Philosophy Then and Now provides an innovative and engaging blend of introductory text with classic and contemporary readings. Each of the eight parts begins with an introductory section on the major ideas associated with a seminal figure from the history of philosophy. This is followed by key selections from the essential writings of that philosopher, as well as influential selections from contemporary figures. Key figures covered include: Socrates, Aquinas, Locke, Descartes, Mill, Nietzsche, Marx, and Sartre.

By focusing on the core themes, issues and problems of philosophy, the volume motivates student interest in the subject, and represents a distinctive text for all introductory courses in philosophy.

N. Scott Arnold is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has been a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is the author of Marx's Radical Critique of Capitalist Society (1990) and The Philosophy and Economics of Market Socialism (1994).

Theodore M. Benditt has been Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Alabama at Birmingham since 1984 and a member of its Philosophy Department since 1978. He is the author of Law as Rule and Principle: Problems of Legal Philosophy (1978) and Rights (1982).

George Graham is Professor of Philosophy and Psychology and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the former editor of the journal "Behavior and Philosophy" and the author of Philosophy of Mind (Blackwell, 1993). He co-edited (with Hugh LaFollette) Person to Person (1989); and (with G. Lynn Stephens) Philosophical Psychopathology (1994); as well as (with William Bechtel) A Companion to Cognitive Science (Blackwell, 1998).