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Philosophy

Stubb

Stubb

Jun 4, 2001
4,414
4,939
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Holland, MI
#1
Does philosophy interest anyone else here?

I went on a book binge today, and bought:

Bertrand Russell: Problems with Philosophy and Why I Am Not A Christian
Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling
Plato: Republic

Earlier this week, I bought Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which I am enjoying.

I've read the two major Ayn Rand works and a few smaller ones, and I've read parts of a Kierkegaard Anthology.

I find this stuff extremely interesting. Does anyone else find it thus? If so, what do you recommend I pick up next time I do a philosophy binge?
 
#9
I'm not so much into formal philosphy, but I like having philosophical discussions among friends. Sometimes my favorite thing to do is to just lay out under the stars and just start "what if" topics. It's amazing how many hours can fly by when talking about the shape of the universe and by how many dimensions there really are.
 
#10
Ah Plato's Republic, good choice! I've just got into philosophy and that was the first "classic" text I read. Hoping to study it at uni next year :) As for next things to buy, 'Invitation to Philosophy' by Martin Hollis is the best introduction I have read, there are endless classics out there; I want to read 'Concept of Mind' by Gilbert Ryle next.
 
#11
Taking the History of Western Philosophy right now, been through Heraclitos, Anaximenes, Anaximander, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and Spinoza, working on Hume now.

Philosophy is CRAZY abstract, and the funny thing is that the more you understand it, the harder it is to explain it. I've liked some of the stuff we've read, but I've always been more intrigued by the Eastern philosophers like Chuang Tzu and some Zen philosophy.
 
#15
I kinda found Plato's Republic to kinda suck, really. I don't dig his style of writing (it's like the way Friends is funny because the rest of the script is worded to build up to be able to deliver hte punch-line, almost), and the concepts sorta suck too. The whole "Do not let them speak of evil, or about Hell" and so on is just stupid, really; it's like a bad dictatorship. Equally, most of him allegories demonstrate his points well but at the same time his points are typically flawed. As our philosophy teacher said: The thing we do with Republic is build it up to knock it down.

Russell's The History Of Western Philosophy was interesting to a point, but it just didn't inspire me much.

One book that has made me think and assess the world more than any other (and bamboozle my phil. teacher!) is "Straw Dogs" by John Gray. Also, "The Templar Revelation" by...damn, I've forgotten for now, but anyway, that books rules too. It makes you think and in most cases doubt the roots of Christianity so much. It's a proper research into the way that we portray Christ, Catholicism and Christianity in general. There's some awesome stuff in there.

Buy Straw Dogs now.

Mark.
 
#16
Eric Cioe said:
Does philosophy interest anyone else here?

I went on a book binge today, and bought:

Bertrand Russell: Problems with Philosophy and Why I Am Not A Christian
Soren Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling
Plato: Republic

Earlier this week, I bought Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which I am enjoying.

I've read the two major Ayn Rand works and a few smaller ones, and I've read parts of a Kierkegaard Anthology.

I find this stuff extremely interesting. Does anyone else find it thus? If so, what do you recommend I pick up next time I do a philosophy binge?
Click to expand...

Yes - I did my degree on Philosophy and read all those many years ago.

I would recommend :

Philosophical Fragments by Kierkegaard

and then read :

Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein.

In that order!! ;)


Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein are the only philosophers who actually make me laugh!!
 
#20
"The Holographic Universe", by Michael Talbot.

Not exactly philosophy, but it does have some serious ramifications on how we view the world around us and what our lives may mean. I went from being a die hard fundamentalist to being very open and questioning everything, and this book played a large part of that change.

Not to get overly religious, but I think every person who has an interest in philosophic thought should attempt to read some holy books in their entirity. I've read the Bible straight through twice, and am currently struggling through the Koran (B'Ghad Vita is next). Alot of our current thought has been shaped over the years by various religions, and it's interesting to see what it's actually doing to our brains from the source (which most people don't read, whether they believe it or not).
 

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