17 Philosophy
Philosophy (PHI)
Animal & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights
Nathan Nobis (Morehouse College)
Last updated: 2018
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This book provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible (i.e., not wrong) and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (and a global community), have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why?
Formats: Online, PDF, and Word
Includes: Discussion questions
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2100 Animal Ethics
Applied Ethics Primer∗ 
Letitia Meynell and Clarisse Paron (Dalhousie University)
2021
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
Every applied ethics course requires some brief introduction, survey, or primer on ethical theory and moral decision-making. At the same time, spending too much time on argumentation and normative ethical theory can take precious course time away from the applied issues that are the focus of the course. The Applied Ethics Primer offers a concise introduction to both basic argumentation and normative ethical theory. Somewhat more inclusive than many similar resources, this primer offers students a taste of the truly global history of ethics, while still being squarely focused on providing practical tools for ethical decision-making and is appropriate for any introductory applied ethics course.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, and PDF
Suggested for:
PHI 2174 Ethics
PHI 2385 Ethical Questions
A Brief Introduction to Philosophy
Yoni Porat (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology)
2021
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
An introduction to philosophy with selections on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and logic. The emphasis is on exposing students to important philosophers and issues in philosophy. Chapters include multiple-choice questions to test reading comprehension.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, and PDF
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
PHI 1102 Moral Reasoning
PHI 1103 Fundamental Philosophical Questions
PHI 1301 Philosophy: Ideas and Arguments
A Concise Introduction to Logic
Craig DeLancey (SUNY Oswego)
2017
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Concise Introduction to Logic is an introduction to formal logic suitable for undergraduates taking a general education course in logic or critical thinking and is accessible and useful to any interested in gaining a basic understanding of logic. This text takes the unique approach of teaching logic through intellectual history; the author uses examples from important and celebrated arguments in philosophy to illustrate logical principles. The text also includes a basic introduction to findings of advanced logic. As indicators of where the student could go next with logic, the book closes with an overview of advanced topics, such as the axiomatic method, set theory, Peano arithmetic, and modal logic.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, PDF and EPUB
Includes: End-of-chapter problems
Reviews: Open Textbook Library – BCcampus
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Elementary Formal Logic∗
Jenna Woodrow (Thompson Rivers University) and Craig DeLancey (SUNY Oswego)
2017
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Elementary Formal Logic was adapted by Jenna Woodrow from Craig DeLancey’s textbook, A Concise Introduction to Logic.
Format: Pressbooks webbook
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
PHI220 Ethics∗
Deborah Holt (Southside Virginia Community College)
2020
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This book provides a systemic study of representative ethical concepts and theories and discusses their application to concrete moral dilemmas.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
PHI 1102 Moral Reasoning
PHI 2174 Ethics
PHI 2385 Ethical Questions
PHI 2396 Bioethics
PHI 2397 Business Ethics
PHI 2398 Environmental Ethics
PHI 5326 Metaethics
Ethics for A-Level
Mark Dimmock (Torquay Boys’ Grammar School) and Andrew Fisher (University of Nottingham)
2017
Licence: CC BY 4.0
What does pleasure have to do with morality? What role, if any, should intuition have in the formation of moral theory? If something is ‘simulated’, can it be immoral?
This accessible and wide-ranging textbook explores these questions and many more. Key ideas in the fields of normative ethics, metaethics and applied ethics are explained rigorously and systematically, with a vivid writing style that enlivens the topics with energy and wit. Individual theories are discussed in detail in the first part of the book, before these positions are applied to a wide range of contemporary situations including business ethics, sexual ethics, and the acceptability of eating animals. A wealth of real-life examples, set out with depth and care, illuminate the complexities of different ethical approaches while conveying their modern-day relevance.
Formats: Online and PDF
Includes: Summaries, common student mistakes, issues to consider, key terminology, and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2174 Ethics
A Guide to Good Reasoning: Cultivating Intellectual Virtues – Second Edition
David C. Wilson (Webster University)
1999
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
A Guide to Good Reasoning has been described by reviewers as “far superior to any other critical reasoning text.” It shows with both wit and philosophical care how students can become good at everyday reasoning. It starts with attitude—with alertness to judgmental heuristics and with the cultivation of intellectual virtues. From there it develops a system for skillfully clarifying and evaluating arguments, according to four standards—whether the premises fit the world, whether the conclusion fits the premises, whether the argument fits the conversation, and whether it is possible to tell.
