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T H E G R E AT C O N V E R S AT I O N
 T HE GR EAT
CON V ERSATION
A Historical Introduction to Philosophy

EIGHTH EDIT ION

NOR M A N M ELCHERT
Professor Emeritus, Lehigh University

DAV ID R . MOR ROW

Visiting Fellow, George Mason University

New York  Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Melchert, Norman, author. | Morrow, David R., author.

Title: The great conversation : a historical introduction to philosophy /
Norman Melchert, Professor Emeritus, Lehigh University; David R. Morrow,
Visiting Fellow, George Mason University.
Description: Eighth edition. | New York : Oxford University Press, 2018.
| Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018011655 | ISBN 9780190670610 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy–Textbooks.
Classification: LCC BD21 .M43 2018 | DDC 190–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018011655

Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by LSC Communications Inc.
United States of America
 CON T E N T S

A Word to Instructors xiii the soul 31

A Word to Students xv how to live 33
Acknowledgments xxi
3. APPEARANCE AND REALITY IN
1. BEFORE PHILOSOPHY: MYTH ANCIENT INDIA 35
IN HESIOD AND HOMER 1
The Vedas and the Upaniṣads 35
Hesiod: War Among the Gods 2 The Buddha 38
Homer: Heroes, Gods, and Excellence 4 the four noble truths and the
noble eightfold path 39
2. PHILOSOPHY BEFORE right view 41
SOCRATES 9 Non-Self and Nāgasena 43
The Brahmanical Schools 45
Thales: The One as Water 10
vaiŚeṢika 46
Anaximander: The One as the Boundless 11
nyĀya 48
Xenophanes: The Gods as Fictions 13
The Great Conversation in India 53
Sketch: Pythagoras 15
Heraclitus: Oneness in the Logos 17
4. THE SOPHISTS: RHETORIC
Parmenides: Only the One 22
AND RELATIVISM IN ATHENS 55
Zeno: The Paradoxes of Common Sense 27
Atomism: The One and the Many Reconciled 28 Democracy 55
the key: an ambiguity 29 The Persian Wars 56
the world 30 The Sophists 58
v
vi   Contents

rhetoric 60 the dialogue 135

relativism 62 commentary and questions 142
physis and nomos 63 Phaedo (Death Scene) 144
Athens and Sparta at War 67 translator’s introduction 144
Aristophanes and Reaction 69 the dialogue (selection) 145
commentary and questions 147
5. REASON AND RELATIVISM IN
CHINA 75
8. PLATO: KNOWING THE REAL
A Brief History of Ancient China 75 AND THE GOOD 148
Mozi 77
The School of Names 80 Knowledge and Opinion 149
The Later Mohists 82 making the distinction 149
Zhuangzi 83 we do know certain truths 151
Sketch: Laozi 88 the objects of knowledge 152
the reality of the forms 154
6. SOCRATES: TO KNOW The World and the Forms 155
ONESELF 91 how forms are related to the
world 155
Character 92 lower and higher forms 158
Is Socrates a Sophist? 95 the form of the good 160
What Socrates “Knows” 97 The Love of Wisdom 162
we ought to search for truth 98 what wisdom is 162
human excellence is knowledge 99 love and wisdom 165
all wrongdoing is due to ignorance 100 The Soul 168
the most important thing of all is to the immortality of the soul 169
care for your soul 100 the structure of the soul 170
Morality 171
7. THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF The State 177
SOCRATES 102 Problems with the Forms 179
Euthyphro 103
translator’s introduction 103
9. ARISTOTLE: THE REALITY OF
the dialogue 103
THE WORLD 182
commentary and questions 111
Apology 116 Aristotle and Plato 182
translator’s introduction 116 Logic and Knowledge 184
the dialogue 117 terms and statements 185
commentary and questions 129 truth 187
Crito 135 reasons why: the syllogism 188
translator’s introduction 135 knowing first principles 190
 Contents   vii
The World 192 The Stoics 241
nature 193 Profile: Marcus Aurelius 244
the four “becauses” 194 The Skeptics 246
is there purpose in nature? 195
teleology 196 12. JEWS AND CHRISTIANS:
First Philosophy 197 SIN, SALVATION, AND LOVE 253
not plato’s forms 198
what of mathematics? 199 Background 253
substance and form 199 Jesus 255
pure actualities 201 The Meaning of Jesus 259
god 201
The Soul 203 13. AUGUSTINE: GOD AND
levels of soul 204 THE SOUL 261
soul and body 205
Wisdom, Happiness, and God 267
nous 206
God and the World 270
The Good Life 208
the great chain of being 270
happiness 208
Sketch: Hypatia of Alexandria 273
virtue or excellence (areté) 212
evil 273
the role of reason 213
time 274
responsibility 216
Human Nature and Its Corruption 277
the highest good 217
Human Nature and Its Restoration 282
10. CONFUCIUS, MENCIUS, AND Augustine on Relativism 284
XUNZI: VIRTUE IN ANCIENT The Two Cities 285
CHINA 220 Augustine and the Philosophers 287
reason and authority 288
Confucius 220 intellect and will 288
the way of confucius 221 epicureans and stoics 289
ritual propriety 223
good government 224
Mencius 226 14. PHILOSOPHY IN THE
differentiated love 226 ISLAMIC WORLD: THE GREAT
human nature is good 228 CONVERSATION SPREADS
Xunzi 230 OUT 292
The Confucians’ Legacy 233 A Sea Change in the Mediterranean Basin 292
Al-Kindī, the “Philosopher of the Arabs” 294
11. EPICUREANS, STOICS, AND
Al-Fārābi, the “Second Master” 297
SKEPTICS: HAPPINESS FOR THE
religion as subordinate to
MANY 235
philosophy 297
The Epicureans 236 emanation and the active intellect 298
viii   Contents

