Contents
Introduction xiii
Section 1: Philosophy
Prefatory Note 3
New impressions of an old profession
What Is a Philosopher? Simon Critchley 9
The Flight of Curiosity Justin E. H. Smith 13
Philosophy as an Art of Dying Costica Bradatan 20
Philosophy What's the Use? Gary Gutting 26
)n the Cave: Philosophy and Addiction Peg O'Connor 29
Women in Philosophy? Do the Math Sally Haslanger 34
What's Wrong With Philosophy? Linda Martin Alcoff 37
The Disappearing Women Rae Langton 40
The Difficulty of Philosophy Alexander George 43
The Philosophical Dinner Party Frieda Klotz 47
When Socrates Met Phaedrus: Eros in Philoso,phy Simon Critchley 50
The geography of philosophy
The Enlightenment's "Race" Problem, and Ours Justin E. H. Smith 61
Kung Fu for Philosophers Peimin Ni 67
Bridging the Analytic Continental Divide Gary Gutting 72
Of Cannibals, Kings and Culture : The Problem of Ethnocentricity Adam Etinson 79
Found in Translation Hamid Dabashi 84
Born Again in a Second Language Costica Bradatan 90
Philosophy's Western Bias Justin E . H. Smith 95
Rethinking thinkers
Spinoza's Vision of Freedom, and Ours Steven Nadler 103
Of Hume and Bondage Simon Blackburn 109
A Feminist Kant Carol Hay 114
Sartre and Camus in New York Andy Martin 119
Kierkegaard's Antigone Ulrika Carlsson 125
Freud's Radical Talking Benjamin Y. Fang 128
Was Wittgenstein Right? Paul Horwich 133
Old problems,new spins
Experiments in Philosophy Joshua Knabe 141
Your Move: The Maze of Free Will Galen Strawson 145
The Limits of the Coded World William Egginton 150
On Modern Time Espen Hammer 156
Logic and Neutrality Timothy Williamson 162
Paradoxical Truth Graham Priest 166
The Drama of Existentialism Gary Gutting 172
Reasons for Reason Michael P. Lynch 173
Reclaiming the Imagination Timothy Williamson 179
Are There Natural Human Rights? Michael Boylan 183
Philosophy, literature and life
Is Philosophy Literature? lim Holt 193
Does Great Literature Make Us Better? Gregory Currie 198
Stormy Weather: Blues in Winter A vital Ronell 203
Poetry, Medium and Message Ernie Lepore 210
Boxing Lessons Gordon Marino 215
The Practical and the Theoretical Jason Stanley 220
The Meaningfulness of Lives Todd May 224
The Spoils of Happiness David Sosa 229
Section II: Science
Prefatory Note 237
Can science explain everything?
What Is Naturalism? Timothy Williamson 243
Why I Am a Naturalist Alex Rosenberg 247
On Ducking Challenges to Naturalism Timothy Williamson 251
The Core of Mine{ and Cosmos Thomas Nagel 255
Things Fall Apart Philip Kitcher 258
The evolution of right and wrong
Moral Camouflage or Moral Monkeys? Peter Railton 265
Evolution and Our Inner Conflict Edward 0. Wilson 270
If Peas Can Talk, Should We Eat Them? Michael Marder 275
The Future of Moral Machines Colin Allen 278
Cambridge, Cabs and Copenhagen : My Route to Existential Risk Huw Price 284
Where is my mind?
Mary and the Zombies : Can Science Explain Consciousness? Gary Gutting 295
A Real Science of Mind Tyler Burge 298
Out of Our Brains Andy Clark 304
Do Thrifty Brains Make Better Minds? Andy Clark 309
Blinded by neuroscience?
Bursting the Neuro utopian Bubble Benjamin Y Fang 317
Bodies in Motion: An Exchange Alex Rosenberg and William Egginton 322
Is Neuroscience the Death of Free Will? Eddy Nahmias 330
Is the "Dumb Jock" Really a Nerd? Jason Stanley and John W Krakauer 337
The social impact of science
Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene Roy Scranton 345
Can Neuroscience Challenge Roe v. Wade? William Egginton 352
Depression and the Limits of Psychiatry Gary Gutting 358
Why Are States So Red and Blue? Steven Pinker 362
The Enigma of Chinese Medicine Stephen T. Asma 367
The Dangers of Pseudoscience Massimo Pigliucci and Maarten Boudry 373
Can we live with uncertainty?
