The Bedside Book of Philosophy: From the Birth of Western Philosophy to The Good Place: 125 Historic Events and Big Ideas to Push the Limits of Your Knowledge

by Gregory Bassham

Overview

A fascinating exploration into the 125 most important milestones in philosophy, all in one handy book perfect for keeping on your bedside table or carrying wherever you go.

Now is the perfect time to expand your knowledge and learn something new or delve deeper into a topic you’ve always been interested in. With 125 concise, informative, and entertaining entries, The Bedside Book of Philosophy explores the key theories, great insights, thought-provoking questions, influential personalities, and seminal publications in the field over the millennia. Gregory Bassham covers a wide range of topics and cultures—from Confucian ethics and Plato’s theory of forms to Occam’s Razor, Hume’s A Treatise of Human Nature, existentialism, feminist philosophy, Social Darwinism, and The Good Place—all in an accessible, conversational voice. Includes 75 black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454942795
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	03/16/2021
Series:	Bedside Books , #1
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	927,199
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Gregory Bassham is professor of philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, where he specializes in the philosophy of law, critical thinking, and the connections between pop culture and philosophy. He is also coeditor of several successful books, including The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy (Open Court) and The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy (Wiley), and the lead writer of Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction, 5th ed. (McGraw-Hill). Bassham earned his PhD at the University of Notre Dame, and his articles and essays on philosophy are featured in numerous periodicals and books. Having taught philosophy for 25 years, he has read virtually every major work of philosophy ever written.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

c. 585 BCE Birth of Western Philosophy 4

c. 550 BCE The Dao 6

c. 540 BCE Reincarnation 8

c. 540 BCE Ahimsa 10

c. 525 BCE The Four Noble Truths 12

c. 525 BCE No-Self (Anatta) 14

c. 500 BCE Confucian Ethics 16

c. 500 BCE Reciprocity 18

c. 500 BCE Change Is Constant 20

c. 450 BCE Protagoras and Relativism 22

c. 450 BCE The Sophists 24

c. 450 BCE Ladder of Love 26

c. 430 BCE Know Thyself 28

c. 420 BCE Atoms and the Void 30

c. 420 BCE Universal Love 32

c. 400 BCE Cynicism 34

c. 400 BCE Cyrenaic Hedonism 36

c. 400 BCE The Bhagavad Gita 38

399 BCE The Trial and Death of Socrates 40

c. 399 BCE Socratic Dialogues 42

c. 380 BCE Mind-Body Dualism 44

c. 380 SCE Plato's Republic 46

c. 367 BCE Aristotle Enrolls in the Academy 48

c. 330 BCE Nicomachean Ethics 50

c. 320 BCE Maybe Life Is a Dream 52

c. 300 BCE Epicureanism 54

c. 300 BCE Stoicism 56

c. 300 BCE Innate Goodness 58

51 BCE Universal Moral Law 60

c. 125 CE Epictetian Stoicism 62

180 The Philosopher-King 64

c. 200 Outlines of Pyrrhonism 66

c. 250 Neoplatonism 68

386 Augustine's Conversion 70

c. 520 Origins of Chan/Zen Buddhism 72

524 The Consolation of Philosophy 74

c. 810 Monism 76

1078 The Ontological Argument 78

c. 1265 The Great Medieval Synthesis 80

c. 1265 The Five Ways 82

c. 1270 Natural Law 84

c. 1320 Ockham's Razor 86

c. 1350 The Renaissance Begins 88

1516 Utopia 90

c. 1520 The Humanist Ideal 92

1532 The Prince 94

1543 The Birth of Modern Science 96

1620 The Enlightenment Begins 98

1637 The Father of Modern Philosophy 100

1641 Meditations on First Philosophy 102

1651 Leviathan 104

1651 Free Will and Determinism Are Compatible 106

1670 Pascal's Wager 108

1677 Ethics 110

1689 Human Rights 112

1689 Religious Liberty 114

1689 Empiricism 116

1713 To Be Is to Be Perceived 118

1725 The Moral Sense 120

1730 Deism 122

1739 A Treatise of Human Nature 124

1739 The Problem of Induction 126

1748 An Attack on Miracles 128

1751 Morality Is Rooted in Feeling 130

1759 Candide 132

c. 1760 The Birth of Romanticism 134

1762 The Social Contract 136

1762 Emile and Natural Education 138

1770 A Godless, Mechanistic Universe 140

1779 Hume's Dialogues 142

1781 Critique of Pure Reason 144

1785 The Categorical Imperative 146

1787 The Federalist 148

1789 Utilitarianism 150

1792 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 152

1819 The Philosophy of Pessimism 154

1836 American Transcendentalism 156

1843 Existentialism 158

1846 Truth Is Subjectivity 160

1854 Walden 162

1859 On Liberty 164

1862 Social Darwinism 166

1863 Refined Utilitarianism 168

1878 Origins of Pragmatism 170

1882 "God Is Dead" 172

1832 Perspectivism 174

1887 The Revaluation of Values 176

1897 "The Will to Believe" 178

1900 Phenomenology 180

1903 Ethical Intuitionism 182

1907 Pragmatism 184

1916 Progressive Education 186

1923 I and Thou 188

1925 Instrumentalism 190

1927 Being and Time 192

1927 Religion as Wish Fulfillment 194

1930 Deontological Intuitionism 196

1936 Logical Positivism 198

1933 Nausea 200

1942 Existential Defiance 202

1946 Atheistic Existentialism 204

1949 The Second Sex 206

1949 Ecocentrism 208

1953 Philosophical Investigations 210

1962 Scientific Revolutions 212

1966 Soul-Making Theodicy 214

1967 Deconstruction 216

1971 A Theory of Justice 218

1974 Political Libertarian ism 220

1974 "What is It Like to Be a Bat?" 222

1975 Animal Liberation 224

1975 Power/Knowledge 226

c. 1976 Emergence of Feminist Philosophy 228

1977 Moral Anti-Realism 230

1979 Postmodernism 232

1980 The Chinese Room 234

1981 The Revival of Virtue Ethics 236

1982 In a Different Voice 238

1984 Revival of Christian Philosophy 240

1989 Religious Pluralism 242

1991 Philosophical Zombies 244

2000 The Capability Approach 246

2004 The New Atheists 248

2006 Cosmopolitanism 250

2016 The Good Place 252

Acknowledgments 255

Further Reading and Sources 256

Picture Credits 261

Index 262