Published by Pearson (July 11, 2011) © 2012
Four Decades of Student-Friendly Philosophy
About Philosophy
 is an introductory text that covers all the major fields of philosophy in an easy-to-read language, interspersed with short selections from the major philosophers.  It has been a best-selling leader in the field for more than forty years and it is written by an internationally recognized author of more than twenty books.Teaching and Learning Experience
Improve Critical Thinking -
Each chapter ends with a Contemporary Application feature. This feature helps students connect the philosophy of the chapter to a current issue or problem being discussed widely in America.Engage Students -
Each chapter starts with a brief biography and discussion of a great philosopher who has contributed to the field of philosophy.Support Instructors
- Teaching your course just got easier! You can create a Customized Text or use our Instructor’s Manual, Electronic "MyTest" Test Bank or PowerPoint Presentation Slides.
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FOUR DECADES OF STUDENT-FRIENDLY PHILOSOPHY
About Philosophy
 contains:· Student pedagogy woven throughout. Each chapter contains definitions of key terms, discussion questions, and a review of the chapter's major points. Â
PERSONALIZE LEARNING
· The Pearson eText lets students access their textbook anytime, anywhere, and any way they want–including listening online or downloading to iPad.
· A personalized study plan for each student promotes better critical-thinking skills, and helps students succeed in the course and beyond.
· Assessment tied to every video, application, and chapter enables both instructors and students to track progress and get immediate feedback. With results feeding into a powerful gradebook, the assessment program helps instructors identify student challenges early–and find the best resources with which to help students.
· Class Prep collects the very best class presentation resources in one convenient online destination, so instructors can keep students engaged throughout every class.
IMPROVE CRITICAL THINKING
· Each chapter in About Philosophy ends with a Contemporary Application feature. This feature helps students connect the philosophy of the chapter to a current issue or problem being discussed widely in America. (ex. p. 76)
ENGAGE STUDENTS
· About Philosophy contains chapter opening biographies. Each chapter starts with a brief biography and discussion of a great philosopher who has contributed to the field of philosophy discussed within the chapter. (ex. p. 42)
SUPPORT INSTRUCTORS
· Instructor’s Manual with Tests (0205206255): For each chapter in the text, this resource provides a detailed outline, list of objectives, discussion questions, and suggested readings. In addition, test questions in multiple-choice, true/ false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer formats are available for each chapter; the answers are page-referenced to the text. For easy access, this manual is available within the instructor section of MyPhilosophyLab for About Philosophy 11/e, or at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc.
· MyTest (0205206247): This computerized software will allow you to create your own personalized exams, edit any or all of the existing test questions, and add new questions. Other special features of the program include random generation of test questions, creation of alternate versions of the same test, scrambling question sequence, and test preview before printing. For easy access, this software is available at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc.
· PowerPoint Presentation Slides for About Philosophy 11/e (0205206239): These PowerPoint slides help you convey philosophical principles in a clear and engaging way. For easy access, they are available within the instructor section of MyPhilosophyLab for About Philosophy 11/e, or at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc.
Found in this section:
1. Overview of Changes
2. Chapter-by-Chapter Changes
1. Overview of changes
PERSONALIZE LEARNING
· The Pearson eText lets students access their textbook anytime, anywhere, and any way they want–including listening online or downloading to iPad.
· A personalized study plan for each student promotes better critical-thinking skills, and helps students succeed in the course and beyond.
· Assessment tied to every video, application, and chapter enables both instructors and students to track progress and get immediate feedback. With results feeding into a powerful gradebook, the assessment program helps instructors identify student challenges early–and find the best resources with which to help students.
· New! Class Prep collects the very best class presentation resources in one convenient online destination, so instructors can keep students engaged throughout every class.
IMPROVING CRITICAL THINKING
· New! 7 Contemporary Applications on the following topics:
o The Epistemological Status of Plagiarism
o How Virtual is Virtual Reality?
o Evolution Versus Creationism
o Designer Babies
o Is Health Care a Right?
o Fakes, Forgeries and Animal Paintings - What is Art?
o Are Science and Religion Compatible?
SUPPORT INSTRUCTORS
· New! Create a Custom Text: For enrollments of at least 25, create your own textbook by combining chapters from best-selling Pearson textbooks and/or reading selections in the sequence you want.  To begin building your custom text, visit www.pearsoncustomlibrary.com. You may also work with a dedicated Pearson Custom editor to create your ideal text–publishing your own original content or mixing and matching Pearson content. Contact your Pearson Publisher’s Representative to get started.