Sketch: The Celestial Spheres 299 17. RENÉ DESCARTES:

certitude, absolute certitude, and DOUBTING OUR WAY TO
opinion 299 CERTAINTY 360
Avicenna, the “Preeminent Master” 300
The Method 362
existence and essence 301
Meditations on First Philosophy 364
the necessary existent, god 302
meditation i 366
the soul and its faculties 304
Commentary and Questions 368
Al-Ghazālī 306
meditation ii 369
Sketch: Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) 309
Commentary and Questions 372
The Great Conversation in the Islamic World 309
meditation iii 375
Commentary and Questions 381
15. ANSELM AND AQUINAS: meditation iv 384
EXISTENCE AND ESSENCE IN Commentary and Questions 387
GOD AND THE WORLD 311 meditation v 388
Anselm: On That, Than Which No Greater Can Commentary and Questions 391
Be Conceived 311 meditation vi 392
The Transfer of Learning 315 Commentary and Questions 398
Thomas Aquinas: Rethinking Aristotle 316 What Has Descartes Done? 400
Sketch: Averroës, the Commentator 317 a new ideal for knowledge 400
philosophy and theology 318 a new vision of reality 401
from creation to god 319 problems 401
the nature of god 324 the preeminence of epistemology 402
humans: their souls 326
humans: their knowledge 328
18. HOBBES, LOCKE, AND
humans: their good 330
BERKELEY: MATERIALISM
Ockham and Skeptical Doubts—Again 335
AND THE BEGINNINGS OF
EMPIRICISM 404
16. FROM MEDIEVAL TO
Thomas Hobbes: Catching Persons in the Net of
MODERN EUROPE 340
the New Science 404
The World God Made for Us 340 method 405
Reforming the Church   344 minds and motives 406
Revolutions 348 Sketch: Margaret Cavendish 407
humanism 348 Sketch: Francis Bacon 412
skeptical thoughts revived 350 the natural foundation of
copernicus to kepler to galileo: moral rules 413
the great triple play 353 John Locke: Looking to Experience 416
The Counter-Reformation 358 origin of ideas 417
 Contents   ix
idea of the soul 419 Sketch: Baruch Spinoza 477
idea of personal identity 419 Sketch: Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz 478
language and essence 420 Reasoning and the Ideas of Metaphysics:
the extent of knowledge 422 God, World, and Soul 479
of representative government 424 the soul 481
of toleration 426 the world and the free will 482
George Berkeley: Ideas into Things 427 god 483
abstract ideas 428 the ontological argument 484
ideas and things 430 Reason and Morality 485
god 434 the good will 486
the moral law 488
19. DAVID HUME: UNMASKING Sketch: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 490
THE PRETENSIONS OF autonomy 491
REASON 438 freedom 492
How Newton Did It 439
Profile: Émilie du Châtelet 440 21. GEORG WILHELM
To Be the Newton of Human Nature 441 FRIEDRICH HEGEL: TAKING
The Theory of Ideas 443 HISTORY SERIOUSLY 496
The Association of Ideas 444 Historical and Intellectual Context 497
Causation: The Very Idea 445 the french revolution 497
The Disappearing Self 451 the romantics 498
Rescuing Human Freedom 453 Epistemology Internalized 498
Is It Reasonable to Believe in God? 455 Sketch: Arthur Schopenhauer 501
Understanding Morality 458 Self and Others 504
reason is not a motivator 458 Stoic and Skeptical Consciousness 507
the origins of moral judgment 460 Hegel’s Analysis of Christianity 508
Is Hume a Skeptic? 462 Reason and Reality: The Theory of Idealism 509
Spirit Made Objective: The Social Character
20. IMMANUEL KANT: of Ethics 511
REHABILITATING REASON History and Freedom 516
(WITHIN STRICT LIMITS) 465
22. KIERKEGAARD AND MARX:
Critique 467
TWO WAYS TO “CORRECT”
Judgments 468
HEGEL 521
Geometry, Mathematics, Space, and Time 470
Common Sense, Science, and the A Priori Kierkegaard: On Individual Existence 521
Categories 473 the aesthetic 522
Phenomena and Noumena 476 the ethical 525
x   Contents

