First published in 1992 this anthology quickly became the standard for multicultural introductions to philosophy. Composed of a group of culturally diverse readings addressing a selection of seminal philosophical questions in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics, VOICES OF WISDOM introduces students to the traditional terrain of philosophy as developed in the European tradition, yet in a manner that embraces significant philosophical insights borne out of different cultural legacies.

Benefits:

• NEW! Part I (Introduction) includes one new reading: Christopher Phillips: Socrates' Cafe.
• Suggested videos and further readings noted throughout the text point students and instructors alike to resources beyond the boundaries of the book.
• NEW! Part II (Ethics) includes seven new readings: Ayn Rand: The Ethics of Emergencies; Nel Noddings: Caring; Khaled Abou el Fadl: Islam and Democracy; Cornel West: Race Matters. Suzanne Pharr: Homophobia as a Weapon of Sexism; Peter Singer: One World; Tom Regan: The Case for Animal Rights.
• NEW! Part III (Epistemology) includes four new readings: John M. Koller: Knowledge and Reality; Uma Narayn: The Project of Feminist Epistemology; Charles Sanders Peirce: The Fixation of Belief; Michel Foucault: The Discourse on Language, Truth, and Power.
• NEW! Part IV (Metaphysics) includes six new readings: Jonathan Harrison: The Case of Dr. Svengali; Robert Blatchford: Not Guilty; Bruce N. Waller: Chanelle, Sabrina, and the Oboe; Terry Bisson: They're Made out of Meat; B.C. Johnson: God and the Problem of Evil; The Dalai Lama: The Role of Religion in Modern Society.
• Motivational chapter introductions work to capture the interests of students and provide just the right amount of background to orient students to the chapter readings.
• Introductions to each reading (all of which have been class-tested) include crucial contextual information and guiding questions in order to foster a student's active engagement with the text.
• Readings from different genres--including essays, fiction, dialogue, and poetry--expose students to the variety of philosophical literature.
• Technical terms are boldfaced in their first appearances; a glossary helps students to understand these key concepts. A pronunciation guide, Appendix 2, gives students some assistance with pronouncing Chinese, Sanskrit, and Arabic terminology.
• A pronunciation guide, Appendix 2, gives students some assistance with pronouncing Chinese, Sanskrit, and Arabic terminology.

Preface.

Part I: INTRODUCTION.

1. What is Philosophy?

A Definition of Philosophy. What is Rationality? Does Philosophy Bake Bread? Bertrand Russell: On the Value of Philosophy. Who are the Philosophers? Christopher Phillips: Socrates Café. Reading Philosophy.

Part II: ETHICS.

2. How Should One Live?

Introduction. The Buddha and the Middle Way. Buddha: The Four Noble Truths. Walpola Rahula: The Fourth Noble Truth. Confucius and the Life of Virtue. D.C.Lau: Confucius and Moral Character. Socrates on Living the Examined Life. Plato: The Apology. Aristotle on Happiness and the Life of Moderation. Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics. The Song of God. Bhagavad-Gita. The Virtue of Selfishness. Ayn Rand: The Ethics of Emergencies.

3. How Can I Know What Is Right?

Introduction. The Categorical Imperative. Immanuel Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mill: What Utilitarianism Is. Revaluation of Values. Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morality. An Ethic of Care. Nel Noddings: Caring. Moral Relativism. David Wong: Relativism.

4. What Makes a Society Just?

Introduction. God and Justice. Khaled Abou El Fadl: Islam and Democracy. Capitalism and Exploitation. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: Manifesto of the Communist Party. The Original Position. John Rawls: A Theory of Justice. Our Obligation to the State. Plato: Crito. Civil Disobedience. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Letter from Birmingham Jail. Sovereignty and Justice: An Indigenist's Viewpoint. Ward Churchill: Perversions of Justice.

5. Is Justice for All Possible?

Introduction. Universal Human Rights. René Trujillo: Human Rights in the "Age of Discovery." United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sexism, Racism, and Homophobia. bell hooks: Ain't I a Woman. Cornel West: Race Matters. Suzanne Pharr: Homophobia as a Weapon of Sexism. Globalization and Justice. Peter Singer: One World. Terrorism and Morality. Bat-Ami Bar On: Why Terrorism is Morally Problematic. Justice and the Land. Aldo Leopold: The Land Ethic. Animal Rights. Tom Regan: The Case for Animal Rights.

Part III: EPISTEMOLOGY.

6. Is Knowledge Possible?

Introduction. Sufi Mysticism. Al-Ghazali: Deliverance from Error. Is Certainty Possible? René Descartes: Meditations I and II. Empiricism and Limited Skepticism. David Hume: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Should We Believe Beyond the Evidence? William K. Clifford: The Ethics of Belief. William James: The Will to Believe. Classical Indian Epistemology. John M. Koller: Knowledge and Reality. Feminist Epistemology in a Nonwestern Perspective. Uma Narayn: The Project of Feminist Epistemology.

7. Does Science Tell us the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth?

Introduction. How Do We Come to Believe? Charles Sanders Peirce: The Fixation of Belief. The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. Karl R. Popper: Conjectures and Refutations. Scientific Revolutions. Thomas S. Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Science and Traditional Thought. Kwame Anthony Appiah: Old Gods, New Worlds. The Will to Truth. Michel Foucault: The Discourse on Language and Truth and Power.

Part IV: METAPHYSICS.

8. What Is Really Real?

Introduction. The Dao. Laozi: Dao De Jing. Platonic Dualism. Plato: The Republic. Nondualism. Shankara: The Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. Subjective Idealism. George Berkeley: The Principles of Human Knowledge. Pre-Columbian Cosmologies. Jorge Valadez: Pre-Columbian Philosophical Perspectives. So What Is Real? Jorge Luis Borges: The Circular Ruins.

9. Are We Free or Determined?

Introduction. Would You Want One of These? Jonathan Harrison: The Case of Dr. Svengali. We Are Determined. Robert Blatchford: Not Guilty. We Are Free. Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism. Karma and Freedom. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: Karma and Freedom. We Are Both Free and Determined. Bruce N. Waller: Chanelle, Sabrina, and the Oboe.

10. What Am I?

Introduction. You Are Your Mind. René Descartes: Meditation VI. You Are an Embodied Self. Eve Browning Cole: Body, Mind, and Gender. You are a Computing Machine. Bruce Hinrichs: Computing the Mind. You are not a Computing Machine. John Searle: Can Computers Think? You are Meat. Terry Bisson: They're Made Out of Meat.

11 Who Am I?

Introduction. There Is No Self. Buddha: False Doctrines About the Soul and the Simile of the Chariot. Down With the Ego. Derek Parfit: Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons. Where am I? Daniel C. Dennett: Brainstorms. Social Identity. Gloria Anzaldúa: How to Tame a Wild Tongue. Gender Identity. Deirdre (Donald) N. McCloskey: Crossing.

12. Is There a God?

Introduction. Arguments for God's Existence. St. Thomas Aquinas: The Five Ways. William Craig: The Kalam Argument from Islam. Gunapala Dharmasiri: Problems with the Cosmological Argument. Creation vs. Evolution. Richard Dawkins: The Blind Watchmaker. Why Do Babies Suffer? B.C. Johnson: God and the Problem of Evil. The Gender of God. Mary Daly: Beyond God the Father. Are All Religions True? The Dalai Lama: The Role of Religion in Modern Society.

Appendix I: Glossary.
Appendix II: Pronunciation Guide.