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Rating: 
Summary: Great Overview
Review: Dr. Cahn puts together an interesting and essential collection of essays which explore both the issues that philosophers have dealt with over the centuries and those which inspire the contemporary, perhaps more political, philosophical mind. Purists may say that abortion, affirmative action, euthenasia and capital punishment are political matters entirely or, alternatively, that much more of an understanding of ethics and the basics are required before their introduction. They may lament the lack of some of the classics. Meanwhile, average readers may wonder what the use is of considering whether I know that this table in front of me exists and is really black. As a whole, the introduction of significant philsophical debates of the past, whether useful today or not, provides the reader with needed philsophical background, while the more provocative essays give us material on which to test the reasoning skills introduced; as a whole, the material is weight towards the latter, provocative essay. Also, the book is constructed such that skipping between essays and sections is entirely possible. I would recomend, however, a straight reading. Sections include: Reasoning, Knowledge and Self, God, Morality, and Society. Many sides are introduced, including defense of the religious point of view. My personal fave was the discussion of theodicy, explaining why God would allow evil.
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