Nothing to See Here: Demoting the Uncertainty Principle Craig Callender 381
The Dangers of Certainty: A Lesson From Auschwitz Simon Critchley 386
The Riddle of the Human Species Edward 0. Wilson 392
Section Ill: Religion and Morals
Prefatory Note 401
What is faith?
Philosophy and Faith Gary Gutting 407
Mystery and Evidence Tim Crane 411
The Rigor of love Simon Critchley 417
Does It Matter Whether God Exists? Gary Gutting 423
The Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously. Samuel Scheffler 427
The varieties of religious disagreement
In Praise of the Clash of Cultures Carlos Fraenkel 433
What's Wrong With Blasphemy? Andrew F. March 439
Why I love Mormonism Simon Critchley 446
An Imperfect God Yoram Hazony 455
The Politics of the Binding of Isaac Omri Boehm 459
On Questioning the Jewish State Joseph Levine 463
The Freedom of Faith: A Christmas Sermon Simon Critchley 469
Morality's God problem
Good Minus God Louise M. Antony 481
Morals Without God? Frans de Waal 488
The Sacred and the Humane Anat Biletzki 497
Confessions of an Ex Moralist Joel Marks 503
Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"? Peter Singer and Agata Sagan 509
The light at the End of Suffering Peg O'Connor 512
Some hard moral cases
The Maze of Moral Relativism Paul Boghossian 521
Is Pure Altruism Possible? Judith Lichtenberg 526
The Living Death of Solitary Confinement Lisa Guenther 531
Should This Be the Last Generation? Peter Singer 535
The Meat Eaters Jeff McMahan 538
Think Before You Breed Christine Overall 546
On Forgiveness Charles L . Griswold 551
Questions for Free Market Moralists Amia Srinivasan 557
The Myth of Universal Love Stephen T. Asma 563
Section IV: Society
Prefatory Note 573
Economics and politics
Hegel on Wall Street ]. M. Bernstein 579
What Is Economics Good For? Alex Rosenberg and Tyler Curtain 585
The Taint of "Social Darwinism" Philip Kitcher 589
The Veil of Opulence Benjamin Hale 593
Dependents of the State Amia Srinivasan 598
The Failure of Rational Choice Philosophy John McCumber 605
Mandela's Socialist Failure Slavoj Zizek 609
When Hope Tramples Truth Roger Scruton 612
The modern family
Is Forced Fatherhood Fair? Laurie Shrage 617
"Mommy Wars" Redux: A False Conflict Amy Allen 622
When Culture, Power and Sex Collide Linda Martin Alcoff 627
Lady Power Nancy Bauer 630
The End of "Marriage" Laurie Shrage 636
Black ,white or other
Fugitive Slave Mentality Robert Gooding Williams 645
Walking While Black in the "White Gaze" George Yancy 649
Getting Past the Outrage on Race Gary Gutting 655
A Lesson From Cuba on Race Alejandro de la Fuente 658
Is the United States a "Racial Democracy"? Jason Stanley and Vesla Weaver 663
What If We Occupied Language? H. Samy Alim 670
Does Immigration Mean "France Is Over"? Justin E. H. Smith 675
Freedom from the barrel of a gun
Who Needs a Gun? Gary Gutting 683
The Weapons Continuum Michael Boylan 686
The Freedom of an Armed Society Firmin DeBrabander 691
Is American Nonviolence Possible? Todd May 696
The Moral Hazard of Drones John Kaag and Sarah Kreps 701
A Crack in the Stoic's Armor Nancy Sherman 707
Rethinking the "Just War" Jeff McMahan 711
This American life
The Gospel According to "Me" Simon Critchley and Jamieson Webster 729
Deluded Individualism Firmin DeBrabander 734
The Very Angry Tea Party ].M. Bernstein 738
Is Our Patriotism Moral? Gary Gutting 744
The Cycle of Revenge Simon Critchley 747
What Is a "Hacktivist"? Peter Ludlow 751
The Myth of "Just Do It" Barbara Gail Montero 757
How to Live Without Irony Christy Wampole 764
Navigating Past Nihilism Sean D. Kelly 770
Acknowledgments 777
Contributors 779