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Books and links for beginner philosophy

13

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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Help & Feedback Category Moderators Posts: 9,522 CMod ✭✭✭✭Shield


    Leopardi: Can you confirm that the links you posted are not infringing copyrights? I've removed them until you can provide me with a substantive answer, which you can send to me via PM if you wish.


  • Registered Users Posts: 89 ✭✭decp


    For those looking for a starter in Philosophy you could do a lot worse than look up Robert C Solomon, his lectures are available on-line, his focus is the Existentialist's but be puts them in context with Philosophers from the pre-Socratics, Mediaeval, Renaissance and modern philosophies. He is interesting and accessible. If you catch the bug and wander down the rabbit hole invest in Bertrand Russell's 'History of Western Philosophy'. A lot of philosophers got noticed for 'debunking' rather than building on other philosophers, so its good to get a grasp of the fundamental principles.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 47 Slouch


    Oopsie, left out the Aristotle one.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0Uq08xXhY


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 126 ✭✭David Matthew


    Good stuff Slouch! :D

    While I would be slow to recommend too much else by Colin Wilson, his first book The Outsider really takes some beating in terms of sheer breadth, passion and depth.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,961 ✭✭✭LionelNashe


    I did a quick search to see if Thomas Nagel is mentioned in the thread and I don't see him - so I would recommend "What does it all mean"

    A book that I would recommend that took a while to sink after I read it is "A question of trust" by Onora O'Neill.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7 QuanChi


    A good approach to understanding the Philosophical method would be to ease yourself in with real world examples, things you can immediately understand without having to ply through dictionaries and heavy, alienating dialogue.

    Try some Bioethics for example. Arguments for and against stem cell research or euthanasia, things you can relate too. Poverty, war, the death penalty, these kinds of things.

    The texts on these, with case histories, are expensive though - but you can find some good examples on googlevideos where you will pick up some good debates. Just familiarize yourself with the dialogue and method. I would recommend some debates on Euthanasia to begin with.

    Maybe try some greek Philosophy, like Plato's Laches. It isn't long or alienating in any way. It is just a straight forward demonstartion of the Socratic method of discourse, its aim is to discover meaning in things, true values - in this case, Courage. You can find it here: http://www.greektexts.com/library/Plato/laches,-or-courage/eng/index.html

    www.greektexts.com has lots of the stuff you are looking for. Just run a few wikipedia searches on the names of Philosophers on the left hand side column, pick something that takes your fancy and go and read it.
    Maybe copy them into a word document as it is pretty messy to look at online if you are using a small screen.

    This should keep you busy but when you have this much done, I'd recommend some reading in the Philosophy of language and Philosophical logic. Be careful with the logic, straight Philosophical logic isn't too technical and can be learned without any heavy use of symbols, but formal logic is quite steep in terms of symbology and syntax. Ease yourself into it. A solid beginners knowledge of these two subjects would put you in a great position to go ahead with the heavier works of Kant, Nietzsche and Heidegger etc. I would avoid Metaphysics and Phenomenology until I was well versed in the subjects highlighted to be honest.

    Reading list:
    Bioethics
    Ancient Greek Philosophy
    Philosophy of language
    Philosophical logic

    An amazon search with these titles should give you plenty of options.

    Best of luck with it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6 g.rose


    I recommend Montaigne and Plato, both are very accessible and link to later thought. For deeper exposure you can't really beat Aristotle, there's not much he didn't give some thought to, even in the limited surviving works. Fair enough, he had some mad thoughts (see the human body or the planets), but he was working in the dark so to speak. University courses are heavily reliant on Plato's Dialogues and rightly so. Nietzsche and Schopenhauer fanciers might enjoy Thomas Mann's Death in Venice for a fictional exploration of their favorite themes. It's all subjective though, everybody has a preference.
    Nothing wrong with pop philosophy, much of the work considered to be serious and important is also fairly obscure and opaque to the detriment of the philosopher and student alike. Intellectual snobbery should never trump intellectual curiosity IMO.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 126 ✭✭David Matthew


    g.rose wrote:
    Nothing wrong with pop philosophy, much of the work considered to be serious and important is also fairly obscure and opaque to the detriment of the philosopher and student alike. Intellectual snobbery should never trump intellectual curiosity IMO.

    Absolutely. Those philosophers who consider such works beneath their notice would most likely be unable to produce such works themselves. Obscurity can often act as a protection for those simply incapable of clarity. And pop philosophy can be a wonderful revitalizer I think. I recommended this book to my other half: The Story of Philosophy. Beautifully illustrated.
    g.rose wrote:
    Nietzsche and Schopenhauer fanciers might enjoy Thomas Mann's Death in Venice for a fictional exploration of their favorite themes.

    Thanks for that, haven't read much of Mann, will check that one out!


  • Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Shtanto


    I'm more inclined towards the more modern philosophers like David Chalmers and Susan Blackmore. Susan Blackmore and Dan Dennett have some good Ted talks up on www.ted.com.