Formats: Pressbooks webbooks, EPUB, and PDF
Includes: Exercises and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Inferring and Explaining
Jeffery L. Johnson (Portland State University)
2019
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Inferring and Explaining is a book in practical epistemology. It examines the notion of evidence and assumes that good evidence is the essence of rational thinking. Evidence is the cornerstone of the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. But it is equally central to almost all academic pursuits and, perhaps most importantly, to the basic need to live an intelligent and reflective life.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB, and MOBI
Includes: Exercises and quizzes
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
The Intelligent Troglodyte’s Guide to Plato’s Republic
Douglas Drabkin (Fort Hays State University)
Last updated: 2020
Licence: CC BY 4.0
The Republic of Plato is one of the classic gateway texts into the study and practice of philosophy, and it is just the sort of book that has been able to arrest and redirect lives. How it has been able to do this, and whether or not it will be able to do this in your own case, is something you can only discover for yourself. The present guidebook aims to help a person get fairly deep, fairly quickly, into the project. It divides the dialogue into 96 sections and provides commentary on each section as well as questions for reflection and exploration. It is organized with a table of contents and is stitched together with a system of navigating bookmarks. Links to external sites such as the Perseus Classical Library are used throughout. This book is suitable for college courses or independent study.
Format: PDF
Includes: Study questions
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2190 Political Philosophy
PHI 2380 Greek Philosophy
Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking
Matthew J. Van Cleave (Lansing Community College)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This is an introductory textbook in logic and critical thinking, aimed at providing the reader with a set of tools and skills that will enable them to identify and evaluate arguments.
Format: PDF
Includes: Exercises
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
An Introduction to Philosophy
W. Russ Payne (Bellevue College)
2015
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0
This peer-reviewed open textbook presents philosophy to newcomers as a living discipline with historical roots. Early chapters are historically organized, to help trace a developmental progression of thought that introduce basic philosophical methods and frames issues that remain relevant today.
Formats: PDF and Word
Includes: Review and discussion questions, and exercises
Reviews: eCampusOntario Open Library – Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1103 Fundamental Philosophical Questions
Introduction to Philosophy: Aesthetic Theory and Practice∗
Edited by Valery Vino (Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy)
2022
Licence CC BY 4.0
Aesthetic Theory and Practice offers fresh perspectives on canonical and emerging topics in aesthetics, and also brings attention to a number of culturally sensitive topics that are customarily silenced in introductions to philosophical aesthetics. The papers are heterogeneous in terms of length and degrees of difficulty, inviting the reader into the study of contemporary aesthetics, which spans a lifetime.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and more
Suggested for:
PHI 2392 Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
PHI 5319 Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
Introduction to Philosophy: Epistemology∗
Edited by Brian C. Barnett (State of New York University)
2021
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Introduction to Philosophy: Epistemology engages first-time philosophy readers on a guided tour through the core concepts, questions, methods, arguments, and theories of epistemology—the branch of philosophy devoted to the study of knowledge. The book progresses systematically while placing key ideas and thinkers in historical and contemporary context. Central topics include the analysis of knowledge, the nature of epistemic justification, rationalism vs. empiricism, skepticism, the value of knowledge, the ethics of belief, Bayesian epistemology, social epistemology, and feminist epistemologies.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and more
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2383 Modern Philosophy [esp. Chapter 2 – Sources of Knowledge: Rationalism, Empiricism, and the Kantian Synthesis]
PHI 2390 Philosophy of Feminism and Gender [esp. Chapter 8 Feminist Epistemologies]
PHI 5342 Epistemology
Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics
Edited by George Matthews (Plymouth State University)
2019
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This text examines some of the main threads of discussion on these topics that have developed over the last couple of millennia, mostly within the Western cultural tradition. It considers basic questions about moral and ethical judgment: Is there such a thing as something that is really right or really wrong independent of time, place and perspective? What is the relationship between religion and ethics? How can we reconcile self-interest and ethics? Is it ever acceptable to harm one person in order to help others? What do recent discussions in evolutionary biology or have to say about human moral systems? What is the relation between gender and ethics? The authors invite you to participate in their exploration of these and many other questions in philosophical ethics.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1102 Moral Reasoning