the religious 528 Sketch: William James 609

the individual 535 nature and natural science 610
Marx: Beyond Alienation and Exploitation 537 value naturalized 612
alienation, exploitation, and private
property 539 26. LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN:
communism 542 LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS AND
ORDINARY LANGUAGE 617
23. MORAL AND POLITICAL
Language and Its Logic 617
REFORMERS: THE HAPPINESS OF
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus 619
ALL, INCLUDING WOMEN 545
Sketch: Bertrand Russell 620
The Classic Utilitarians 545 picturing 622
Profile: Peter Singer 553 thought and language 624
The Rights of Women 555 logical truth 626
saying and showing 627
24. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: THE setting the limit to thought 628
VALUE OF EXISTENCE 562 value and the self 629
Pessimism and Tragedy 563 good and evil, happiness and
Goodbye Real World 567 unhappiness 631
The Death of God 570 the unsayable 633
Revaluation of Values 573 Profile: The Logical Positivists 634
master morality/slave morality 574 Philosophical Investigations 636
Profile: Iris Murdoch 575 philosophical illusion 637
our morality 578 language-games 639
The Overman 581 naming and meaning 640
Affirming Eternal Recurrence 589 family resemblances 641
The Continuity of Wittgenstein’s
Thought 643
25. THE PRAGMATISTS:
Our Groundless Certainty 645
THOUGHT AND ACTION 593
Profile: Zen 646
Charles Sanders Peirce 593
fixing belief 594
27. MARTIN HEIDEGGER:
belief and doubt 596
THE MEANING OF BEING 651
truth and reality 597
meaning 601 What Is the Question? 652
signs 604 The Clue 653
John Dewey 606 Phenomenology 655
the impact of darwin 606 Being-in-the-World 657
naturalized epistemology 608 The “Who” of Dasein 662
 Contents   xi
Modes of Disclosure 664 Liberal Irony: Richard Rorty 712
attunement 665 contingency, truth, and
understanding 667 antiessentialism 713
discourse 669 liberalism and the hope of
Falling-Away 670 solidarity 716
idle talk 671 relativism 719
curiosity 671
ambiguity 672
30. PHYSICAL REALISM AND
Care 672
THE MIND: QUINE, DENNETT,
Death 673
SEARLE, NAGEL, JACKSON, AND
Conscience, Guilt, and Resoluteness 674
CHALMERS 722
Temporality as the Meaning of Care 677
Science, Common Sense, and Metaphysics:
28. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR: Willard van Orman Quine 723
EXISTENTIALIST, FEMINIST 680 holism 724
ontological commitment 728
Ambiguity 680
natural knowing 729
Profile: Jean-Paul Sartre 684
The Matter of Minds 733
Ethics 686
intentionality 734
Woman 691
intentional systems: daniel dennett 735
the chinese room: john searle 738
29. POSTMODERNISM: DERRIDA,
consciousness: nagel, jackson,
FOUCAULT, AND RORTY 698
chalmers 739
Deconstruction: Jacques Derrida 699
writing, iterability, différance 701 Afterword........................................... A-1
deconstructing a text 705 Appendix:Writing a Philosophy Paper....... App-1
Knowledge and Power: Michel Foucault 706 Glossary.. ........................................... G-1
archaeology of knowledge 708 Credits.............................................. C-1
genealogy 709 Index................................................. I-1
 A W O R D T O IN S TRU CTO RS

P New to This Edition

hilosophy is both argument and innovation.
We try in this introductory text to provide
students with excellent examples of both in A number of new features will be found in this
the ongoing story of a basic part of our intellectual edition. Throughout, the text has been tight-
life. We aim to teach students how to think by ap- ened up and minor sections were deleted to make
prenticing them to a succession of the best thinkers room for new material. In addition, several larger
humanity has produced, mainly but not exclu- changes have been made. These changes include the
sively in the Western tradition, thereby drawing following:
them into this ongoing conversation. So we see • Three new chapters introduce students to the
how Aristotle builds on and criticizes his teacher, beginnings of philosophical conversations in
Plato, how Augustine creatively melds traditions India and China, with one chapter on ancient
stemming from Athens and Jerusalem, how Kant Indian philosophy and two chapters on ancient
tries to solve “Hume’s problem,” and why Witt- Chinese philosophy.
genstein thought most previous philosophy was • A new chapter is devoted entirely to philosophy
meaningless. in the Islamic world.
This eighth edition continues to represent the • A section on Hildegaard of Bingen in a chapter
major philosophers through extensive quotations on medieval thought and new sketches of Hypa-
set in a fairly rich cultural and historical context. tia and Margaret Cavendish, and a profile of
The large number of cross-references and footnotes Émilie du Châtelet.
continue to make the conversation metaphor more Again, for this edition, a student web page is avail-
than mere fancy. And the four complete works— able at www.oup.com/us/melchert. Here students
Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and ­ Meditations—are will find essential points, vocabulary flashcards,
retained. sample multiple-choice questions, and further web

xiii
xiv   A Word to Instructors

resources for each chapter. The latter consist mainly, contains too much material for a single semester, it
though not exclusively, of original philosophical provides a rich menu of choices for instructors who
texts. This means that if you want to assign students do not wish to restrict themselves to the earlier or
to read, say, Hume’s Enquiry or parts of Plato’s Re- later periods.
public, these texts are easy for them to find. An In- In this era, when even the educated have such
structor’s Manual is available at the same site. a thin sense of history, teaching philosophy in this
The text is again available both as a single hard- conversational, cumulative, back- and forward-
back edition and as two paperback volumes, so it looking way can be a service not just to philo-
can be used economically in either a whole-year or sophical understanding, but also to the culture as
a single-semester course. Although the entire book a whole.
 A W O R D T O S TU DE N TS

W
e all have opinions—we can’t help happen to know or where you were brought
it. Having opinions is as natural to us up. You want to believe for good reasons. That’s
as breathing. Opinions, moreover, the right question, isn’t it? Which of these many
are a dime a dozen. They’re floating all around ­opinions has the best reasons behind it? You want
us and they’re so different from each other. One to live your life as wisely as possible.
person believes this, another that. You believe Fortunately, we have a long tradition of really
in God, your buddy doesn’t. John thinks there’s smart people who have been thinking about
nothing wrong with keeping a found wallet, you issues such as these, and we can go to them for
are horrified. Some of us say, “Everybody’s got help. They’re called “philosophers”—lovers of
their own values”; others are sure that some things wisdom—and they have been trying to straighten
are just plain wrong—wrong for everybody. Some out all these issues. They are in the business of
delay gratification for the sake of long-term goals; asking which opinions or views or beliefs there is
others indulge in whatever pleasures happen to good reason to accept.
be at hand. What kind of world do we live in? Unfortunately, these philosophers don’t all
Jane studies science to find out, Jack turns to the agree either. So you might ask, If these really
occult. Is death the end for us?—Some say yes, smart philosophers can’t agree on what wisdom
some say no. says, why should I pay them any attention? The
What’s a person to do? answer is—because it’s the best shot you’ve got.
If you seriously want to improve your opinions,
there’s nothing better you can do than engage in a
Study Philosophy! “conversation” with the best minds our history has
You don’t want simply to be at the mercy of ac- produced.
cident in your opinions—for your views to be One of the authors of this book had a teacher—
decided by irrelevant matters such as whom you a short, white-haired, elderly gentleman with a