    My own approach is to start with a good question and chew on it for a while. Here's one to start you off, from Nagle who I read about in UCD: What is it like to be a bat?

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra isn't too hard to read, but it might go over your head a bit at first.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 13 bitlocked


    Bertrand Russell's "Problems of Philosophy" is a great introduction not only to the questions philosophers ask (and don't ask) but also how they go about asking and exploring those questions. I found it much more accessible than his History of Western Philosophy, which a few people here have been recommending.

    One which is not an easy read at all, but is my favourite philosophical work when it comes to some Big Questions, is Arthur Schopenhauer's "World as Will and Idea".

    Schopenhauer-lite, known to some as Nietzsche, is also great.

    You also have Michel Foucault, Edward Said and others whose work is not as strictly philosophical as Russell or Nietzsche, say, but who are excellent at creating compelling arguments and at getting down to what feel like fundamental truths.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,961 ✭✭✭LionelNashe


    Shtanto wrote: »
    I'm more inclined towards the more modern philosophers like David Chalmers and Susan Blackmore. Susan Blackmore and Dan Dennett have some good Ted talks up on www.ted.com.

    My own approach is to start with a good question and chew on it for a while. Here's one to start you off, from Nagle who I read about in UCD: What is it like to be a bat?

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra isn't too hard to read, but it might go over your head a bit at first.

    I read Susan Blackmore's 'Meme Machine' years ago, right after Dawkins 'Selfish Gene', and I thought it was very good. Haven't read anything else of hers but she's apparently a Buddhist and a scientist, so I might see what she has.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8 Shady93


    If you're just starting out and looking for something to ease yourself into philosophy, I'd recommend Philosophy by Stephen Law. It's really easy to read, and had a brief background on many of the major philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, and Kant!


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,831 ✭✭✭Torakx


    I have found a truly excellent lecturer, on youtube, covering the lives and work of a couple of famous philosophers. About an hour each one and they are audio only.
    This guy is very entertaining to listen to and the stories are informative.
    I highly reccomend them as a layman anyway.

    http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ff15w4ufviWfv9UfIuByA/videos?flow=grid&view=0

    If you want a laugh, check out Derrida, funny guy!

    I'm very sad, I have run out of this guys videos and I am lost for finding another lecturer who is interesting to listen too :(


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,212 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Torakx wrote: »
    If you want a laugh, check out Derrida, funny guy!
    I will review your link when time permits. If this is the filmed interview with Jacques Derrida shortly before his death, he combines humour with method, deconstructing his own biography while they film it. What a craic!


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,831 ✭✭✭Torakx


    Black Swan wrote: »
    I will review your link when time permits. If this is the filmed interview with Jacques Derrida shortly before his death, he combines humour with method, deconstructing his own biography while they film it. What a craic!
    Wow that sounds awesome, I would love to see that.

    These links I put up are all from the same lecturer in the states somewhere. and audio only. Each an hour long.
    He covers the life and philosophy of a good few philosophers and is by far the best speaker I have heard on philosophy.
    I go to sleep listening to these lectures :D


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,212 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Torakx wrote: »
    Wow that sounds awesome, I would love to see that.
    Somehow I found myself in university theatre killing time one weekend, and this philosopher film series documentary was shown interviewing Jacques Derrida. I almost left the threatre after the first 20 or so minutes, but it was raining hard outside, so I stayed to see the entire film. Afterwards I was so glad I had stayed. While being filmed and interviewed, Derrida was very subtly deconstructing the interviewer, questions, cameraman, setting, film editing, film series, etc. Derrida concluded with humour that the film was more about them than him. When I have a bit more time I will search for a link to that film and post it here.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,642 ✭✭✭MRnotlob606


    Reading a Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton, Pretty good introduction to philosophy.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,365 ✭✭✭Joya


    id recommend essays from Artur Schopenhauer,
    I really enjoyed this little book , I'd highly recommend it to anyone

    it can be read here : )
    On the Freedom of the Will

    wrong link : ) it's analyses of the essay

    ill try to find a pdf of his actual book

    unbelieavable i was unable to find a pdf for download
    the only link to share would be this
    kindle version on amazon


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,212 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Welcome to the Philosophy forum Joya!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,856 ✭✭✭Valmont


    Does anyone have any advice on where to start with the issue of free will? I've read The Free Will Theorem articles (which went way over my head) and some essays by Galen and P.F Strawson but I'm no closer to having a grasp of the main issues. That we have free will seems so completely confirmed by my everyday experience but I can't shake the feeling that our idea of causality renders it impossible--but when I accept that position I can't accept that there is no such thing as moral responsibility. I think perhaps an introductory textbook or something might be what I need. Thanks.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 47,212 CMod ✭✭✭✭Black Swan


    Valmont wrote: »
    Does anyone have any advice on where to start with the issue of free will?
    "Free Will" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy may be useful.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 212 ✭✭HobbyMan


    Reading a Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton, Pretty good introduction to philosophy.

    Ah, you beat me to it! I found it a great read and am reading it again with a view to discuss specific points with others.

