Driving to California: An Unconventional Introduction to Philosophy

Colin Radford

Published by Edinburgh University Press 1996

Driving to California

An Unconventional Introduction to Philosophy

Colin Radford

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780585060729

Overview
Contents

About this book

You are a philosopher! We are all philosophers. We make moral decisions, worry over what is the best thing to do, and contemplate where our lives are going. In a series of original and entertaining sketches, short stories, plays and his own 'philosophical autobiography' Professor Colin Radford expounds the nature and importance of philosophy for our everyday lives. From the title sketch Driving to California in which Radford amusingly describes the decisions, sulks and compromises faced by a family of three driving across America, to The Positive Desirability of Evil, Radford reveals how we all unknowingly take part in philosophical debates, and shows that these moral dilemmas are what make our lives rich, diverse, challenging and puzzling. Meanwhile the key chapter The Examined Life explains how his life (and ours) has been governed by philosophical dilemmas and warns that a life which fails to ask 'Should I have lived my life thus?' is not, as Plato said, a life worth living.

Key Features

Bridges the gap between Sophie's World, The Thought Gang and conventional textbooks
A lively and instructive introduction to the central concerns of philosophy designed for newcomers
Based on sound scholarship, with introductions and conclusions for the general reader
Other introductions describe philosophy or the history of philosophy - Driving to California is concerned with 'doing it' - in front of the reader

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction: What Is Philosophy? Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
PART ONE: THE EXAMINED LIFE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART TWO: WORK(S) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
PART THREE: PLAY(S) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	307
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 320
Keywords: Philosophy

eBook

Published: November 30, 2022
ISBN: 9780585060729