Questions That Matter: An Invitation to Philosophy

It was in great condition, the ed. is not the one i needed for the class but it had all the stuff the 6th ed. had plus extra stuff they took out. I'm happy with it.

This was my college text for Intro to Philosophy in the early '90s and I enjoyed it a lot. The concepts were presented clearly and in a logical order. An introductory course should give a student an overview and a "ground floor" to build on, should the student wish to go on. In fact I ordered a copy of this textbook for my college-sophmore son - his professor only has original source material from three philosophers for an INTRO course, which seems narrow and overwhelming.

I have taught courses in philosophy and religion for the past 15 years at several colleges and universities in Southern California. I have dozens of introduction to philosophy textbooks in my personal library (instructor complementary review copies from various publishers). For several years I struggled to find a textbook that would buttress my diligent efforts to teach philosophy to young men and women in a challenging and stimulating fashion. By far, the best introduction to philosophy textbook I have ever seen or used is Ed Miller's outstanding book QUESTIONS THAT MATTER (hereafter QTM). Allow me to mention six reasons why this book is truly an exceptional textbook in philosophy. First, QTM strikes an excellent balance between scholarly content on one hand, and a readable writing style on the other. A motivated and reflective college student will come away from this volume with a thorough and understandable introductory knowledge of the discipline of philosophy. Second, QTM provides a comprehensive introduction to philosophy by introducing the student to the major branches or fields of philosophy, including metaphysics (study of reality), epistemology (study of knowledge), ethics (study of the good), logic (study of correct reasoning), and philosophy of religion (critical analysis about God). Third, while QTM is organized in a topical manner, it includes a wealth of information about all of the leading philosophers of the Western world, including relevant excerpts from the various philosophers' writings in their major fields of contribution. This text also includes brief but very informative mini-biographies of the leading philosophers. Fourth, QTM as a textbook promotes solid learning through the helpful use of charts, diagrams, and providing the definitions of key terms through the use of various pull quotes throughout the volume. In addition, the text provides a useful and extensive glossary of philosophical terms. Fifth, QTM is written by an author who holds doctoral degrees in both philosophy and in theology. The result is a textbook that addresses the field of philosophy of religion in a very sophisticated and even-handed manner. Arguments both for and against God are clearly presented and logically evaluated. The best philosophers on both sides of the God question are quoted. Sixth, QTM devotes an entire chapter to helping the student become familiar with the basic principles and arguments of logic. Since philosophy is defined [by the author] as "the attempt to think rationally and critically about the most important questions," this chapter presents logic in a concise and clear way. As a college instructor, I give QTM my highest recommendation. I recommend it to teachers and students alike. Thank you Dr. Miller for writing such a clear and insightful book that introduces students and teachers alike to the big questions of philosophy. This is a work well done!

I've used this textbook on more than one occasion in my Introduction to Philosophy courses. And for me the proof as to whether or not this is a valuable text is determined by the quality of the educational experience it generated among my students. With this in mind, I can't help but conclude that this book works for me. My students and I have had wonderful and often passionate discussions regarding the various topics covered by this book. In an Intro course students do not necessarily need to be exposed to all the latest--and mostly trendy--schools of thought; but they can benefit from learning about the historical development of philosophy. On this note, although the author does exhibit a predilection for Christian topics and points of view, I think this is justifiable when one considers the deep and lengthy relationship that Western philosophy has had with Christianity, be it in the form of Saints Augustine and Thomas or in the more modernist vein of Descartes, Kant, and Hegel (even much of Nietzsche has to be read as a response to Christianity). Taking this approach, in my experience, enables students to better appreciate the growing secularization of the world around them and the ineptitude of current philosophies to provide them a more organic and meaningful relationship with the earth, their community, and the sacred. In the end, I believe that anyone who's frustrated by this book is more than likely just a bad teacher, and they should probably just get over themselves and quit trying to blame their textbook.