Life's Ultimate Questions (Hardcover)

by Ronald H. Nash (Author) "Fifty years ago, a California gangster named Mickey Cohen shocked people on both sides of the law when he went forward in a Billy Gra..." (more)
Key Phrases: narrow foundationalism, narrow foundationalist, factually necessary being, New York, Grand Rapids, New Testament (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Life’s Ultimate Questions is unique among introductory philosophy textbooks. By synthesizing three distinct approaches—topical, historical, and worldview/conceptual systems—it affords students a breadth and depth of perspective previously unavailable in standard introductory texts. Part One, Six Conceptual Systems, explores the philosophies of: Naturalism Plato Aristotle Plotinus Augustine Aquinas Part Two, Important Problems in Philosophy, sheds light on: The Law of Noncontradiction Possible Worlds Epistemology I: Whatever Happened to

Truth? Epistemology II: A Tale of Two Systems Epistemology III: Reformed

Epistemology God I: The Existence of God God II: The Nature of God Metaphysics: Some Questions About

Indeterminism Ethics I: The Downward Path Ethics II: The Upward Path Human Nature: The Mind-Body Problem

and Survival After Death Life’s Ultimate Questions is unique among introductory philosophy textbooks. By synthesizing three distinct approaches—topical, historical, and worldview/conceptual systems—it affords students a breadth and depth of perspective previously unavailable in standard introductory texts. Part One, Six Conceptual Systems, explores the philosophies of: Naturalism Plato Aristotle Plotinus Augustine Aquinas Part Two, Important Problems in Philosophy, sheds light on: The Law of Noncontradiction Possible Worlds Epistemology I: Whatever Happened to

Truth? Epistemology II: A Tale of Two Systems Epistemology III: Reformed

Epistemology God I: The Existence of God God II: The Nature of God Metaphysics: Some Questions About

Indeterminism Ethics I: The Downward Path Ethics II: The Upward Path Human Nature: The Mind-Body Problem

and Survival After Death Life’s Ultimate Questions is unique among introductory philosophy textbooks. By synthesizing three distinct approaches—topical, historical, and worldview/conceptual systems—it affords students a breadth and depth of perspective previously unavailable in standard introductory texts. Part One, Six Conceptual Systems, explores the philosophies of: Naturalism Plato Aristotle Plotinus Augustine Aquinas Part Two, Important Problems in Philosophy, sheds light on: The Law of Noncontradiction Possible Worlds Epistemology I: Whatever Happened to

Truth? Epistemology II: A Tale of Two Systems Epistemology III: Reformed

Epistemology God I: The Existence of God God II: The Nature of God Metaphysics: Some Questions About

Indeterminism Ethics I: The Downward Path Ethics II: The Upward Path Human Nature: The Mind-Body Problem

and Survival After Deat -- Publisher

Product Description
A basic textbook on introduction to philosophy, Life's Ultimate Questions is from a renowned teacher and communicator and can be used in Christian and secular classrooms alike.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310223644
• ISBN-13: 978-0310223641
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,638 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Intro Text for Philosophy, November 19, 2000

By	T. B. Vick "Learn 2 Discern" (The Lone Star State) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Nash has produced a pretty good intro text to the study of philosophy. The book itself contains two major sections and an introduction. One of the more positive features of the text is the fact that Nash stresses the importance of a worldview and worldview evaluation. This angle is missing in all other intro texts that I have read, and seems to work as a nice addition to this particular text. The first part of the text is aptly titled "Six Conceptual Systems." In this pat Nash covers Naturalism, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, and Aquinas. This section is simply an introduction into the thinking of these men and Naturalism (and their worldviews). Actually, Nash has a nice way of making all these philosophers easy to grasp. The second part consists of Problems in Philosophy. Here Nash covers logic, epistemology, metaphysics, God's existence, ethics, and human nature. In part two Nash covers Reformed epistemology (which he makes known that he is in favor of this system) and he also covers Open Theism (which he makes known that he is opposed to this type of theology). Nash is a moderate rationalist and this come out in the text. The redeeming qualities of this work are: 1) It's simplicity, 2) It's overall thematic style that is geared around worldviews and, 3) Nash's inclusion of medieval philosophers (especially Aquinas). I mention #3 since many if not most intro text do not include Aquinas which is a real pity since he was the greatest of the medieval philosophers. The one major vice, it seems of this text, is the fact that Nash comes across a little haughty and pugnacious at times. He asserts certain opinions in the text that might have been left out if all he is trying to do is simply give an exposition of the information. However, if Nash is attempting to serve an opinion in this work, then he has done so quite readily with Open Theism as well as postmodernism. That being the case, perhaps Nash meant this book to have some apologetic qualities about it. Nonetheless, if what he was aiming for was simply an intro to philosophy (which is what is declared on the back cover description) then these opinions might have been best saved for other works. However, this text is distinctly Christian, and perhaps Nash wanted to evaluate these systems for the purpose of the Christian reader. Overall, I would recommend this text to beginning students to help them gain a better understanding of the issues of philosophy.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Philosophy, November 11, 2000

By	K.H. - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Ronald Nash has completed a great introductory book on thE subject of philosophy. He begins by discussing world views and then writes about the six conceptual systems: Naturalism, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus,Augustine, ansd Aquinas. He writes about the Law of Non-contradiction and epistemology. The strength of the book are the chapters on God's existence and nature.

The book is very much highly prone to Christian Theism. However, he writes truthfully about the theories and peoples involoved throughout philosophy. Since he is writing a text book, you will not find any overt evangelism taking place here, which is a good thing, since this book is actually menat as a primer for college students.

The book is easy to read and Nash's strength is his ability to make complicated subjects easy to understand.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than a philosophy textbook, April 20, 2000

By A Customer

Lots of people are frightened of textbooks; too difficult to understand, they think. Too dry, others suppose. "Life's Ultimate Questions" can help even the most general reader get a handle on the most important philosophers in history. The book can provide a foundation that can help even a beginner move on to dozens of important topics such as do humans have a soul? Is there life after death? How can we know if God exists? What are the most important options in ethics? How can we know that something is the case? This book is a solid and helpful piece of work.