PHI 2174 Ethics
Introduction to Philosophy: Logic
Edited by Ben Martin (University of Bergen) (Rebus Community)
2020
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Introduction to Philosophy: Logic provides students with the concepts and skills necessary to identify and evaluate arguments effectively. The chapters, all written by experts in the field, provide an overview of what arguments are, the different types of arguments one can expect to encounter in both philosophy and everyday life, and how to recognise common argumentative mistakes.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Includes: Questions, exercises, solutions, and glossary
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind
Edited by Heather Salazar (Western New England University) (Rebus Community)
2019
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Mind surveys the central themes in philosophy of mind and places them in a historical and contemporary context intended to engage first-time readers in the field. It focuses on debates about the status and character of the mind and its seemingly subjective nature in an apparently more objective world.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2172 Philosophy of Mind
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion
Edited by Beau Branson (Brescia University) (Rebus Community)
2020
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophy of Religion introduces some of the major traditional arguments for and against the existence of God, as well as some less well-known, but thought-provoking arguments for the existence of God, and one of the most important new challenges to religious belief from the Cognitive Science of Religion. An introductory chapter traces the connection between philosophy and religion throughout Western history, and a final chapter addresses the place of non-Western and non-monotheistic religions within contemporary philosophy of religion.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Includes: Questions to consider and glossary
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2190 Philosophy of Religion
Logical Reasoning
Bradley H. Dowden (California State University)
2017 (updated 2020)
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The goal of this book is to improve your logical reasoning skills. These skills are also called “critical thinking skills.” They are a complex weave of abilities that help you get someone’s point, generate reasons for your own point, evaluate the reasons given by others, decide what or what not to do, decide what information to accept or reject, explain a complicated idea, apply conscious quality control as you think, and resist propaganda. Your most important critical thinking skill is your skill at making judgments─not snap judgments that occur in the blink of an eye, but those that require careful reasoning.
Formats: PDF and Word
Includes: Review of major points, glossary, and exercises
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1101 Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Catherine Wilson (University of York)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Metaethics from a First Person Standpoint addresses in a novel format the major topics and themes of contemporary metaethics, the study of the analysis of moral thought and judgement. Metathetics is less concerned with what practices are right or wrong than with what we mean by ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ Looking at a wide spectrum of topics including moral language, realism and anti-realism, reasons and motives, relativism, and moral progress, this book engages students and general readers in order to enhance their understanding of morality and moral discourse as cultural practices.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1102 Moral Reasoning
PHI 3164 Contemporary Ethical Theories
Modern Philosophy
Walter Ott (University of Virginia)
2013
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This well reviewed open textbook/workbook in modern philosophy combines readings from primary sources with two pedagogical tools.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Includes: Study questions
Reviews: Open Textbook Library – BCcampus – eCampusOntario Open Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1104 Great Philosophers
PHI 2383 Modern Philosophy
Open Logic Text
Richard Zach (University of Calgary), Andrew Arana (University of Paris), Jeremy Avigad (Carnegie Mellon University), Walter Dean (University of Warwick), Gillian Russell (University of North Carolina), Nicole Wyatt (University of Calgary), and Audrey Yap (University of Victoria)
2016
Licence: CC BY 4.0
The Open Logic Text is an open-source, collaborative textbook of formal meta-logic and formal methods, starting at an intermediate level (i.e., after an introductory formal logic course). Though aimed at a non-mathematical audience (in particular, students of philosophy and computer science), it is rigorous.