xv
xvi   A Word to Students

thick German accent—who used to say, “Whether has been. We have taken the metaphor of a conver-
you will philosophize or won’t philosophize, you sation seriously. These folks are all talking to each
must philosophize.” By this, he meant that we can’t other, arguing with each other, trying to convince
help making decisions about these crucial matters. each other—and that makes the story of philoso-
We make them either well or badly, conscious phy a dramatic one. Aristotle learns a lot from his
of what we are doing or just stumbling along. As teacher, Plato, but argues that Plato makes one
Kierkegaard would say, we express such decisions big mistake—and that colors everything else he
in the way we live, whether or not we have ever says. Aquinas appreciates what Aristotle has done
given them a moment’s thought. In a sense, then, but claims that Aristotle neglects a basic feature of
you are already a philosopher, already engaged in reality—and that makes all the difference. In the
the business philosophers have committed them- seventeenth century, Descartes looks back on his
selves to. So you shouldn’t have any problem in predecessors with despair, noting that virtually no
making a connection with what they write. agreement has been reached on any topic; he re-
Does it help to think about such matters? You solves to wipe the slate clean and make a new start.
might as well ask whether it helps to think about Beginning with an analysis of what it is to believe
the recipe before you start to cook. Socrates says anything at all, C. S. Peirce argues that what Des-
that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” cartes wants to do is impossible. And so it goes.
And that’s what philosophy is: an examination of Not all the philosophers in this book have
­opinions—and also of our lives, shaped by these been involved in the same conversation, however.
opinions. In thinking philosophically, we try to While this book focuses mainly on the Western
sort our opinions into two baskets: the good-views tradition—the philosophical conversation that
basket and the trash. began in ancient Greece—other cultures have had
We want to think about these matters as clearly their own philosophical conversations. Philosophy
and rationally as we can. Thinking is a kind of craft. arose independently in India and China as well, and
Like any other craft, we can do it well or poorly, the conversations in South and East Asia have been
with shoddy workmanship or with care, and we as rich as those in the West. This book cannot hope
improve with practice. It is common for people to convey those conversations in their entirety, but
who want to learn a craft—cabinetmaking, for it will introduce you to some key ideas in each of
example—to apprentice themselves for a time
­ them. Examining early Indian and Chinese philoso-
to a master, doing what the master does until the phy alongside Western philosophy helps illuminate
time comes when they are skillful enough to set up both the commonalities among those traditions—
shop on their own. You can think of reading this the questions that human beings have wrestled
book as a kind of apprenticeship in thinking, with with all over the globe—and the differences be-
Socrates, Plato, Kant, and the rest as the masters. tween them.
By thinking along with them, noting their insights To emphasize the conversational and interac-
and arguments, following their examinations of tive aspect of philosophy, the footnotes in this book
each other’s opinions, you should improve that all- provide numerous cross-references, mainly within
important skill of your own. Western philosophy but also between Western
and non-Western thinkers. Your understanding of
an issue will be substantially enriched if you follow
This Book up on these. To appreciate the line one thinker is
This book is organized historically because that’s pushing, it is important to see what he is arguing
how philosophy has developed. It’s not just a re- against, where he thinks that others have made
cital of this following that, however. It is also in- mistakes, and how other thinkers have approached
tensively interactive because that’s what philosophy the same problems. No philosopher simply makes
 A Word to Students   xvii
pronouncements in the dark. There is always 2. 
Epistemology, the theory of knowledge. We
something that bugs each thinker, something she want to think not only about what there is,
thinks is terribly wrong, something that needs cor- but also about how we know what there is—
rection. This irritant may be something current in or, maybe, whether we can know anything at
the culture, or it may be what other philosophers all! So we reflectively ask, What is it to know
have been saying. Using the cross-­references to something anyway? How does that differ from
understand that background will help you to make just believing it? How is knowing something
sense of what is going on—and why. The index of related to its being true? What is truth? How
names and terms at the back of this book will also far can our knowledge reach? Are some things
help you. simply unknowable?
Philosophers are noted for introducing novel 3. 
Ethics, the theory of right and wrong, good
terms or using familiar words in novel ways. They and bad. We aren’t just knowers and believ-
are not alone in this, of course; poets and scientists ers. We are doers. The question then arises of
do the same. There is no reason to expect that our what wisdom might say about how best to live
everyday language will be suited, just as it is, to our lives. Does the fact that something gives
express the truth of things, so you will have some us pleasure make it the right thing to do? Do
vocabulary to master. You will find key words in we need to think about how our actions affect
boldface and a list of them at the end of each chapter. others? If so, in what way? Are there really
Use this list to help you review important concepts goods and bads, or does thinking so make it so?
and arguments. Many of these boldfaced terms are Do we have duties? If so, where do they come
defined in the Glossary at the back of the book. from? What is virtue and vice? What is justice?
Is justice important?
4. 
Human nature—Socrates took as his motto a
The Issues slogan that was inscribed in the temple of Apollo
in Delphi: know thyself. But that has proved
The search for wisdom—that is, philosophy— none too easy to do. What are we, anyway? Are
ranges far and wide. Who can say ahead of time we simply bits of matter caught up in the uni-
what might be relevant to that search? Still, there versal mechanism of the world, or do we have
are certain central problems that especially con- minds that escape this deterministic machine?
cern philosophers. In your study of this text, you What is it to have a mind? Is mind separate from
can expect to find extensive discussions of these body? How is it related to the brain? Do we have
four issues in particular: a free will? How important to my self-identity is
my relationship to others? To what degree can I
1. 
Metaphysics, the theory of reality. In our own
be responsible for the creation of myself?
day, Willard Quine has said that the basic ques-
tion of metaphysics is very simple: What is Running through these issues is a fifth one that
there? The metaphysical question, of course, is perhaps deserves special mention. It centers on the
not like, “Are there echidnas in Australia?” but idea of relativism. The question is whether there is a
“What kinds of things are there fundamentally?” way to get beyond the prejudices and assumptions
Is the world through and through made of mate- peculiar to ourselves or our culture—or whether
rial stuff, or are there souls as well as bodies? Is that’s all there is. Are there just opinions, with no
there a God? If so, of what sort? Are there uni- one opinion ultimately any better than any other?
versal features to reality, or is everything just Are all views relative to time and place, to culture
the particular thing that it is? Does everything and position? Is there no truth—or, anyway, no truth
happen necessarily or are fresh starts possible? that we can know to be true?
xviii   A Word to Students

