Helpful books and resources

Understanding Philosophy for AS Level, by
Christopher Hamilton

This school-level textbook, which was published in 2003 for the AS level course, has some very useful chapters on utilitarianism, Kantian ethics and Descartes. It is particularly helpful in its evaluative/discussion material. Of the three, the chapter on Kantian ethics is probably the strongest. With the exception of an early sentence, which is at best confusing, it explains contradiction in the will in a way that students will find very helpful. It’s chapter on utilitarianism goes beyond what is required for the Higher course but has some useful discussion of criticisms. It is again at its strongest when discussing various criticisms of Descartes. Its explanation of the trademark argument, whilst maybe not the best, will no doubt help those who struggle with this part of the text. The discussion of the dreaming argument and the cogito is also very helpful.

The book is less helpful with its general approach to Meditation One. As so often happens, it is used as a jumping off point for a discussion of epistemology and this skews its discussion of the text. At one point Hamilton emphasises that “Descartes is not claiming that he will disbelieve everything that is even capable of being doubted...he will neither believe nor disbelieve, but withhold his assent.” This sits very uneasily with the text where Descartes says, “I think it will be a good plan to turn my will in completely the opposite direction and deceive myself, by pretending for a time that these former opinions are utterly false and imaginary...  I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams... I shall consider myself as not having hands or eyes, or flesh, or blood or senses, but as falsely believing that I have all these things...”

This is no doubt related to the way Hamilton glides over why Descartes introduces the malicious demon by simply saying it was “to make the hypothesis of the deceiving God more vivid.”