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Philosophy for A Level is an accessible textbook for the new 2017 AQA Philosophy syllabus. Structured closely around the AQA specification this textbook covers the two units, Metaphysics of God and Metaphysics of Mind, in an engaging and student-friendly way. With chapters on 'How to do philosophy', exam preparation providing students with the philosophical skills they need to succeed, and an extensive glossary to support understanding, this book is ideal for students studying philosophy.





Each chapter includes:








argument maps that help to develop students' analytical and critical skills







comprehension questions to test understanding







discussion questions to generate evaluative argument







explanation of and commentary on the AQA set texts







'Thinking harder' sections







cross-references to help students make connections







bullet-point summaries of each topic.








The companion website hosts a wealth of further resources, including PowerPoint slides, flashcards, further reading, weblinks and handouts, all structured to accompany the textbook. It can be found at www.routledge.com/cw/alevelphilosophy. 'Michael Lacewing has a talent of making complex concepts accessible to a range of students with his 'student-friendly' style. His materials are concise, thorough and prepare students well for their examinations. His book has a clear layout and is appropriate for the specification.'


Karen S. Ackerman, Alleyns School, UK


'Philosophy for A-Level is a clear and lucid account that directly links and covers the new A-Level specification. The content is challenging but so well organised that it guides the students through some of the most difficult metaphysical questions in Philosophy. It will be a valuable resource for student and teacher.'


Amanda Forshaw, Head of Humanities, Woodhouse College, UK

Philosophy for A Level: Metaphysics of God and Metaphysics of Mind

CONTENTS





Acknowledgements











Introduction











How to use this book





How to do philosophy





Following the syllabus





Additional features





Using the anthology





Glossary





Companion website and further resources











1 How to do philosophy





Philosophical argument





Deductive argument





Inductive argument





Understanding arguments





Evaluating arguments





Evaluating claims





An aside: why reason?





Fallacies





Reading philosophy





Approaching the text





Engaging with the text





Beyond the text





Writing philosophy





What you need to know





Planning an essay





Writing an essay





A standard essay structure





General advice











2 Philosophy of religion





I. The concept and nature of 'God' A. God's attributes





Omniscience





Omnipotence





Aquinas on omnipotence





Supreme goodness (omnibenevolence)





God and time





Thinking harder: Stump and Kretzmann on eternity





Key points: God's attributes











B. Arguments for the incoherence of the concept of God





The paradox of the stone





Omnipotence and supreme goodness





The Euthyphro dilemma





Plato's dilemma





Omnipotence and morality





Discussion





Omniscience and free human beings





Thinking harder: three solutions





Key points: Arguments for the incoherence of the concept of God





Summary: the concept and nature of 'God'











II. Arguments relating to the existence of God





A. Ontological arguments





St Anselm's ontological argument





Gaunilo's 'perfect island' objection Thinking harder: Anselm's reply





Descartes' ontological argument





Two objections to ontological arguments





Empiricist objections to a priori arguments for existence





Kant's objection: existence is not a predicate





Malcolm's ontological argument





Thinking harder: a response to Malcolm





Key points: ontological arguments











B. Teleological/design arguments





The design argument from analogy





Hume's objections





Paley's design argument





Discussion





The problem of spatial disorder





Evolution by natural selection





Swinburne's design argument





Swinburne's response to Hume





Thinking harder: is the existence of a designer a good explanation?





Is the designer God?





Hume's objections





Swinburne's response





Key points: the argument from design











C. The cosmological argument





The Kalam argument





Thinking harder: infinity





Aquinas' First and Second Ways





Aquinas' Second Way





Aquinas' First Way





Thinking harder: Descartes' cosmological argument Two issues for arguments from causation





Hume on the causal principle





Thinking harder: The possibility of an infinite series





Aquinas' Third Way





Leibniz's argument from contingency





Two more issues for cosmological arguments





Russell on the fallacy of composition





The impossibility of a necessary being





Key points: the cosmological argument











D. The problem of evil





An outline of the problem





Two types of evil





Thinking harder: Midgley on human evil





The logical problem of evil





A free will theodicy





Thinking harder: Midgley on free will





Plantinga's free will defence





Natural evil





The evidential problem of evil





Plantinga's free will defence again





Hick's 'soul-making' theodicy





Key points: the problem of evil





Summary: arguments relating to the existence of God











III. Religious language





The distinction between cognitivism and non-cognitivism





Discussion





Verificationism





Objections





Thinking harder: verification and falsification





The 'University' debate





Flew's challenge





Mitchell's response





Hare's 'bliks'





Key points: religious language





Summary: religious language

















3 Philosophy of mind











I. What do we mean by 'mind'?





Features of mental states





Intentionality





Phenomenal properties/qualia





Overview of the six theories





Key points: what do we mean by 'mind'?











