Do you think that philosophy is an activity for old men in sandals with long white beards? Or people who sit under trees and wait to be struck on the head by apples? If so, then you owe it to yourself to explore the insights of this book. In conversational yet artful prose, James H. Hall reveals the many ways that you can actually enjoy and use philosophy in the course of your everyday experience. Rather than presenting philosophy as an endless list of ancient truths revealed by geniuses, or as instant wisdom, Hall presents philosophy as a concrete, practical enterprise that, once you've seen how it works, you can continue on your own.

Do you think that philosophy is an activity for old men in sandals with long white beards? Or people who sit under trees and wait to be struck on the head by apples? If so, then you owe it to yourself to explore the insights of this book. In conversational yet artful prose, James H. Hall reveals the many ways that you can actually enjoy and use philosophy in the course of your everyday experience. Doing philosophy involves critically examining key concepts, presuppositions and implications that are in play across the entire range of human inquiry. Practically Profound introduces the enterprise in three basic areas: knowledge and belief (epistemology), human nature (ontology) and the good life (ethics). Emphasizing experience-based arguments, the book demonstrates techniques that readers of all ages can use to enhance their own understanding of themselves and their world. This book is ideally suited to any introductory course in philosophy that takes a problems-based approach, as well as to general readers interested in putting philosophy to work in their everyday lives.

Chapter 1 Preface: Philosophy: The Profound and the Pedestrian
Part 2 Belief

Chapter 3 Are Some Beliefs Better than Others?

Chapter 4 True Belief and Standards of Evidence

Chapter 5 Two Kinds of Evidence

Chapter 6 Other Kinds of Evidence

Part 7 Knowledge

Chapter 8 Knowledge, Fraud, Error and Uncertainty

Chapter 9 Knowledge and Subjectivity

Chapter 10 Knowledge and Cultural Relativism

Chapter 11 Problems with Paradigms

Chapter 12 Knowledge and Values

Part 13 Human Nature

Chapter 14 Human Nature: God, Society and Nature

Chapter 15 Causation, Freedom and Human Responsibility

Part 16 Human Conduct

Chapter 17 Self Fulfillment and Following Nature

Chapter 18 Obeying Rules

Chapter 19 Considering Consequences

Chapter 20 The Utility of Rules, Rights and Fair Play

Chapter 21 End Note. Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Chapter 22 Works Mentioned

Chapter 23 Index