Sophie's Companion

Dr. Mark Curtis-Thames is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Dallas College in Dallas, Texas, USA. He works especially in the areas of religious and ethical diversity, the nature of human social relationships, and political ethics. He teaches a range of courses in the history of ideas, ethics, critical thinking, and the exploration of diverse worldviews. Married, with two grown children and two grossly-immature cats, Dr. Curtis-Thames enjoys camping and hiking.

• Part One: A Partner—no, a Reader—no, a Guide—no, a Mentor—Ah! A Companion!Welcome! An Introduction to an Invitation to Thoughtful LivingIt’s a CompanionWell, Yeah, But Why Even?A Companion to . . . What, Again?Part Two: What Adult Would Care About A Teenage Girl in School?Chapter One of Sophie’s World: The Garden of EdenChapter Two: The Top HatChapter Three: The MythsChapter Four: The Natural PhilosophersThales the Pre-SocraticChapter Five: DemocritusChapter Six: FatePart Three: When The Pupil Is Ready, The Teacher AppearsChapter Seven: SocratesApologyChapters Eight and Nine: Athens and PlatoPlatoChapter Ten: The Major’s CabinChapter Eleven: AristotlePart Four: A Worldview Rooted in TraditionChapter Twelve: HellenismDiogenes of SinopeEpictetusEpicurus: The Letter to MenoeceusPlotinusChapter Thirteen: The PostcardsChapter Fourteen: The Two CulturesAugustineChapter Fifteen: The Middle AgesAbu Hamid al-Ghazzali: From The Deliverance from ErrorHildegard of Bingen: Liber Divinorum Operum (“Book of God’s Works”)Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica (“Theological Summary”) Part Five: The Modern Worldview ArisesChapters Sixteen and Seventeen: The Renaissance and The BaroqueThomas HobbesChapter Eighteen: DescarteheadsChapter Nineteen: SpinozaChapter Twenty: LockeJohn LockeChapter Twenty-One: HumeChapters Twenty-Two and Twenty-Three: Berkeley and BjerkeleyGeorge BerkeleyChapters Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five: The Enlightenment and KantImmanuel KantOlympe des GougesMary WollstonecraftPart Six: Into The Fog of NowChapter Twenty-Six:RomanticismChapter Twenty-Seven:HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelChapter Twenty-Eight:KierkegaardChapter Twenty-Nine:MarxJohn Stuart MillJohn Stuart MillOn Liberty, chapter 1. Chapter Thirty:DarwinCharles PeirceWilliam JamesChapter Thirty-One:FreudChapter Thirty-Two:In Our Own TimeJean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism Is a HumanismSimone de Beauvoir: The Second SexChapter Thirty-Three:The Garden PartyChapters Thirty-Four and Thirty-FiveCounterpoint and The Big BangPart Seven: A Concluding . . . Invitation?!Yes: Invitation…BibliographyEndnotes