Puzzled?! seamlessly fuses two traditional approaches to the study
of philosophy at the introductory level. It is thematic, examining
fundamental issues in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of
religion, and more. It is also historical, introducing major
philosophical arguments that have arisen throughout the history of
Western philosophy. But its real innovation lies elsewhere. Each of
its twelve chapters begins with a traditional argument of a
thoroughly puzzling kind: a valid philosophical argument with
highly plausible premises but a surprising conclusion. The
remainder of the chapter shows how major innovations in the history
of philosophy arise as logical responses to that argument. Written
with a light touch, Puzzled?! nevertheless offers a rigorous
introduction to the ideas it explores and to the foundations of
critical thinking itself. It will serve as effectively as a main or
supplementary text in an introduction to critical thinking as it
will in Philosophy 101.