II. Dualist theories: substance dualism





A. Substance dualism





Descartes' indivisibility argument





The mental is divisible in some sense





Not everything thought of as physical is divisible





Thinking harder: Is the mind a substance?





Descartes' conceivability argumentMind without body is not conceivable





Thinking harder: What is conceivable may not be metaphysically possible





What is metaphysically possible tells us nothing about the actual world





Key points: substance dualism











B. Issues facing substance dualism





Issues facing interactionist substance dualism





The conceptual interaction problem





The empirical interaction problem





Issues facing epiphenomenalist substance dualism





The problem of other minds





The argument from analogy





The existence of other minds in the best hypothesis





Thinking harder: Avramides on Descartes' solution





Substance dualism makes a 'category mistake'





Key points: issues facing substance dualism











Summary: substance dualism











III. Physicalist theories





Physicalism





Supervenience





Key points: physicalism











A. Mind-brain type identity theory





Type identity theory





Smart on correlation, identity and reduction





Issues





Putnam and the multiple realisability of mental states





Dualist arguments





Key points: mind-brain type identity theory











B. Eliminative materialism





Patricia Churchland on reduction and elimination





Paul Churchland on why 'folk psychology' might be false





Issues





Our certainty about the existence of our mental states takes priority over other considerations





Folk psychology has good predictive and explanatory power (and so is the best hypothesis)





Thinking harder: the articulation of eliminative materialism as a theory is self-refuting Key points: eliminative materialism











C. Philosophical behaviourism





Hempel's 'hard' behaviourism





Ryle's 'soft' behaviourism





Dispositions





Thinking and other mental processes





Issues





Dualist arguments





Issues defining mental states satisfactorily





The asymmetry between self-knowledge and knowledge of other people's mental states





The distinctness of mental states from behaviour





Key points: philosophical behaviourism





Summary: physicalist theories











IV. Functionalism





What is a function?





Functionalism and behaviourism





Functionalism and multiple realisability





Issues





The possibility of a functional duplicate with different qualia (inverted qualia)





Block on the possibility of a functional duplicate with no qualia





Thinking harder: Chalmers on explaining consciousness





Key points: functionalism





Summary: functionalism











V. Dualist theories: property dualism A. Property dualism





The theory





The knowledge argument





The knowledge argument as a dualist argument against other theories





Responses to the knowledge argument





Mary does not gains new propositional knowledge, but does gain ability knowledge





Mary does not gain new propositional knowledge, but does gain acquaintance knowledge





Thinking harder: Mary gains new propositional knowledge, but this is knowledge of physical facts that she already knew in a different way





The 'philosophical zombies' argument





Possible worlds





Chalmers' zombie argument





Thinking harder: how arguments for property dualism work





The zombie argument as a dualist argument against other theories





Responses to the zombie argument





A philosophical zombie (or zombie world) is not conceivable





Thinking harder: what is conceivable may not be metaphysically possible





Thinking harder: what is metaphysical possible tells us nothing about the actual world





Key points: property dualism











B. Issues facing property dualism





Issues facing interactionist property dualism





Issues facing epiphenomenalist property dualism





The phenomenology of our mental life





Natural selection





Thinking harder: introspective self-knowledge





The problem of other minds





Property dualism makes a 'category mistake'





Key points: issues facing property dualism





Summary: property dualism











4 Preparing for the exam





The examination





The structure of the exam





Assessment objectives





Understanding the question: giving the examiners what they are looking for





Three-mark questions





Five-mark questions





12-mark questions





25-mark questions Revision: it's more than memory





Exam technique: getting the best result you can





Revision tips





Exam tips











Glossary (with Joanne Lovesey)





Index by syllabus content





Index