Driving to California (An Unconventional Introduction to Philosophy)

You are a philosopher! We are all philosophers. We make moral decisions, worry over what is the best thing to do, and contemplate where our lives are going. In a series of original and entertaining sketches, short stories, plays and his own 'philosophical autobiography' Professor Colin Radford expounds the nature and importance of philosophy for our everyday lives. From the title sketch Driving to California in which Radford amusingly describes the decisions, sulks and compromises faced by a family of three driving across America, to The Positive Desirability of Evil, Radford reveals how we all unknowingly take part in philosophical debates, and shows that these moral dilemmas are what make our lives rich, diverse, challenging and puzzling. Meanwhile the key chapter The Examined Life explains how his life (and ours) has been governed by philosophical dilemmas and warns that a life which fails to ask "Should I have lived my life thus?" is not, as Plato said, a life worth living.* Bridges the gap between Sophie's World, The Thought Gang and conventional textbooks* A lively and instructive introduction to the central concerns of philosophy designed for newcomers* Based on sound scholarship, with introductions and conclusions for the general reader* Other introductions describe philosophy or the history of philosophy - Driving to California is concerned with 'doing it' - in front of the reader