RESOURCES VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
VCE Philosophy
Resources 2014–2018
Some of the print resources contained in this list may be out of print. They have been included because they may still be available from libraries, bookshops and private collections.
At the time of publication the URLs (website addresses) cited were checked for accuracy and appropriateness of content. However, due to the transient nature of material placed on the web, their continuing accuracy cannot be verified. Teachers are strongly advised to prepare their own indexes of sites that are suitable and applicable to the courses they teach, and to check these addresses prior to allowing student access.
BOOKS
General Units 1–4
Many of the texts provided in this section contain general introductions and further suggested readings for most areas of study, and many of them are suitable for students.
Annas, J 2000, Voices of Ancient Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Baggin, J Southwell, G 2012, Philosophy: Key Themes, Palgrave MacMillan, New York.
Baggini, J 2010, The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 Other Thought Experiments, Granta Books, London.
Includes thought experiments on identity
Blackburn, S 2005, Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Bowie, G, Michaels, M & Solomon, R (eds) 2000, Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Harcourt Brace, Orlando, Florida.
Contains a range of primary readings on philosophy of religion, science, mind and nature, thinking and knowing and the dilemmas of personhood (including issues such as cloning)
Cahn, S (ed.) 2011, Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, New York.
This includes some primary texts from across Units 1 and 2: ‘What is it like to be a bat?’ by Thomas Nagel, ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’ by Descartes, ‘An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding’ (free will) by Hume, ‘The Dilemma of Determinism’ by William James, ‘The Ontological Argument’ by Anslem and Gaunilo, ‘Summa Theologiae’ by Aquinas, ‘Natural Theology’ by Paley, ‘The Wager’ by Pascal, ‘Foundations on the Metaphysics of Morals’ by Kant, ‘Utilitarianism’ by Mill, ‘On Liberty’ by Mill, ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844’ by Marx.
Clark, M 2012, Paradoxes from A to Z, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York.
Cohen, M 2013, 101 Philosophy Problems, Routledge, London.
Craig, E (ed.) 2015 (forthcoming), The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Routledge, New York.
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©VCAA 2013
Updated July 2014
RESOURCES VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Creel, R 2001, Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden Massachusetts.
De Botton, A 2001, The Consolations of Philosophy, Hamish Hamilton, London.
Droit, R (Romer, S. trans.) 2003, Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life, Penguin, London.
Fine, G 2003, Plato on Knowledge and Forms, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Greetham, B 2006, Philosophy, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, New York.
Hallman, M 2012, Traversing Philosophical Boundaries, Wadsworth Publishing.
Contains readings from Descartes, Berkeley, Dennett, Hume.
Hollis, M 1997, Invitation to Philosophy, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Honderich, T (ed.) 2005, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Hospers, J 1997, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, 4th edn, Routledge, London.
Kenny, A 2006, Ancient Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kinna, R 2005, Anarchism: A beginner’s guide, Oneworld Publications Oxford.
Law, S 2003, The Philosophy Gym, Headline Book Publishing, London.
Leiber, J 2001, Paradoxes, Interpretations Series. Duckworth, London.
Magee, B 2001, The Story of Philosophy, DK Publishing, New York.
Nagel, T 1987, What Does it All Mean? Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Nuttal, J 2002, An Introduction to Philosophy, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Pearson, KA (ed.) 2009, A Companion to Nietzsche, Wiley-Blackwell.
Popkin, R & Stroll, A 1993, Philosophy Made Simple, 2nd edn, Broadway Books, New York.
Rader, M & Gill, J 1990, The Enduring Questions: Main Problems of Philosophy, 5th edn, Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Roochnik, D 2004, Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Roberts, F 2003, The Philosophy Workbook, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Russell, B 2004, A History of Western Philosophy, Routledge, London.
Sainsbury, RM 2009, Paradoxes, 3rd edn., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Shafer-Landau, R 2012, Ethical Theory: An Anthology, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell.
This book contains a reading from Peter Strawson related to free will, as well as readings from a wide range of philosophers including Mackie, Mill, Ayer, Smart, Nozick, Rawls and Singer (Famine, Affluence and Morality).
Solomon, R 2010, The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, 8th edn, Thomas Wadsworth, Belmont, California.
Tarnas, R 1995, The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View, Ballantine Books, New York.
Warburton, N 2012, Philosophy: The Basics, Routledge, London.
Warburton, N 2006, Philosophy: The Classics, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York.
Williams, B 2008, Shame and Necessity, University of California Press.
