Philosophy Reading List

[Entropy]

Please reccomend some good books to read. I especially like philosophy dealing with science and religion. What are some good books in this category? Is Richard Dawking good or what ?

[sHaRp12]

I would personally recommend Victor Hugos's Les Miserables for a strong commentary on the philosophy of society and It's faults.

As far as science goes nothing comes to mind.

For religion try - A critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz.

Another good simple yet deeply Philosophical book is William Golding's The Lord of the flies. But that is also about human society and natural instinct of savagery.

Hope I helped. :)

[cuppajoe_9]

Richard Dawkins is pretty cool, but you won't get an even-handed discussion of religion out of him. Very important ideas in biology, however.

[Azazello]

The Devil's Apocrypha by John A. De Vito.

It will certainly plant some questions in your mind.


S.

[ShoutGrace]

Please reccomend some good books to read. I especially like philosophy dealing with science and religion. What are some good books in this category? Is Richard Dawking good or what ?

I'm not sure what kind of religious philosophies you're looking for but the book Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0830826947/sr=8-7/qid=1144393152/ref=pd_bbs_7/002-4304997-5910436?%5Fencoding=UTF8) is a worthwhile overview of that side of it. I'm not sure about any other faiths.

[mono]

Please reccomend some good books to read. I especially like philosophy dealing with science and religion. What are some good books in this category? Is Richard Dawking good or what ?
A few I may recommend, some dealing more with science than religion, and vice versa:
Metaphysics by Aristotle, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume, The Nature Of The Gods by Cicero, anything by Leonard Shlain, Carl Sagan, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (though he wrote many political works, too), William Paley, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and Sigmund Freud.

[Daniel A. C.]

William James' Pragmatism has an unusual take on both science and religion, arguing along the lines that the truth is what works. He also wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience, which I haven't read, but I understand it deals with a philosophical look on mysticism and comparative religion.
Pragmatism (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140437355/sr=8-1/qid=1152021202/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9131766-4912009?ie=UTF8)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679640118/qid=1152021342/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9131766-4912009?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

Bertrand Russell: The Scientific Outlook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/041524997X/qid=1152021537/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9131766-4912009?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

Thomas Kuhn, the originator of the concept of paradigm shifts: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226458083/qid=1152021704/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9131766-4912009?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

Philosophy by a scientist, Einstein: Ideas and Opinions (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0517003937/qid=1152021774/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9131766-4912009?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

[Charles Darnay]

The Origins of Species by Darwin

[~*Dark Faerie*~]

It depends I guess on what you're interested in. Breaking it up time wise I'd say:

Ancients- Of course, Aristotle, Plato, etc. all of their key works. Early Christian philosophy, Saint Augustine, City of God, The Confessions

Medieval-Medieval philosophy is often unfairly overlooked. Here I would reccommend Boethius, Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham.

Early Modern Period- Obviously Rene Descartes, John Locke, later on, Voltaire and Rousseau (even though you're more interested in science these latter ones I think are great for understanding the politics of the time) and focusing on science I'd say Sir Issac Newton

Modern-Charles Darwin On the Origin of the Species and my favorite Sigmund Freud both The Interpretation of Dreams and Civilizations and Its Discontents

[Regit]

Go to the library, to the Philosophy section, and pick up the first book from the top and right hand side that you have not yet read; and, then, begin to read in the tranquility of the library and of philosophy until your period of spare time ends. And repeat the process every day until there's nothing left. ;)

If you're not weird like some ...people :), there might be another way. I don't think that any philosophy doesn't at least discuss science and religion. I'd start with the most influencial philosophers, for they are inspirations for later philosophers and knowing their works would make later reading much easier. Thus, it might also be useful to read philosophy in the right order of time. So I'd start with Plato's "The Republic", and "Laws".

[pAranoiaTTack]

what i have read, and enjoyed.

"Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design"
-Michael Shermer

"Why I Am Not A Christian:And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects"
"Science and Religion"
-Bertrand Russell


hello everyone! im new.
*waves franticly*

[teewillis1981]

Hello I'm new! I'm excited to be a part of this literature group! I have some suggestions for some insightful philosophical works.
"Thus Spoke Zarasutra" by Nietzsche
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig
"The Romantic Manifesto; a philosophy of literature" by Ayn Rand
"The Philosophy of Hegel" by Friedrich Hegel
I look forward to chatting with you all!

[Nightwalk]

Welcome to the forums paranoiaattack and teewillis1981.

[Chrysalisyah]

Please reccomend some good books to read. I especially like philosophy dealing with science and religion. What are some good books in this category? Is Richard Dawking good or what ?

"What Is The Origin of Man?: The Answers of Science and the Holy Scriptures" written by Dr. Maurice Bucaille. A book written with the aim of exposing outmoded antagonisms between science and religion. He elaborate the thoughts on Darwin's idea of evolution, the successive waves of human types from primitive to homo sapiens, innate and acquate behaviour between man and animals, preliminary notions on the holy scriptures, etc... I've been reading the book and still am reading it. :thumbs_up

[jcrowley]

I like Lucretius' On the Nature of Being. I picked up an 18th century copy from an internet used book store and found annotations in the margins exclaiming blasphamy: neat stuff. He developed a cogent idea of being, argued against a deity, and wanted to eliminate superstition, all written using beautiful poetry. The ending with plague and burning pyres is over the top.

[jcrowley]

Dawkins? Isn't this the guy that wrote about selfish genes? "I found 'em and those little guys are actually in control of everything." Win a Nobel prize and then publish a wacko book? Pretty much makes me wonder if he really deserved that award.

Why not read someone who actually understands science and has interesting things to say: Stephen Jay Gould: The Pandas Thumb, The Flamingos Smile, etc

[cuppajoe_9]

Dawkins? Isn't this the guy that wrote about selfish genes? "I found 'em and those little guys are actually in control of everything." Win a Nobel prize and then publish a wacko book? Pretty much makes me wonder if he really deserved that award.Selfish gene theory is actually the most widely accepted theory of the mechanics of evolutionary selection. The word 'selfish' is a metaphor, meaning that the genes which survive are those which are best at propogating themselves, not necesarily those which are best for the organism in which they live. It's quite obvious once you understand it actually.

Richard Dawkins, although he has never won a Nobel Prize, holds the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is, in other words, a genius. Glad as I am that you mention Stephen Jay Gould, Dawkins' long-time rival, dismissing Dawkins as somebody who doesn't understand science or who doesn't have interesting things to say is ridiculously ignorant. I suggest you read the book.