Need Help with buying a book on philosophy/ethic
 

Can anyone suggest to me a book on philosophy or ethics?

Ooohh! oooh! pick ME!
 

get The Simpsons and Philosophy . It's almost as good a combination as beer and sex.

thanks for your suggestion. I already have this book. Very entertaining. I liked it. Anyone else?

You could always try reading some of the standard philosophy like David Hume, John Stuart Mill, Descartes, Kant, John Perry and others like them. There are some really old books like Plato's Republic or Machiavelli's Prince. There have been a lot of books written that are stories, but have heavy roots in philosophy like Hichthiker's guide to the Galaxy. There is a lot out there to choose from.

Plato's Republic is always a pleasant treat.

Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintence by Robert Prisig or something like that

For something to NOT read -- I'd recommend Marx. He might have some interesting ideas, but he has no skill in writing whatsoever. Puts me to sleep every time. Rousseau is interesting sometimes, but pretty dry as well.

Just a funny thought, my Poli 169 class is called Political and Social Philosophy, but so far we've read Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Kafka, etc. I'd call it the "Politics of Alienation" -- that's basically all we discuss. Talk about depressing ;p

Tuan Jim

on a side note, this is the third poli sci class I've read Marx in, and we've yet to actually describe his political views on Communism ;p

The best books on philosophy?
 

What do you guys recommend as good books on philosophy? Non-fiction of course. I'd like to get into some of them but know where to start.

Marcus Aurelius: Meditations was required reading in a philosophy class I took in college many years ago. I really enjoyed that one. Funny, I don't even own a copy of it today.

There are so many great books in the area of philosophy, but some others you may want to consider:

Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good & Evil
Plato: The Republic

An overview of the subject would probably be the best start.

One volume I have seen recommended is a Short History of Modern Philosophy by Roger Scruton. You might wish to try and borrow it from the library.

Or it is available in affordable paperback new or secondhand via the <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/0415267633//103-0490778-1180637?condition=all" target="_blank">Amazon</a> pages linked to other sellers.

See also: <A HREF="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=161367" target="_blank">Need Help with buying a book on philosophy/ethic</a>

What particular area of philosophy are you interested in?

Pretty much anything not pertaining to politics. Religion, science anything is open.

Thanks for the replies I'll check those books out.

As for non-fiction, I'd go with Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. For a good introduction, though, I'd go with Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World

David Hume changed my life, so I'd heartily recommend his "Treatise of Human Nature" or "Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding" (or a collection of his works that has long selections from one or both). Nietzsche is always fun, too, so "The Portable Nietzsche" edited by Walter Kaufmann would be a great start.

As already recommended, you may want to start with general overviews before you delve into the primary sources, though.

DJ

Another recommendation would be to get the Simpsons and Philosophy book, or the Seinfeld and Philosophy books. It helps to be able to relate something like philosophy to something you already know about. Granted that some of the essays are better than others, but all around pretty interesting. Also I would also say, get the "A History of Philosophy" by Frederick Copleston. The volume depends on you but I would start with one. Also if you are in for a mammoth undertaking, since you are interested in politics you could go with Aristotle's Politics. Also Plato's Dialogues is also a good place to start.

I agree with Yojimbo that if you are interested in politics, then Aristotle and Plato are your best bets. If you're interested in ways of life, then I would recommend Plato again, but then some of the Eastern philosophers. It is good to read them in chronological order starting with Confucius (who believed in graded love where you honor your family, then your government, then your neighbors, etc) then you can see the responses to him by reading Mo Tzu (I'm blanking on his name but I think that's it) and Yang Chu (who was great because he believed that you base desires are what you should follow which is in stark opposition from the other philosophers who felt that your base desires need to be repressed to find enlightenment).

In case your still reading this, here's my favorite philosophy book of all time which is Chuang Tzu (or Zhuangzi depending on the translation, I recommend Burton Watson's translation personally). He uses a lot of humor and extreme concepts to make his point. It's a very enjoyable read and it's amazing to think that it was written over 2000 years a go.

Since you said you were interested in religion, I wanted to reccomend these two books that are usually taught in Philosophy of Religion courses:

The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade
The Idea of the Holy by Rudolph Otto

Other religious books that deal with philosophy:
Zen and the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
The Visible and the Invisible: Followed by Working Notes (Studies in Phenomenology and Existental Philosophy) by Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Michel Foucault is interesting and he delved into a number of topics.

Amazon listings for Foucault

Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy?

I haven't gotten to that one yet, but it's on my list. I like his and his wife Ariel's Story of Western Civilization series.

You mean the Story of Civilization, right Amator (I'm not aware of a Western Civ book by Durant)? If so, that's one hefty series. I've been eyeing it for a while, and just this last weekend picked up a few second hand ones for near nothing. Vol 9 (Age of Louis XIV) and 10 (AGE OF VOLTAIRE) for $1 each. Woo hoo!

I just finished reading Sophie's World...it's an excellent primer on the foundations. Call it a survey course in philosophy.

The pop culture books are good as far as they go, but you might get more out of a "for dummies" book if they make them for philosophies. I'll have to check. I love those books.

Anyway, if you want to read my thoughts on sophie's world and pop-culture philosophy, follow my blog link in my sig.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a good book, I thought.

Blackburn has two great intro books: "Think" and "Ethics".

Yes, that's correct. I don't own any of them(yet!) and didn't look the title up. Thanks for the correction.