Wilkinson, R 2000, Minds and Bodies: An Introduction with Readings, Routledge.
Metaphysics and Epistemology
General
Audi, R (ed.) 2002, Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.
Beakley, B & Ludlow, P 2006, The Philosophy of Mind, 2nd edn, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Blackburn, S 2006, Truth: A Guide, Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S 2007, Conversations on Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains conversations with a series of primary thinkers including Chalmers and Searle
Brook, A & Stainton, R 2000, Knowledge and Mind: A Philosophical Introduction, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Callender, C & Edney, R 2010, Introducing Time: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books, Cambridge.
Chalmers, A 2013, What is this Thing Called Science? 4th edn, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia.
Davies, B 2004, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Davies, B & Leftow, B 2005, The Cambridge Companion to Anselm, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gazzaniga, M 2012, Who’s In Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain, Harper-Collins.
Guttenplan, S (ed.) 1995, A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Hofstadter, D & Dennett, D (eds) 2000, The Mind’s ‘I’: Fantasies and Reflections on the Self and Soul, Basic Books.
Kane, R (ed.) 2001, Free Will, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Landesman, C 1996, An Introduction to Epistemology, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Landesman, C & Meeks, R (eds) 2002, Philosophical Skepticism: From Plato to Rorty, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Le Poidevin, R 2004, Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Long, AA 1999, The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, Cambridge University Press.
Matthews, M 1989, The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy, Hackett, Indianapolis.
Morton, A 2003, Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Plato (Ferrari, GRF ed. & Griffith, T trans.) 2000, The Republic, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Quinn, P & Taliaferro, C (eds) 1999, A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, Wiley-Blackwell Publishers, Malden, Massachusetts.
Russell, B 2001, The Problems of Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Searle, J 2005, Mind: A Brief Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Steup, M et al. 2013 (forthcoming), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, 2nd edn Wiley-Blackwell.
Turetzky, P (ed.) 1998, Time, Routledge, London.
Primary texts
See entries on Bowie, Cahn, Shafer-Landau, Russ in General Units 1–4 above and entries for journals and periodicals below. The Wiley-Blackwell A Companion to Nietzsche (see Pearson entry in General Units 1–4) has a chapter on Nietzsche’s philosophy of time which will guide the reader to primary sources.
Aristotle (Waterfield, R trans.) 2008, Physics, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press.
See Book IV for Aristotle on time.
Berkeley, G 2003, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Dover Publications, New York.
Blackburn, S 2012, Practical Tortoise Raising and other Philosophical Essays, Oxford University Press.
Blackburn, S 2000, Ruling Passions: A Theory of Practical Reasoning, Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S 2007, Conversations on Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains conversations with a series of primary thinkers including Chalmers and Searle
Borges, JL ‘A New Refutation of Time’ at www.mischievousmusique.com/extras/Jorge-Luis-Borges-A-New-Refutation-of-Time.pdf
Damasio, A 2006, Descartes’Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, Vintage.
Davidson, D 1986. ‘A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge’, in Truth and Interpretation: Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson. Oxford: Blackwell.
This chapter is Davidson’s argument for metaphysical realism and how it can allow for the possibility of skepticism.
Davies, B 2000, Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology, Oxford University Press.
This book contains an extensive range of readings under different themes, including Aquinas, Anselm, Mackie and Hume.
Davies, P 1996, About Time: Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution, Penguin.
Davies, P in conversation with Philip Adams, The Big Questions and More Big Questions, video series online at www.abc.net.au/science/bigquestions/default.htm
Descartes, R 1998, Discourse on Method & The Meditations, Penguin Books, London.
Einstein, A (Stachel, J ed.) 2005, Einstein’s Miraculous Year: Five Papers that Changed the Face of Physics, Princeton University Press.
Feinberg, J 2011, Reason and Responsibility, 15th edn, Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Contains readings on a wide range of topics including philosophy of religion (Anselm, Aquinas, Pascal, Paley, Hume, Mackie), epistemology (Plato, Gettier, Descartes, Hume, Berkeley), metaphysics (Jackson, Holbach, Van Inwagen).
Feyerabend, P 2008, Knowledge, Science and Relativism: Philosophical Papers, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press.
Feyerabend, P 1991, Three Dialogues on Knowledge, Wiley-Blackwell.
Goodin, R & Pettit, P (eds) 2005, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell.
Includes readings from Rawls and Berlin.
Hallman, M 2012, Traversing Philosophical Boundaries, Wadsworth Publishing.