    I also concur with Wilson's The Outsider though it may be wise to be somewhat familiar with the characters he references. I can see faint images of myself reflected back to me when I read that book. Hhhmmmmm.

    Thinking of Sophie's World now as I'd like something easy after reading tonnes of Nietzsche.....or perhaps Dawkins' God Delusion or Hawkins' A Brief History of Time (ok, neither are true philosophy but the forks in the road always look interesting).

    If only I had more time!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,525 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    I'm finding The Philosophers' Mail overviews of famous philosophers and their ideas a very mind-opening experience. I surmise most or all of them are written by Alain de Botton. If so, they avoid the "pop" stuff which for me made The Consolations of Philosophy flippant and superficial (even if it did have some gems of inspiration - I wish there had been more). I'm particularly taken by Heidegger and existentialism so far.

    The Great Philosophers 1: Plato

    The Great Philosophers 2: The Stoics

    The Great Philosophers 3: Epicurus

    The Great Philosophers 4: Nietzsche

    The Great Philosophers 5: Adam Smith

    The Great Philosophers 6: Hegel

    The Great Philosophers 7: Sartre

    The Great Philosophers 8: Adorno

    The Great Philosophers 9: Weber

    The Great Philosophers 10: Heidegger

    The Great Philosophers 11: Durkheim

    The Great Philosophers 12: Augustine

    The Great Philosophers 13: Ruskin

    The Great Philosophers 14: Arnold

    The Great Philosophers 15: La Rochefoucauld

    The Great Philosophers 16: Rawls


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,642 ✭✭✭MRnotlob606


    gaiscioch wrote: »
    I'm finding The Philosophers' Mail overviews of famous philosophers and their ideas a very mind-opening experience. I surmise most or all of them are written by Alain de Botton. If so, they avoid the "pop" stuff which for me made The Consolations of Philosophy flippant and superficial (even if it did have some gems of inspiration - I wish there had been more). I'm particularly taken by Heidegger and existentialism so far.

    The Great Philosophers 1: Plato

    The Great Philosophers 2: The Stoics

    The Great Philosophers 3: Epicurus

    The Great Philosophers 4: Nietzsche

    The Great Philosophers 5: Adam Smith

    The Great Philosophers 6: Hegel

    The Great Philosophers 7: Sartre

    The Great Philosophers 8: Adorno

    The Great Philosophers 9: Weber

    The Great Philosophers 10: Heidegger

    The Great Philosophers 11: Durkheim

    The Great Philosophers 12: Augustine

    The Great Philosophers 13: Ruskin

    The Great Philosophers 14: Arnold

    The Great Philosophers 15: La Rochefoucauld

    The Great Philosophers 16: Rawls

    Great resource indeed, I've written to Alain de botton a few times actually and he replied on all occasions. Seem's like a nice guy and his School of Life project is doing tremendously well right now.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1 IntroToPhi


    "Maurizio Bisogno is one of the few persons I know who have made of philosophy their fundamental commitment for life. For this reason I think that he would be very stimulating when coming into contact with young students as a teacher, increasing their motivation for the study of philosophy, and exchanging with them a real philosophical dialogue." Evandro Agazzi Emeritus Professor of Philosophy

    How to understand philosophy without reading thousands of pages — An intelligent quick introduction.
    Understanding what is Philosophy is considered difficult. Because of its time span: 2400 years. Because of the hundreds of authors. Because of difficult theories, to quote only some common reasons.

    Nevertheless, the Western world is rooted in Philosophy.
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    These new tools offered a new explanation of Nature, of the world and of our place within it. They provided a method to understand reality. This book will guide you through the origin of Philosophy and its most important developments. The second part of this book is dedicated to the philosophy in practice: a series of articles to practice philosophy in our daily life.

    This is the first volume of a series that intends to initiate the young student to the great thinkers of our culture while offering a starting point to all those who are interested in Philosophy for their own information and cultural interest. “We stand on the shoulders of giants” means simply that you need to know those giants of the Western world, explore their thinking and enrich yourself of their dreams, efforts and their thinking. Here I am offering you a ladder to claim on their shoulders! For all the rest, you will love it. So, order your copy of Introduction to Philosophy on AMAZON or Createspace.com
    Thank you


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 1,025 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Free online "Philosophy and Critical Thinking" class from the University of Queensland. Starts March 17 2020.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 1,025 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Power and Responsibility: Doing Philosophy with Superheroes. Free classes offered by Smithsonian through edX. Unfortunately archived. Might return: "Future Dates To Be Announced."


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 1,025 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Free classes from edX: Ethics in Life Sciences and Healthcare: Exploring Bioethics through Manga. Begins January 15. Self-paced.


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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Regional East Moderators, Regional Midlands Moderators, Regional Midwest Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators, Regional North Mods, Regional West Moderators, Regional South East Moderators, Regional North East Moderators, Regional North West Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 1,025 CMod ✭✭✭✭Fathom


    Another free edX: Libertarian Free Will: Neuroscientific and Philosophical Evidence. Archived: Future Dates To Be Announced.


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