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Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy

ISBN10: 1266551433 | ISBN13: 9781266551437

Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy
ISBN10: 1266551433
ISBN13: 9781266551437
By Donald Palmer

* The estimated amount of time this product will be on the market is based on a number of factors, including faculty input to instructional design and the prior revision cycle and updates to academic research-which typically results in a revision cycle ranging from every two to four years for this product. Pricing subject to change at any time.

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Does the Center Hold? is an entertaining, topically organized introduction to philosophy program with more than 500 original illustrations. The ideas and issues typically covered in introductory courses are presented here in a remarkably accessible and enjoyable manner. With the help of small questions used to tackle the broader inquiry, students learn to think carefully, and they walk away with an appreciation of the discipline of philosophy. Donald Palmer engagingly demonstrates that serious philosophical inquiry may be perplexing, but it is ultimately liberating. Connections are made between philosophy and other fields, including art, literature, physics, sociology, psychology, and psychoanalysis. Students discover there is a certain kind of philosophical analysis and form of argument whose skills can be learned and applied to other areas of their lives, both personal and professional.

1 What Are We Doing in This Class? 
2 Truth Is Beauty; Beauty is Truth
3 What You See is What You Get
4 Who’s on First; What’s on Second? 
5 Mount Olympus, Mount Moriah, and Other Godly Places
6 The Largest Airline in the Free World
7 Thou Shalt Become Perfected
8 Different Strokes for Different Folks
9 Let Them Eat Cake
10 But Is It Art?

About the Author

Donald Palmer

Donald Palmer received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of California Berkeley and his Doctorate of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He has published a number of philosophy books, including Looking at Philosophy, Does the Center Hold?, Why It’s Hard to Be Good, and, more popularly, Kierkegaard for Beginners, Sartre for Beginners, and Structuralism and Post-Structuralism for Beginners.  He has recently completed a manuscript on Don Quixote titled Philosophy and Madness in La Mancha. He taught for many years at the College of Marin in California and finished his teaching career at North Carolina State University. He and his wife divide their time among North Carolina, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Lot Valley in Southwestern France.

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