This problem, which entered all the great con- conclusion. Usually philosophers do not set out
versations early, has persisted to this day. Most of their arguments in a formal way, with premises
the Western philosophical tradition can be thought listed first and the conclusion last. The argument
of as a series of attempts to kill such skepticism and will be embedded in the text, and you need to sniff
relativism, but this phoenix will not die. Our own it out. This is usually not so hard, but it does take
age has the distinction, perhaps, of being the first careful attention.
age ever in which the basic assumptions of most Occasionally, especially if the argument is
people, certainly of most educated people, are complex or obscure, we give you some help
relativistic, so this theme will have a particular poi- and list the premises and conclusion in a more
gnancy for us. We will want to understand how we formal way. You might right now want to look
came to this point and what it means to be here. at a few examples. Socrates in prison argues that
We will also want to ask ourselves how adequate it would be wrong for him to escape; that is the
this relativistic outlook is. conclusion, and we set out his argument for it on
What we are is what we have become, and p. 144. Plato argues that being happy and being
what we have become has been shaped by our hist- moral are the same thing; see an outline of his
ory. In this book, we look at that history, hoping argument on p. 176. Anselm gives us a complex
to understand ourselves better and, thereby, gain argument for the existence of God; see our sum-
some wisdom for living our lives. mary on p. 314. And Descartes argues that we
have souls that are distinct from and indepen-
dent of our bodies; see p. 319.
Reading Philosophy Often, however, you will need to identify the
Reading philosophy is not like reading a novel, nor argument buried in the prose for yourself. What
is it like reading a research report in biology or a is it that the philosopher is trying to get you to
history of the American South. Philosophers have believe? And why does he think you should be-
their own aims and ways of proceeding, and it will lieve that? It will be helpful, and a test of your
pay to take note of them at the beginning. Philoso- understanding, if you try to set the argument out
phers aim at the truth about fundamental matters, for yourself in a more or less formal way; keep a
and in doing so they offer arguments. small notebook, and list the main arguments chap-
If you want to believe for good reasons, what ter by chapter.
you seek is an argument. An argument in philoso- Your first aim should be to understand the argu-
phy is not a quarrel or a disagreement, but simply ment. But that is not the only thing, because you
this business of offering reasons to believe. Every will also want to discover how good the argument
argument, in this sense, has a certain structure. is. These very smart philosophers, to tell the truth,
There is some proposition the philosopher wants have given us lots of poor arguments; they’re only
you to believe—or thinks every rational person human, after all. So you need to try to evaluate the
ought to believe—and this is called the conclu- arguments. In evaluating an argument, there are
sion. And there are the reasons he or she offers to two things to look at: the truth or acceptability of
convince you of that conclusion; these are called the premises and whether the premises actually do
the premises. support the conclusion.
In reading philosophy, there are many things For an argument to be a good one, the reasons
to look for—central concepts, presuppositions, given in support of the conclusion have to at least
overall view of things—but the main things to be plausible. Ideally the premises should be known
look for are the arguments. And the first thing to to be true, but that is a hard standard to meet. If the
identify is the conclusion of the argument: What reasons are either false or implausible, they can’t
is it that the philosopher wants you to believe? lend truth or plausibility to the conclusion. If there
Once you have identified the conclusion, you need are good reasons to doubt the premises, then the
to look for the reasons given for believing that argument should not convince you.
 A Word to Students   xix
It may be, however, that all the premises are understanding while texting with your friends.
true, or at least plausible, and yet the argument is You need to concentrate, focus, and be actively
a poor one. This can happen when the premises engaged in the process. Here are a few general
do not have the right kind of relation to the con- rules:
clusion. Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of
1. Have an open mind as you read. Don’t decide
arguments: deductive and inductive. A good
after the first few paragraphs that what a philos-
deductive argument is one in which the premises—
opher is saying is absurd or silly. Follow the ar-
if true—guarantee the truth of the conclusion. In
gument, and you may change your mind about
other words, the conclusion couldn’t possibly be
things of some importance.
false if the premises are true. When this condition
2. Write out brief answers to the questions em-
is satisfied, we say that the argument is valid. Note
bedded in the chapters as you go along; check
that an argument may have validity even though the
back in the text to see that you have got it
premises are not in fact true; it is enough that if the
right.
premises were true, then the conclusion would have
3. Use the key words to check your understanding
to be true. When a deductive argument is both valid
of basic concepts.
and has true premises, we say it is sound.
4. Try to see how the arguments of the philoso-
Inductive arguments have a looser relation be-
phers bear on your own current views of things.
tween premises and conclusion. Here the premises
Bring them home; apply them to the way you
give some support to the conclusion—the more
now think of the world and your place in it.
support the better—but they fall short of guaran-
teeing the truth of the conclusion. Typically phi- Reading philosophy is not the easiest thing in
losophers aim to give sound deductive arguments, the world, but it’s not impossible either. If you
and the methods of evaluating these arguments will make a good effort, you may find that it is even
be those of the preceding two paragraphs. rather fun.
You will get some help in evaluating argu-
ments because you will see philosophers evalu-
ating the arguments of other philosophers. (Of Web Resources
course, these evaluative arguments themselves
A website for this book is available at www.oup.
may be either good or bad.) This is what makes the
com/us/melchert. Here you will find, for each
story of philosophy so dramatic. Here are a few
chapter, the following aids:
examples. Aristotle argues that Plato’s arguments
for eternal, unchanging realities (which Plato calls Essential Points (a brief list of crucial concepts
Forms) are completely unsound; see pp. 198– and ideas)
199. Augustine tries to undercut the arguments of Flashcards (definitions of basic concepts)
the skeptics on pp. 267–268. And Hume criticizes Multiple-Choice Questions (practice tests)
the design argument for the existence of God on Web Resources (mostly original works
pp. 456-458. that are discussed in this text—e.g.,
Sometimes you will see a philosopher criti- Plato’s Meno or Nietzsche’s Beyond Good
cizing another philosopher’s presuppositions (as and Evil—but also some secondary
Peirce criticizes Descartes’ views about doubt, pp. treatments)
596–597) or directly disputing another’s conclu-
The web also has some general resources that
sion (as Hegel does with respect to Kant’s claim
you might find helpful:
that there is a single basic principle of morality, pp.
512–513). But even here, it is argument that is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://
heart of the matter. plato.stanford.edu
In reading philosophy you can’t just be a pas- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://
sive observer. It’s no good trying to read for www.iep.utm.edu
xx   A Word to Students

