Introduction to World Philosophy

Frank X. Ryan, Kent State University Bonevac and Phillips are among the most respected anthologists in the profession, and their introductions to the selections are among the most impressive I've encountered. Each selection is clearly and fully introduced, with concise summaries of even the most complex arguments. Their ability to synthesize material from widely different cultures and eras is truly amazing.

Mark Owen Webb, Texas Tech University The coverage of non-Western traditions is broad and balanced, and the selections from Western sources represent the breadth of the philosophical tradition. Bonevac and Phillips are to be commended for interweaving the different traditions in such a way as to make side-by-side comparisons very easy.

Donna M. Giancola,Suffolk University Bonevac and Phillips' introductions are concise and relevant, providing definitions and pertinent information for students to begin approaching new philosophical material. This is an important and timely work and one of the most comprehensive sourcebooks I have seen.

PART I: ETHICS ; 1. ETHICS IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS OF INDIA ; 1.1. Karma and Dharma in Hindu thought ; 1.1.1. From the Bhagavad Gita ; 1.2. The Bhakti Movement ; 1.2.1. Akka Mahadevi ; 1.2.2. Janabai ; 1.2.3. Lalla ; 1.2.4. Mirabai ; 1.3. Early Buddhism ; 1.3.1. The Buddha, from The First Sermon ; 1.3.2. From The Dhammapada ; 1.4. Songs of the Buddhist Nuns ; 1.4.1. From Psalms of the Sisters ; 1.5. Buddhist Virtues ; 1.5.1. From The Lankavatara Sutra ; 1.6. Jainism ; 1.6.1. From the Acaranga Sutra ; 1.7. The Skepticism and Materialism of Charvaka ; 1.7.1. From Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha ; 2. CHINESE ETHICS ; 2.1. The Virtue Ethics of Confucius ; 2.1.1. Confucius, from The Analects ; 2.2. The Intuitionism of Mencius ; 2.2.1. From Mencius ; 2.3. Xunzi's Pessimistic View of Human Nature ; 2.3.1. Xunzi, from "That the Nature is Evil" ; 2.4. Confucian and Neo-Confucian Women Writers ; 2.4.1. Ban Zhao, from Lessons for My Daughters ; 2.4.2. Ban Zhao, "Traveling Eastward" ; 2.4.3. Li Qingzhao, from Hou Hsu ; 2.4.4. Li Qingzhao, from Complete Poems ; 2.5. The Virtue Ethics of Daoism ; 2.5.1. Laozi, from Dao-de-Jing ; 2.6. Daoist Women Writers ; 2.6.1. Yu Xuanji, from Poems ; 2.6.2. Sun Bu-er, from Poems ; 3. ANCIENT GREEK ETHICS ; 3.1. Socrates on Virtue ; 3.1.1. Plato, from Laches ; 3.2. Plato's Conception of Virtue ; 3.2.1. Plato, from the Republic ; 3.3. Aristotle on Virtue ; 3.3.1. Aristotle, from Nicomachean Ethics ; 4. MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN, JEWISH, AND ISLAMIC ETHICS ; 4.1. The Ethics of the Fathers ; 4.1.1. From the Babylonian Talmud ; 4.2. Augustine on Weakness of Will ; 4.2.1. Augustine, from Confessions ; 4.2.2. Augustine, from On the Trinity ; 4.3. Al-Farabi on Happiness ; 4.3.1. Al-Farabi, from The Attainment of Happiness ; 4.4. Maimonides on Happiness and Virtue ; 4.4.1. Moses Maimonides, from Guide of the Perplexed ; 4.5. Aquinas on Law and Virtue ; 4.5.1. St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Theologica ; 4.6. St. Catherine of Siena on the Paradoxes of Wisdom ; 4.6.1. Letter to Monna Alessa Dei Saracini ; 4.6.2. Letter to the Venerable Religious Brother Antonio of Nizza, of the Order of the Hermit Brothers of St. Augustine at the Wood of the Lake ; 4.7. Christine de Pizan's Feminism ; 4.7.1. Christine de Pizan, from The Treasury of the City of Ladies ; 4.8. Virtue in St. Teresa of Avila ; 4.8.1. St. Teresa of Avila, from The Ways of Perfection ; 5. ETHICS IN MODERN PHILOSOPHY ; 5.1. Princess Elizabeth's Critique of Reason in Ethics ; 5.1.1. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, August 16, 1645 ; 5.1.2. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, September 13, 1645 ; 5.1.3. Elizabeth to Descartes-Riswyck, September 30, 1645 ; 5.1.4. Elizabeth to Descartes-The Hague, April 25, 1646 ; 5.2. Hume's Empiricist Ethics: From Is to Ought ; 5.2.1. David Hume, from A Treatise of Human Nature ; 5.3. Kant's Deontology ; 5.3.1. Immanuel Kant, from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals ; 5.4. Madame de Stael on the Passions ; 5.4.1. Madame de Stael, from Influence of the Passions upon the Happiness of Individuals and of Nations ; 5.5. Utilitarianism ; 5.5.1. John Stuart Mill, from Utilitarianism ; 6. AFRICAN ETHICS ; 6.1. The Ethiopian Enlightenment ; 6.1.1. Zera Yacob, from The Treatise of Zera Yacob ; 6.2. The Communitarian Utilitarianism of the Akan ; 6.2.1. Kwame Gyekye, from An Essay in African Philosophy: The Akan Conceptual Scheme ; 6.3. East African Islamic Ethics ; 6.3.1. Kai Kresse, from Philosophising in Mombasa ; PART II: PHILOSOPHY OF MIND AND SELF ; 7. THE SELF IN INDIAN PHILOSOPHY ; 7.1. The Upanishads on a Higher Self ; 7.1.1. From the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad ; 7.1.2. From the Chandogya Upanishad ; 7.1.3. From the Mundaka Upanishad ; 7.1.4. From the Svetasvatara Upanishad ; 7.1.5. From the Maitri Upanishad ; 7.1.6. From the Taittiriya Upanishad ; 7.1.7. From the Katha Upanishad ; 7.2. Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga: Hindu Paths to Self-Awareness ; 7.2.1. Shankara, from the Brahmasutra Commentary ; 7.2.