Christians. The examples and arguments that populate this book draw from a wide variety of cultures and traditions. Atheists, agnostics, and devotees of a wide array of religious traditions (from Christianity to Buddhism) will therefore feel welcome and engaged.

First published in 1954, Human Society in Ethics and Politics is Bertrand Russell's last full account of his ethical and political positions relating to both politics and religion. Ethics, he argues, are necessary to man because of the conflict between intelligence and impulse - if one were without the other, there would be no place for ethics. Man's impulses and desires are equally social and solitary. Politics and ethics are the means by which we as a society and as individuals become socially purposeful and moral codes inculcate our rules of action.

An engaging and accessible introduction to the challenging philosophical problem of free will. Updated and revised throughout, this edition includes recent examples of experiments within science, and also a new section on dispositionalism. Provides an overview of the most important issues and arguments relating to free will without promoting one viewpoint over the others Written in an accessible style with pedagogical features such as suggestions for further reading, study questions and a glossary of key words it has the potential to be used on courses globally.