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  • Knowledge, Reality, and Value: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy by Michael Huemer book cover
  • Knowledge, Reality, and Value: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy by Michael Huemer book cover
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Knowledge, Reality, and Value: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy

by Michael Huemer

A structured tour of philosophy’s central questions

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A structured tour of philosophy’s central questions

Organized in four parts, the book moves from philosophical preliminaries—logic, critical thinking, and truth—to epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Its questions range from how we know there is a world beyond our minds to whether God exists, whether free will is possible, and what makes actions right or wrong. The contents pair broad debates with specific theories and applications, including skepticism and foundationalism, arguments for theism and atheism, utilitarianism, deontology, charity, and animal ethics. A glossary and an appendix on writing round out the guide, giving its survey a practical reference element alongside its introduction to philosophical arguments.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Adults seeking an introductory survey of major philosophical questions.
  • Readers interested in epistemology, metaphysics, and ethical theory.
  • Students or independent learners looking for material on logic, critical thinking, and philosophical writing.

Themes

Knowledge and skepticismReality, theism, and atheismFree will and personal identityMoral theory and applied ethics

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

The world's best introduction to philosophy, Knowledge, Reality, and Value explains basic philosophical problems in epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, such as: How can we know about the world outside our minds? Is there a God? Do we have free will? Are there objective values? What distinguishes morally right from morally wrong actions? The text succinctly explains the most important theories and arguments about these things, and it does so a lot less boringly than most books written by professors.

"My work is all a series of footnotes to Mike Huemer." -Plato
"This book is way better than my lecture notes." -Aristotle
"When I have a little money, I buy Mike Huemer's books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." -Erasmus

Contents
Preface
Part I: Preliminaries
1. What Is Philosophy?
2. Logic
3. Critical Thinking, 1: Intellectual Virtue
4. Critical Thinking, 2: Fallacies
5. Absolute Truth
Part II: Epistemology
6. Skepticism About the External World
7. Global Skepticism vs. Foundationalism
8. Defining "Knowledge"
Part III: Metaphysics
9. Arguments for Theism
10. Arguments for Atheism
11. Free Will
12. Personal Identity
Part IV: Ethics
13. Metaethics
14. Ethical Theory, 1: Utilitarianism
15. Ethical Theory, 2: Deontology
16. Applied Ethics, 1: The Duty of Charity
17. Applied Ethics, 2: Animal Ethics
18. Concluding Thoughts
Appendix: A Guide to Writing
Glossary

Michael Huemer is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, where he has taught since the dawn of time. He is the author of a nearly infinite number of articles in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy, in addition to seven other amazing and brilliant books that you should immediately buy.
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