I think Michel Foucault is worth a look. I am no expert in philosophy, but his books seem to be "how it ended up like this" kind of history books. Really quite eye-opening. Pretty difficult at times though.
I want to read Derrida, but honestly, I have no idea where to start with him.
Here my favorites, ordered by date of appearance (if I remember correctly). My criteria are effect at time of publication and later, as well as quality of content (relative to the knowledge around at the time of publication).
The Republic - Plato
De Rerum Natura - Lucretius (credit goes to Democritus and Epicurus)
Critique of Pure Reason - Kant
Utilitarianism - Mill
The Origin of Species - Darwin
Genealogy of Morals - Nietzsche
The Selfish Gene - Dawkins
Practical Ethics - Singer
Unweaving the Rainbow - Dawkins
Darwin's Dangerous Idea - Dennett
'The Origin of Species' and 'The Selfish Gene' are philosophy books too, altough maybe not primarily. They are of utmost importance because they actually answer questions minds before have been asking and contemplating for millennia. And I'm surprised 'Practical Ethics' not been mentioned before. Maybe I should have included some Hume too, but I'm not familiar with him, only very superficially..
Last edited by Dodo25; 06-26-2010 at 06:15 AM.
All the recommendations here are if works from past philosophers so is more about the history of philosophy than current philosophies. Many of the criticisms of philosophy lie in the fact that all philosophers focus on arguments of those long gone. While it is interesting reading from a certain perspective, I am concerned that none of the recommendations are of current works that consider the questions from today's thinkers and in the light of new scientific knowledge. I have read books about the history of philosophy but wonder if there are any books written by today's philosophers as i'm ready to start analysing the arguments the affect our world today? Can anyone recommend any? I have read peter cave and am a fan of the podcast philosophy bites. I also recommend "sophie's world" a very easy and informative introduction to the subject.
Actually, the books I posted (with the exception of 'de rerum natura', i chose that for different reasons) are still relevant today (altough in some cases they need to be 'modernized'), otherwise I wouldn't consider them important.Originally Posted by SueFew
Additionally, Dawkins, Dennett and Singer are still alive as far as I know. So there you go, their books are very interesting and tackle important issues.
While others mentioned Camus, none mentioned this masterwork. I totally agree and what I found so striking about it was how simply written it is. The visuals, the descriptions are so rich and alive, so much so that it draws a person in like a cool breath. Indeed it doesn't daunt the reader with too much heaviness, which would make the book less than enjoyable. Camus knew his character, knew his story and captured a perfect little book of a man not knowing the people around him, his role or himself.
One event altered the rest of his remaining life, and by far one of the best books I read in 2008.
"The goal of man is to smile at a raging storm that once bore fear in his heart." - Boethius
In my point of view those are my choices
Plato: the Republic
Plato: the Symposium
Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics
Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
Augustine: the Confessions
Descartes: Meditations
Hobbes: Leviathon
Hume: an Inquiry concerning Human Understanding
Kant: Critique of Pure Reason
Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit
Wittgenstein: philosophical Investigations
Rawls: a Theory of Justice
De Rerum Natura is a major work of Epicurean philosophy, besides being a great poem. It is central to the work of many modern philosophers, like Martha Nussbaum and Pierre Hadot. The latter writer, following *after* Foucault, suggests that Epicurean exercises are entirely appropriate to the modern condition (with modifications.) So 'de rerum natura' is certainly relevant (at least in part... a pretty major part...)
Genealogy of Morals - Nietzsche
Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche
The Gay Science - Nietzsche
The Anti Christ - Nietzsche
Twilight of The Idols - Nietzsche
The Birth of Tragedy - Nietzsche
Ecce Homo - Nietzsche
Human, All Too Human - Nietzsche
Untimely Meditations - Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra - Nietzsche
My top ten books would probably be, in no particular order (in historical order, perhaps), these ten:
Organon - Aristotle
Meditations - Descartes
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - Hume
Critique of Pure Reason - Kant
Begriffsschrift - Frege
Being and Time - Heidegger
Philosophical Investigations - Wittgenstein
How to do Things With Words - Austin
Truth and Method - Gadamer
Traditional and analytical philosophy. Lectures on the philosophy of language - Tugendhat
This is, of course, a list of those books which are traditionally regarded as philosophy, I omitted psychoanalysis and semiotics from the list.
Noću, u intimnom, poluglasnom razgovoru sa samim sobom, nikako ne mogu zapravo logički opravdati zašto se u posljednje vrijeme toliko uzrujavam zbog ljudske gluposti.
Miroslav Krleža
The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky
Notes From Underground, by Dostoevsky
Critique of Pure Reason, by Kant
Meditations on First Philosophy, by Descartes
Discourse on the Method, by Descartes
Utopia, by More
The Social Contract, by Rousseau
The Book of the Courtier, by Castiglione
The Nichomachean Ethics, by Aristotle
Beyond Good and Evil, by Nietzsche
and anything by Karl Marx.
In my opinion the most significant and substantial work on the philosophy of literature and existence in this past century, and perhaps in time immemorial, must be Jacque Derrida's Of Grammatology. After a few brief pages, drawn into Derrida's meticulously littered and complex world, life, existence, language, and philosophy; subjects, objects, words, and ideas began eroding under the intensity of his gaze. I put down the book and looked at my hand. Was it still a hand? And what is a hand? If I have a hand I must be capable of feeling, but what is feeling, and do I feel?
I have no blood in these veins
but words that run as coarse
and dark as when they first
encounter arteries of secrets
that burst onto this page.
To understand philosophy read poetry.
Last edited by .Kafka; 08-10-2010 at 05:46 PM.
I have no blood in these veins
but words that run as coarse
and dark as when they first
encounter arteries of secrets
that burst onto this page.
I agree, inasmuch Foucault is a pioneer in the theory of the genealogy of history and the mechanisms of power. To begin Derrida, begin with Saussure.
I have no blood in these veins
but words that run as coarse
and dark as when they first
encounter arteries of secrets
that burst onto this page.
I like your attitude. Yes, Nietzsche is a god in his own right.
I have no blood in these veins
but words that run as coarse
and dark as when they first
encounter arteries of secrets
that burst onto this page.
Thanks, I like yours too.
Of course Plato must be read too, but only in the beginning and only to set the stage for Nietzsche. And I imagine in 5-10 or maybe more years I'll have assimilated Nietzsche to the point where I'll then be able to dispense with his books as well.
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