Both these encyclopedias contain whose philosophical voices and

reliable in-depth discussions of contributions are being recovered
the philosophers and topics we and recognized by historians of
will be studying. philosophy.
Philosophy Pages: http://www. YouTube contains numerous short
philosophypages.com interviews with and about philosophers,
A source containing a variety such as those at https://youtube/
of things, most notably a nG0EWNezFl4 and https://youtube/
Philosophical Dictionary. B2fLyvsHHaQ, as well as various series
Project Vox: http://www.projectvox.org of short videos about philosophical
A source containing information about concepts, such as those by Wireless
selected women philosophers Philosophy at https://www.youtube.
of the early modern period, com/user/WirelessPhilosophy
 A C KN O W L E D GM E N TS

W
e want to thank those readers of the Community College; Nancy Shaffer, California
seventh edition who thoughtfully University of Pennsylvania; Georgia Van Dam,
provided us with ideas for improve- Monterey Peninsula College; and Bryan William
ment. We are grateful to Peter Adamson, Ludwig Van Norden, Yale-NUS College.
Maximilian University of Munich; Eric Boynton, We are also grateful to the specialists in non-
Allegheny College; David Buchta, Brown Uni- Western and Islamic philosophy who provided
versity; Amit Chaturvedi, University of Hawai’i valuable feedback on the new chapters in this edi-
at Mānoa; Douglas Howie, North Lake College; tion, including Peter Adamson, David Buchta,
Manyul Im, University of Bridgeport; Jon Mc- Amit Chaturvedi, Manyul Im, Jon McGinnis, and
Ginnis, University of Missouri, St. Louis; Susan Hagop Sarkissian. All errors remain our own.
Finally, we would like to thank the editorial team
M. Mullican, University of Southern Mississippi
at Oxford University Press, including Robert Miller,
– Gulf Coast Campus; Danny Muñoz-Hutchinson, Alyssa Palazzo, Sydney Keen, and Marianne Paul.
St. Olaf College; Hagop Sarkissian, The City Uni- Comments relating to this new edition
versity of New York, Baruch College and Gradu- may be sent to us at [email protected] or
ate Center; Stephanie Semler, Northern Virginia [email protected].

xxi
I was aware that the reading of all good books is indeed like a
conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were
the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in
which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.
—René Descartes

We—mankind—are a conversation.
—Martin Heidegger

In truth, there is no divorce between philosophy and life.

—Simone de Beauvoir
 CHAPTER

1
BE F OR E PH ILO S OPHY
Myth in Hesiod and Homer

E
verywhere and at all times, we humans have Philosophy, literally “love of wisdom,” begins
wondered at our own existence and at our when individuals start to ask, “Why should we
place in the scheme of things. We have asked, believe these stories?” “How do we know they
in curiosity and amazement, “What’s it all about?” are true?” When people try to give good reasons
“How are we to understand this life of ours?” “How for believing (or not believing) these myths, they
is it best lived?” “Does it end at death?” “This world have begun to do philosophy. Philosophers look
we find ourselves in—where does it come from?” at myths with a critical eye, sometimes defending
“What is it, anyway?” “How is it related to us?” them and sometimes appreciating what myths try
These are some of the many philosophical ques- to do, but often attacking myths’ claims to literal
tions we ask. Every culture offers answers, though truth. So there is a tension between these stories
not every culture has developed what we know as and philosophy, a tension that occasionally breaks
philosophy. Early answers to such questions uni- into open conflict.
versally take the form of stories, usually stories This conflict is epitomized in the execution of
involving the gods—gigantic powers of a personal the philosopher Socrates by his fellow Athenians
nature, engaged in tremendous feats of creation, in 399 B.C. The Athenians accused Socrates of cor-
frequently struggling with one another and inter- rupting the youth because he challenged the com-
vening in human life for good or ill. monly accepted views and values of ancient Athens.
We call these stories myths. They are told and But even though Socrates challenged those views,
retold, taught to children as the plain facts, gain- his own views were deeply influenced by them. He
ing authority by their age, by repetition, and by the was part of a conversation, already centuries old
apparent fact that within a given culture, virtually among the Greeks, about how to understand the
everyone accepts them. They shape a tradition, and world and our place in it. That conversation con-
traditions shape lives. tinued after his death, right down to the present