Contains readings from Descartes, Berkeley, Dennett, Hume.
Heidegger, M (Stambaugh, J trans) 2010, Being and Time, State University of New York Press.
Heil, J (ed.) 2003, Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology, Oxford University Press, New York.
This book contains selections from the work of Plato, Descartes, Locke, Armstrong, Chalmers, Davidson, Jackson.
Hetherington, S 2013 (forthcoming), Metaphysics and Epistemology: A Guided Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell.
Huemer, M (ed.) 2002, Epistemology: Contemporary Readings Routledge London.
This texts includes readings for Plato, Descartes, Locke, Gettier, Hume, Ayer, Putnam.
Hume, D 2008, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
James, W (Richardson, R ed.) 2012, The Heart of William James, Harvard University Press.
Contains essays related to free will and determinism as well as epistemology.
James, W 1981, The Principles of Psychology, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
See in particular the chapter, The Stream of Thought, for James’ account of experience that is opposed to Hume.
James, W 1978, Pragmatism and the Meaning of Truth, Harvard University Press.
With an introduction by AJ Ayer.
Kirk, GS, Raven, JE & Schofield, M 1984, The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts, Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T 2012, The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions, 50th Anniversary edn, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Locke, J, Berkley, G & Hume, D 1960, The Empiricists: Locke: Concerning Human Understanding, Berkley: Principles of Human Knowledge and Three Dialogues and Hume: Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning Natural Religion, Random House.
McGrew, T et al. (eds) 2009, Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell.
Contains chapters from Hume, Mill and a wide range of others.
Nussbaum, M 2003, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of the Emotions, Cambridge University Press.
Nagel, E 1979, The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation,
(2nd edn), Hackett.
O’Hear, A 2004, Minds and Persons, Cambridge University Press.
Contains a range of readings including Papineau ‘Human Minds’ and Jackson ‘Mind and Illusion’.
Popper, K 2002, Conjectures and Refutations, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.
Putnam, H 1979, ‘What is Mathematical Truth’, in Mathematics Matter and Method: Philosophical Papers, Volume 1, 2nd edn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 60–78.
Putnam, H 1979, ‘Philosophy of Logic’, reprinted in Mathematics Matter and Method: Philosophical Papers, Volume 1, 2nd edn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 323–357.
Rorty, R 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton, NJ Princeton.
Rorty, R 1991, Objectivity, Relativism and Truth: Philosophical Papers vol. 1, Cambridge University Press.
Contains the paper ‘Davidson, Pragmatism and Truth’.
Russell, P & Deery, O (eds) 2013, The Philosophy of Free Will, Oxford University Press.
A wide range of readings, including Dennett, Strawson, van Inwagen.
Saint Augustine (Chadwick, H trans.) 2008, The Confessions, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press.
See Books 1 and X1 for writing on time.
Schopenhauer, A 1995, Essays on Freedom of the Will, Wiley-Blackwell.
Schoedinger, A (ed.) 1991, Introduction to Metaphysics, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York.
An anthology including a wide range of readings.
Smart, JJC 2013, Philosophy and Scientific Realism, Routledge.
Strawson, PF 2008, Freedom and Resentment and other essays, Routledge.
Weil, S (Crawford, E trans.) 2002, Gravity and Grace, Routledge Classics, Routledge.
Contains chapter on the problem of evil and other chapters on the nature of God.
Williams, B 2010, Making Sense of humanity and Other Philosophical Papers, Cambridge University Press (on-line ebook Pdf).
Includes papers on free will and determinism and ethics.
Williams, B 2004, Truth and Truthfulness: An Essay in Genealogy, Princeton University Press.
Williams, B 2006, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Routledge.
See Chapter 8 – ‘Knowledge, Science, Convergence’.
Unit 2: Questions of value
Area of Study 1: Ethics and moral philosophy
Furrow, D 2005, Key Concepts in Philosophy: Ethics, Continuum, New York.
MacIntyre, A 2002, A Short History of Ethics, Routledge, New York.
Mahony, J 2006, The Challenge of Human Rights: Origin, Development and Significance, Wiley-Blackwell.
Robinson, D & Garratt, C 2004, Introducing Ethics, Icon Books, London.
Schneewin, JB (ed.) 2003, Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Singer, P (ed.) 1994, Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Singer, P (ed.) 1993, A Companion To Ethics, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
West, H 2004, An Introduction to Mill’s Utilitarianian Ethics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.