philosophy recommendations

[Pasolini is me]

Hi, just wondering if anyone can help me with some recommendations on philosophy books. I'm trying to get some for a friend who love reading Aristotle, Socrates, Kant, Voltaire, Plato and Doetevsky. Any suggestions?
Thanks!:p

[hyperborean]

Well it would help quite a bit if we knew what he's read already.

As always I will recommend Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche.

[Charles Darnay]

Some of my choice favourites (might have already read them...)

Plato's Republic
Trial and Death of Socrates - Plato
Candide - Voltaire
Notes from Underground - Dostoevsky

[Mr. Dr. Ralph]

Get him Karamazov instead, be a man.

[Charles Darnay]

Get him Karamazov instead, be a man.


haha...I've read Karamazov and I definatly don't recommend it as a first Dostoevsky novel, great as it is.

[bazarov]

Well it would help quite a bit if we knew what he's read already.

As always I will recommend Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche.

I'm starting it in next days. It will be fun...


Get him Karamazov instead, be a man.

I'm sure Karamzov is easier to understand and read then Zaratustra.

[linz]

The Republic

[Unbeliever]

I can wholeheartedly recommend Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments (http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0767420500.html). I enjoyed it tremendously, and it's a very good introduction, indeed!

[dramasnot6]

Nietzsches "Human,All-Too-Human"

[Domer121]

I am going to go old school and say Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics!!! My favorite..
G.K Chesterton is also a good bet..

[troubadour]

Martin Heidegger is, IMO, the most significant thinker of the 20th century, bar none (even Nietzsche). I have read half of The Basic Writings, and I think, judging by what your friend has already read, he will immensely enjoy and benefit from reading this book. It is essential reading.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0415101611/sr=8-1/qid=1181619327/ref=dp_image_0/203-6316813-6650329?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books&qid=1181619327&sr=8-1

[tulysg1982]

Sofies Verden by Jostein Gaarder. This book contain the whole western philosophy.but the funniest thing is that u will never feel that u r reading a philosophical book rather a suspense with Sofi.

[nomoredrama28]

"The Art Of Loving" by Erich Fromm and "The Allegory of the cave" from the Republic by Plato, those are both one of the best things I have ever read!

[hyperborean]

"The Art Of Loving" by Erich Fromm and "The Allegory of the cave" from the Republic by Plato, those are both one of the best things I have ever read!

yea the cave allegory is good. I haven't read anything from Fromm. I just know about his work in psychology.

[Redzeppelin]

I am going to go old school and say Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics!!! My favorite..
G.K Chesterton is also a good bet..

Bravo on both choices. Anything w/ a Socratic dialogue is excellent for showing how philosophic discussion is based on good questions and defining the terms under consideration (Theatetus is my most recent read and I thought it a fascinating discussion on epistemology). Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy is also "old school" but well worth the read.

[Triskele]

Well it would help quite a bit if we knew what he's read already.

As always I will recommend Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche.

skip this, read "the madman: by nietzsche, it is better and far more concise...

[hyperborean]

skip this, read "the madman: by nietzsche, it is better and far more concise...

The madman is in "gay science", so that's like saying "read the allegory of the cave" without reading the entire Republic.

Zarathustra is the ultimate.

[Triskele]

The madman is in "gay science", so that's like saying "read the allegory of the cave" without reading the entire Republic.

Zarathustra is the ultimate.


true, true, but i find that "Thus spoke Zarathustra" is somewhat of a mis-written book in its tendancy to meander and go on tangents rather than giving you a concise and clear picture of what the author is trying to say. i will agree that the idea's put forth in the book are sheer genious, but they are displayed in a poor literary fasion, i find Kierkegaarde's books to be somewhat of a similar expirience.

[l'étranger]

Get your friend a CREDIT NOTE instead....from a good book shop. Anyone who is into reading would anytime prefer to select a book for himself/herself.

[kemal]

Not so, Tao-te-king by lao-tzu or Avesta by Zarathustra

[jon1jt]

1. Crime & Punishment, FD
2. The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy
3. Bartelby the Scrivener, Melville :)

[monellia]

A person who "loves to read Aristotle, Socrates, Kant, Voltaire, Plato and Doetevsky" is surely going to have already read the Republic and some of the other books mentioned in this thread. Someone mentioned "The Art Of Loving" by Erich Fromm. I think that this would be very good choice in that, while modern philosophical authors recapitulate and develop classical ideas, Fromm presents highly distinct and provoking treatsies on what it is to love.


Get your friend a CREDIT NOTE instead....from a good book shop. Anyone who is into reading would anytime prefer to select a book for himself/herself.
There's a narcissistic satisfaction in showing someone that you know what they like and wish to appeal to their interests. I'm sure anyone would be touched upon recieving a present that the giver put some thought into or sought out. I'd personally prefer the credit note, but eh thoughtfulness before materialism for the most part XD

[bazarov]

Sun Tzu - The Art of War