1
2   CHAPTER 1   Before Philosophy: Myth in Hesiod and Homer

day, spreading far beyond Athens and winding its And breathed a sacred voice into my mouth
way through all of Western intellectual history. With which to celebrate the things to come
If we want to understand this conversation, we And things which were before.
need to understand where and how it began. We —Theogony, 21–351
need to understand Socrates, and we need to un- The Muses, according to the tradition Hesiod is
derstand where he came from. To do that, we need drawing on, are goddesses who inspired poets, art-
to understand the myths through which the ancient ists, and writers. In this passage, Hesiod is telling
Greeks had tried to understand their world. Our aim us that the stories he narrates are not vulgar shep-
is neither a comprehensive survey nor mere acquain- herds’ lies but are backed by the authority of the
tance with some of these stories. We will be trying gods and embody the remembrance of events long
to understand something of Greek religion and cul- past. They thus represent the truth, Hesiod says,
ture, of the intellectual and spiritual life of the people and are worthy of belief.
who told these stories. As a result, we should be able What have the Muses revealed?
to grasp why Socrates believed what he did and why
some of Socrates’ contemporaries reacted to him as And sending out
Unearthly music, first they celebrate
they did. With that in mind, we take a brief look at The august race of first-born gods, whom Earth
two of the great Greek poets: Hesiod and Homer. Bore to broad Heaven, then their progeny,
Givers of good things. Next they sing of Zeus
Hesiod: War Among the Gods The father of gods and men, how high he is
Above the other gods, how great in strength.
The poet we know as Hesiod probably composed —Theogony, 42–48
his poem Theogony toward the end of the eighth
century B.C., but he drew on much older traditions Note that the gods are born; their origin, like our
and seems to have synthesized stories that are not own, is explicitly sexual. Their ancestors are Earth
always consistent. The term theogony means “origin (Gaea, or Gaia) and Heaven (Ouranos).* And like
or birth of the gods,” and the stories contained in people, the gods differ in status and power, with
the poem concern the beginnings of all things. In Zeus, king of the gods, being the most exalted.
this chapter, we look only at certain central events, There is confusion in the Greek stories about
as Hesiod relates them. the very first things (no wonder), and there are
Hesiod claims to have written these lines under contradictions among them. According to Hesiod,
divine inspiration. (Suggestion: Read quotations first there is chaos, apparently a formless mass of
aloud, especially poetry; you will find that they stuff, dark and without differentiation. Out of this
become more meaningful.) chaos, Earth appears. (Don’t ask how.) Earth then
gives birth to starry Heaven,
The Muses once taught Hesiod to sing
Sweet songs, while he was shepherding his lambs to be
On holy Helicon; the goddesses An equal to herself, to cover her
Olympian, daughters of Zeus who holds All over, and to be a resting-place,
The aegis,* first addressed these words to me: Always secure, for all the blessed gods.
“You rustic shepherds, shame: bellies you are, —Theogony, 27–30
Not men! We know enough to make up lies After lying with Heaven, Earth bears the
Which are convincing, but we also have
first race of gods, the Titans, together with the
The skill, when we’ve a mind, to speak the truth.”
So spoke the fresh-voiced daughters of great Zeus
And plucked and gave a staff to me, a shoot *Some people nowadays speak of the Gaea hypothesis
Of blooming laurel, wonderful to see, and urge us to think of Earth as a living organism. Here we
have a self-conscious attempt to revive an ancient way of
thinking about the planet we inhabit. Ideas of the Earth-
*The aegis is a symbol of authority. mother and Mother Nature likewise echo such early myths.
 Hesiod: War Among the Gods   3
Cyclops—three giants with but one round eye in seizes the newborns and swallows them.* When
the middle of each giant’s forehead. Three other Rhea bears another son, however, she hides him
sons, “mighty and violent,” are born to the pair, away in a cave and gives Kronos a stone wrapped in
each with a hundred arms and fifty heads: swaddling clothes to swallow. The hidden son, of
And these most awful sons of Earth and Heaven course, is Zeus.
Were hated by their father from the first. When grown to full strength, Zeus disguises
As soon as each was born, Ouranos hid himself as a cupbearer and persuades Kronos to
The child in a secret hiding-place in Earth* drink a potion. This causes Kronos to vomit up his
And would not let it come to see the light, brothers and sisters—together with the stone. (The
And he enjoyed this wickedness. stone, Hesiod tells us, is set up at Delphi, north-
—Theogony, 155–160 west of Athens, to mark the center of the earth.)
Earth, distressed and pained with this crowd Together with his brothers and their allies, Zeus
hidden within her, forms a great sickle of hardest makes war on the Titans. The war drags on for ten
metal and urges her children to use it on their father years until Zeus frees the Cyclops from their im-
for his shameful deeds. The boldest of the Titans, prisonment in Tartarus. The Cyclops give Zeus a
Kronos, takes the sickle and plots vengeance with lightning bolt, supply Poseidon with a trident, and
his mother. provide Hades with a helmet that makes him invis-
ible. With these aids, the gods overthrow Kronos
Great Heaven came, and with him brought and the Titans and hurl them down into Tartarus.
the night. The three victorious brothers divide up the terri-
Longing for love, he lay around the Earth, tory: Zeus rules the sky (he is called “cloudgath-
Spreading out fully. But the hidden boy
erer” and “storm-bringer”); Poseidon governs the
Stretched forth his left hand; in his right he took
The great long jagged sickle; eagerly sea; and Hades reigns in Tartarus. Earth is shared
He harvested his father’s genitals by all three. Again, the myths tell us that wicked-
And threw them off behind. ness does not pay.
—Theogony, 176–182 Thus, the gods set up a relatively stable order
in the universe, an order both natural and moral.
Where Heaven’s bloody drops fall on land, the Although the gods quarrel among themselves and
Furies spring up—monstrous goddesses who hunt are not above lies, adultery, and favoritism, each
down and punish wrongdoers.† guards something important and dear to humans.
In the Titans’ vengeance for their father’s They also see to it that wickedness is punished
wickedness, we see a characteristic theme in and virtue is rewarded, just as was the case among
Greek thought, a theme repeated again and themselves.
again in the great classical tragedies and also
echoed in later philosophy: Violating the rule of
­justice—even in the service of justice—brings 1. Why are philosophers dissatisfied with mythological
consequences. accounts of reality?
The idea repeats itself in the Titan’s story. 2. What is the topic of Hesiod’s Theogony?
Kronos, now ruler among the Titans, has chil- 3. Tell the story of how Zeus came to be king of the
dren by Rhea, among them Hera, Hades, and gods.
­Poseidon. Learning of a prophecy that he will 4. What moral runs through these early myths?
be dethroned by one of these children, Kronos

