Reason at Work: Introductory Readings in Philosophy

Reason at Work edited by Chan and Sher is an anthology of philosophical essays. The areas of discuss are ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, epistemology philosophy of the mind. The contributions are largely drawn from contemporary writers; however, there are some classic pieces by Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant etc. As with all of collections, it may be helpful to look at the on-line table of contents to confirm the specific contributions (there is often significant overlap between the different anthologies). I thought the selections dealing with ethics and philosophy of the mind were particularly well chosen, covering key questions and thinkers. The philosophy of religion section was the weakest aspect of the text. Pike's piece on divine foreknowledge and free will has been refuted and should be replaced. Additionally, although I enjoy Hick, given the tremendous about of quality contemporary work in this field a contribution from a more representative thinker is warranted (e.g. Plantinga, Moreland or Craig). Overall, this is a good collection, however, probably not good value at almost $100. I got mine second hand for $8 (hard cover, 1996 edition, excellent condition).