Formats: PDF and LaTeX
Includes: Problems
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2170 Logic I
The Originals: Classic Readings in Western Philosophy
Jeff McLaughlin (Thompson Rivers University)
2017
Licence: CC BY 4.0
This peer-reviewed, open textbook provides readers with an appreciation and understanding of philosophy framed by the very words and ideas of those who have shaped our thinking over the centuries.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, and PDF
Includes: Primary source documents
Reviews: eCampusOntario Open Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1104 Great Philosophers
Philosophical Ethics: A Guidebook for Beginners
George W. Matthews (Plymouth State University)
2020
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
This book is an introduction to philosophical ethics intended for use in introductory college or high school level courses.
Formats: Online and PDF
Includes: Exercises and slideshow summaries
Suggested for:
PHI 1102 Moral Reasoning
Plato’s Republic: An Introduction
Sean McAleer (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire)
2020
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Plato’s ‘Republic’: An Introduction offers a rigorous and thought-provoking analysis of the text, helping readers navigate one of the world’s most influential works of philosophy and political theory. With its approachable tone and clear presentation, it constitutes a welcome contribution to the field, and will be an indispensable resource for philosophy students and teachers, as well as general readers new to, or returning to, the text.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 2190 Political Philosophy
PHI 2380 Greek Philosophy
Responsible Innovation: Ethics, Safety and Technology
Joost Groot Kormelink (TU Delft)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
This textbook is based on the MOOC Responsible Innovation offered by the TU Delft. It provides a framework to reflect on the ethics and risks of new technologies. How can we make sure that innovations do justice to social and ethical values? How can we minimize (unknown) risks? The book explains: 1) The concept and importance of responsible innovation for society; 2) Key ethical concepts and considerations to analyse the risks of new technologies; 3) Different types of innovation (e.g. radical, niche, incremental, frugal); 4) Roadmap for Responsible Innovation by Industry; and 5) The concept of Value Sensitive Design (VSD).
Format: PDF
Includes: Links to web lectures and case studies
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 4312 Problems in Contemporary Ethics
Some Problems of Philosophy∗
Edited by Diane Gall (Medicine Hat College)
2021
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Some Problems of Philosophy is a first pass at providing a beginning text for college and university students.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and more
Suggested for:
PHI 1103 Fundamental Philosophical Questions
Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined
Ingrid Robeyns (Ethics Institute of Utrecht University)
2017
Licence: CC BY 4.0
How do we evaluate ambiguous concepts such as wellbeing, freedom, and social justice? How do we develop policies that offer everyone the best chance to achieve what they want from life? The capability approach, a theoretical framework pioneered by the philosopher and economist Amartya Sen in the 1980s, has become an increasingly influential way to think about these issues.
Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined is both an introduction to the capability approach and a thorough evaluation of the challenges and disputes that have engrossed the scholars who have developed it. Ingrid Robeyns offers her own illuminating and rigorously interdisciplinary interpretation, arguing that by appreciating the distinction between the general capability approach and more specific capability theories or applications we can create a powerful and flexible tool for use in a variety of academic disciplines and fields of policymaking.
This book provides an original and comprehensive account that will appeal to scholars of the capability approach, new readers looking for an interdisciplinary introduction, and those interested in theories of justice, human rights, basic needs, and the human development approach.
Formats: Online and PDF
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 4311 Problems in Contemporary Political Philosophy
Words of Wisdom: Intro to Philosophy
Jody Ondich (Lake Superior College)
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Words of Wisdom can come from anyone. In this text we discuss topics ranging from “Are Humans good by nature?” to “Is there a God?” to “Do I have the right to my own opinion?” Philosophy is the study of wisdom, and can emerge in our conversations in social media, in school, around the family dinner table, and even in the car. The text uses materials that are 2,500 years old, and materials that were in the news this year. Wise people come in all shapes and types, and from every culture on earth. We have poetry and folktales, sacred writings and letters. Dialogues and interviews, news columns, Ted Talks, YouTube recordings and even comedy are all a part of the content in this text.
Formats: Pressbooks webbook, EPUB, PDF, and MOBI
Includes: Primary source documents, quiz question bank (upon request)
Reviews: Open Textbook Library
Suggested for:
PHI 1103 Fundamental Philosophical Questions
PHI 2122 Ancient Wisdoms