*This dank and gloomy place below the surface of the *“Kronos” is closely related to the Greek word for time,
earth and sea is known as Tartarus. “chronos.” What might it mean that Kronos devours his chil-
†In contemporary literature, you can find these Furies dren? And that they overthrow his rule to establish cities—
represented in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play The Flies. communities of justice—that outlive their citizens?
4   CHAPTER 1   Before Philosophy: Myth in Hesiod and Homer

Homer: Heroes, Gods, Among Agamemnon’s forces was Achilles, the

greatest warrior of them all.
and Excellence Here is how The Iliad begins.
Xenophanes, a philosopher we will meet later,* Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’
tells us that “from the beginning all have learnt in son Achilles,
accordance with Homer.”2 As we have seen, poets murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans
were thought to write by divine inspiration, and for countless losses,
centuries Greeks listened to or read the works of hurling down to the House of Death so many
Homer, much as people read the Bible or the Koran sturdy souls,
today. Homer, above all others, was the great great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
teacher of the Greeks. To discover what was truly
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
excellent in battle, governance, counsel, sport, the Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
home, and human life in general, the Greeks looked Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.
to Homer’s tales. These dramatic stories offered a What god drove them to fight with such a fury?
picture of the world and people’s place in it that Apollo the son of Zeus and Leto. Incensed at
molded the Greek mind and character. Western the king
philosophy begins against the Homeric background, he swept a fatal plague through the army—men
so we need to understand something of Homer. were dying
Homer simply takes for granted the tradition and all because Agamemnon had spurned
of gods and heroes set down in Hesiod’s Theogony. Apollo’s priest.
That sky-god tradition of Zeus, Athena, and Apollo —The Iliad, Book 1, 1–123
celebrates clarity and order, mastery over chaos,
intellect and beauty: fertile soil, one must think, The poet begins by announcing his theme:
for philosophy. rage, specifically the excessive, irrational anger
Homer’s two great poems are The Iliad and The of ­Achilles—anger beyond all bounds that brings
Odyssey. Here, we focus on The Iliad, a long poem death and destruction to so many Greeks and
about a brief period during the nine-year-long almost costs them the war. So we might expect
Trojan war.† This war came about when Paris, that the poem has a moral aspect. Moreover, in
son of the Trojan king Priam, seduced Helen, the sixth line we read that what happened was in
the famously beautiful wife of the Spartan king accord with the will of Zeus, who sees to it that
Menelaus. Paris spirited Helen away to his home flagrant violations of good order do not go unpun-
in Troy, across the Aegean Sea from her home in ished. In these first lines we also learn of Apollo,
Achaea, in southern Greece (see Map 1). Menelaus’s the son of Zeus, who has sent a plague on the Greek
brother, Agamemnon, the king of Argos, led army because Agamemnon offended him. We can
an army of Greeks to recover Helen, to avenge see, then, that Homer’s world is one of kings and
the wrong against his brother, and—not just heroes, majestic but flawed, engaged in gargantuan
­incidentally—to gain honor, glory, and plunder. projects against a background of gods who cannot
safely be ignored.
The story Homer tells goes roughly like this. In
*See “Xenophanes: The Gods as Fictions,” in a raid on a Trojan ally, the Greeks capture a beauti-
Chapter 2. ful girl who happens to be the daughter of a priest of
†The date of the war is uncertain; scholarly estimates Apollo. The army awards her to Agamemnon as part
tend to put it near the end of the thirteenth century B.C. The of his spoils. The priest comes to plead for her return,
poems took form in song and were passed along in an oral offering ransom, but he is rudely rebuffed. Agamem-
tradition from generation to generation. They were written
down some time in the eighth century B.C. Tradition ascribes non will not give back the girl. The priest appeals to
them to a blind bard known as Homer, but the poems we Apollo, who, angered by the treatment his priest is
now have may be the work of more than one poet. receiving, sends a plague to Agamemnon’s troops.
Exploring the Variety of Random
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 rother Knight

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 Little Incas have long ears,
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AND SO HERE ENDETH "ERIC'S BOOK OF BEASTS" WHICH DAVID
STARR JORDAN DID WITH HIS PEN AND PAINT BOX, BUT THE
PICTURES WERE TOO BEE-YOUTIFUL AND 'SPENSIVE; SO HE GOT
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AND JEAN OLIVER HELPED WITH THE DECORATIONS—AND IT WAS
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AND GIRLS IN THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY, 1912
 FOOTNOTE
[A] The cartoon is suggested by one in the "Indianapolis News,"
1910.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ERIC'S BOOK OF
BEASTS ***

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