Does the Center Hold? is an entertaining, topically-organized introductory program with more than 500 original illustrations. The ideas and issues typically covered in introductory philosophy courses are presented here in a remarkably accessible and enjoyable manner. With the help of small questions used to tackle the boarder inquiry, students learn to appreciate the details and walk away with an appreciation of philosophy. Donald Palmer demonstrates that serious philosophical inquiry may be perplexing, but is ultimately liberating, and students will come away from the book with a comprehensive, and often delighted, understanding of philosophy. One of the strengths of this book is found in the connections it makes between philosophy and other fields in which students are interested, especially art, literature, physics, sociology, psychology, and psychoanalysis. Students will realize that there is a certain kind of philosophical analysis and form of argumentation whose skills can be learned and applied in other areas of their lives, both personal and professional.
About the Author
Donald Palmer received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of California Berkeley and his Doctorate of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He has published a number of philosophy books, including Looking at Philosophy, Does the Center Hold?, Why It’s Hard to Be Good , and, more popularly, Kierkegaard for Beginners , Sartre for Beginners , and Structuralism and Post-Structuralism for Beginners. He has recently completed a manuscript on Don Quixote titled Philosophy and Madness in La Mancha. He taught for many years at the College of Marin in California and finished his teaching career at North Carolina State University. He and his wife divide their time among North Carolina, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Lot Valley in Southwestern France.