Administration Guide

4. The Textbook and Other Necessities

There is only one textbook and it is required reading:

Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings, by Elliott Sober (2nd edition), Prentice-Hall, 1995 (ISBN 002413161X)

Sober is all we really expect you to buy. But I have asked Bennett’s to lay in as well a small stock of:

The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy, edited by Thomas Mautner (revised edition), Penguin Books, 1998 (ISBN 0140512500)

as well. In Bennett’s system, this book counts as "recommended" (i.e. some students will buy it), rather than "highly recommended" (i.e. half the class will buy it). They are stocking 50 copies for 2000, since it is the first time we have used this dictionary; the one we previously recommended to everyone is now out of print. Maybe don’t plump down your money the very first day of semester - though when else will you have any? But you will find a dictionary such as this very useful to have about the house. Most ordinary English dictionaries will be extremely misleading if you try to look up philosophical terms in them.

Those of you who are used to the wicked ways of the new world may want to compare the deal you can get locally with an internet bookstore such as www.amazon.com or www.borders.com or www.barnesandnoble.com. Airmail postage is expensive - and don’t bother with any other for a single semester course - but it may still turn out a bargain. As well, Bennett’s has recently acquired a rival in Palmerston North whose name I am legally barred from putting into print (can you believe it!); they carry a stock of both books. Finally, the course has now been around long enough for there to be used copies, if you can find them.

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