2. Chapter-by-Chapter Changes
Chapter 2
· New! Contemporary Application - The Epistemological Status of Plagiarism
Chapter 3
· New! Contemporary Application — How Virtual is Virtual Reality?
Chapter 4
· New! Contemporary Application — Evolution Versus Creationism
Chapter 5
· New! Contemporary Application — Designer Babies
Chapter 6
· New! Contemporary Application — Is Health Care a Right?
Chapter 7
· New! Contemporary Application — Fakes, Forgeries and Animal Paintings — What is Art?
Chapter 8
· New! Contemporary Application — Are Science and Religion Compatible?
BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:
ÂChapter 1: What is Philosophy
Chapter 2:Â Theory of Knowledge
Chapter 3:Â Metaphysics and Philosophy of Mind
Chapter 4:Â Philosophy of Science
Chapter 5:Â Ethical Theory (Pt. I) - The Varieties of Ethical Theory
               Ethical Theory (Pt. II) - The Ethical Dimensions of Medicine
Chapter 6: Social and Political Philosophy
Chapter 7: Philosophy of Art
Chapter 8: Philosophy of Religion
In This Section:
I. Author Bio
II. Author Letter
I. Author Bio
Robert Paul Wolff was born in 1933 in New York City. He was educated at Harvard University, receiving his doctorate in philosophy in 1957. Following a brief period of service in the military, he taught at Harvard, The University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Massachusetts, from which he retired in 2008 after a career spanning half a century. Wolff is the author or editor of twenty-three books, which have been translated into sixteen languages. He is best known around the world for a short book titled In Defense of Anarchism, which has most recently appeared in Croatian, Malaysian, and Korean. For a somewhat more extended biography, you may consult the article on him on Wikipedia.com. Those who want to know every last detail of his life may read his eight hundred page, three volume, autobiography, which is posted on box.net and is accessible from his blog: www.robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com. Wolff is married to his childhood sweetheart, Susan, and lives in Chapel Hill, NC. He has two sons: Patrick Gideon Wolff, a famous International Chess Grandmaster who now is the Managing Director of a hedge fund, Grandmaster Capital, and Tobias Barrington Wolff, a leading Gay Rights legal activist and Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. Wolff has one cat, named Christmas Eve.
In 1990, after several years of activity in the movement to end apartheid in South Africa and liberate the South African people, Wolff founded University Scholarships for South African Students, which has in the past two decades helped more than one thousand five hundred young Black men and women in South Africa get a higher education. In March, 2011, Wolff was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Western Cape in South Africa in recognition of his work for South African higher education.
II. Author Letter
Dear Colleagues,
With this eleventh edition, About Philosophy approaches the completion of its fourth decade. Now, we philosophers are trained to view questions under the aspect of eternity, sub specie aeternitatis, so forty years is as nothing to us. But though we live with the eternal, our students very definitely do not! Despite our best efforts to remain au courant, we cannot keep up with the ever-changing world in which they live. Just this past semester, I mentioned Gilbert and Sullivan’s light operas to a class of bright graduate students, and they looked at me blankly. As Heraclitus reminded us a mere two and a half millennia ago, "you can never step into the same river twice, for other waters are ever flowing onto you."
In a continuing effort to accommodate About Philosophy to the mercurial frame of reference of our students, I have regularly replaced old "Contemporary Applications" with new ones. Almost that entire portion of the text has been completely redone for this edition. My favorite is the Contemporary Application for the chapter on the Philosophy of Art, which features a painting done by a dog. I have looked at that painting right side up, upside down, and sideways, and I have to confess that I cannot see how it differs from the abstract expressionist paintings now commanding six and seven figure prices at art auctions.
Anyone my age grew up in a linear world of books, but my grandchildren inhabit a multi-dimensional world of hypertexts. They move easily from text to text, site to site, linking ideas and texts in ways I never would have thought to do.
I am confident that we have struck the right balance between the eternal and the fleeting. The basic philosophical ideas and arguments are still here — they do not change. But this material will now be available to our students in ways that they are comfortable with. I look forward to hearing from you abut how it all works together.
Thank you once again for your loyalty to this text, and for the invaluable suggestions you have made over the years for its improvement. My email address is rwolff@afroam.umass.edu.
Sincerely,
Robert P. Wolff
Professor Emeritus
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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