This popular introductory text provides a unique set of teaching tools for instructors who prefer a synoptic approach. The text is visually appealing and reader friendly. The author accents his accessible writing with cartoons, quotations, and related findings from the social and physical sciences, reinforcing his conception of philosophy as the individual's attempt to unify disparate world views. The style of writing makes central philosophical concepts readily engaging to students. Interspersed biographies give the student a feeling for the lives of the great thinkers who have fashioned the Western philosophical tradition and have determined largely how we think today. Above all, this text nurtures the analytical skills students will need to critically engage the "big picture" of Western philosophy for themselves.

World riddle -- Spirit of inquiry -- Critical analysis -- Synoptic synthesis -- Predicament -- Self -- Growth -- Lifetime -- Knowledge -- Senses -- Mind -- Truth -- Psyche -- Time -- Freedom -- Symbols -- History -- Laws/conscience -- Lifestyles -- Politics -- Ethics -- Life -- Humans -- Earth -- Future -- Knowledge of nature -- Space/time/motion -- Cosmos -- Biocosmos -- Ultimate concern -- Ultimate reality -- Death/immortality -- Meaning/existence -- Postlude -- Glossary -- Credits -- Index to marginal quotations -- Name/subject index.