Essential Reading = ?

[Gwarlroge]

[Apologies if this is a duplicate post.]

Hello, everyone! And thank you for inviting me to your forums, Metacrock. (Remember? A few months ago? I asked you about John Coltrane.)

I am really a n00b in philosophy, theology, and the like, and I was wondering what you (Metacrock) and the others here would recommend as essential reading. I'm not in the know and want to get in it, so...help me out?

Thanks much to whoever responds!

Also: how should I read a philosophy book?

[rvhill]

[Apologies if this is a duplicate post.]

Hello, everyone! And thank you for inviting me to your forums, Metacrock. (Remember? A few months ago? I asked you about John Coltrane.)

I am really a n00b in philosophy, theology, and the like, and I was wondering what you (Metacrock) and the others here would recommend as essential reading. I'm not in the know and want to get in it, so...help me out?

Thanks much to whoever responds!

Also: how should I read a philosophy book?

For my money I would go Plato, Gibran Kahlil Gibran bin Mikhael bin Saâd, Henry David Thoreau, Augustine of Hippo, Siddhattha Gotama, Immanuel Kent, Descartes, and Donatien Alphonse François. Kent and Descartes are really hard reads so I hope you are a good readers, I might even save them for latter. If you are not a Christian or Jewish and you haven't read it I would read Ecclesiastes after I read Plato, Thoreau or Gibran. Also it depends were you want to go, as an example de Sade was a misanthrope, but his understanding of human nature was excellent. If you are for example a Christian fundamentalist you might want to add in C.S. Lewis and Søren Kierkegaard,


Some thinkers I have found really lacking are C.S. Lewis, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche and Benedict de Spinoza. Karl Marx was a total plagiarist

[Gwarlroge]

For my money I would go Plato, Gibran Kahlil Gibran bin Mikhael bin Saâd, Henry David Thoreau, Augustine of Hippo, Siddhattha Gotama, Immanuel Kent, Descartes, and Donatien Alphonse François. Kent and Descartes are really hard reads so I hope you are a good readers, I might even save them for latter. If you are not a Christian or Jewish and you haven't read it I would read Ecclesiastes after I read Plato, Thoreau or Gibran. Also it depends were you want to go, as an example de Sade was a misanthrope, but his understanding of human nature was excellent. If you are for example a Christian fundamentalist you might want to add in C.S. Lewis and Søren Kierkegaard,


Some thinkers I have found really lacking are C.S. Lewis, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche and Benedict de Spinoza. Karl Marx was a total plagiarist

Thanks!

I have already read some of Plato (basically the five most famous/oft-compiled dialogues plus Euthyphro; I plan on reading Gorgias and the Sophist next), Kierkegaard, Descartes (although I might read him again--I found him really boring the first time), C.S. Lewis, and Thoreau. Of these, I liked Kierkegaard and Plato, although I still don't understand what the Republic should make me think differently about.

Ecclesiastes has always been one of my favorite Bible books.

What did you find lacking about those other thinkers? (I haven't read any of them except C.S. Lewis, though I plan on reading Aquinas and Spinoza after my current reading--and whenever I feel up to it.)

Regards,
Gwarlroge.

[Metacrock]

[Apologies if this is a duplicate post.]

Hello, everyone! And thank you for inviting me to your forums, Metacrock. (Remember? A few months ago? I asked you about John Coltrane.)

I am really a n00b in philosophy, theology, and the like, and I was wondering what you (Metacrock) and the others here would recommend as essential reading. I'm not in the know and want to get in it, so...help me out?

Thanks much to whoever responds!

Also: how should I read a philosophy book?

hey glad you could make it man. I remember you asking about Coltrane.

A book published in the 60s called Metaphysics by Bruce Wiltshire. It's a Pegasus classic. a text book on metaphysics. I would start you off reading that.

Yes of course Plato and Aristotle. just get any basic text book for an intro philosophy class.

the Wiltshire book will take you through modern Metaphysics but at a level the beginner can grasp. I think he starts with the Greeks, but I can't remember. I know he does Descartes and Kant and goes up through Heidegger. You may have to ask for it on inter library loan.

[Gwarlroge]

A book published in the 60s called Metaphysics by Bruce Wiltshire. It's a Pegasus classic. a text book on metaphysics. I would start you off reading that.

Yes of course Plato and Aristotle. just get any basic text book for an intro philosophy class.

the Wiltshire book will take you through modern Metaphysics but at a level the beginner can grasp. I think he starts with the Greeks, but I can't remember. I know he does Descartes and Kant and goes up through Heidegger. You may have to ask for it on inter library loan.

I wasn't able to find "Wiltshire, Bruce" or "Bruce Wiltshire" in my school's library catalog or the Library of Congress.

What was the year of publication?

[Metacrock]

It's an old book. Just ask for it on inter library loan.

[Gwarlroge]

It's an old book. Just ask for it on inter library loan.

I found the book! My college's library has it. I was trying to figure out how to spell the last name for a while, then I saw The Essential Writings of William James (ed. Bruce W. Wilshire--duh! of course that's the spelling) in a downtown bookstore.

For a while, I thought you were joshing, that this was some sort of new forum user initiation--I Googled "Pegasus Classics" and found out that they produce faucets. Luckily, this hypothesis turned out to be a little bit paranoid.

I will check out the Wilshire book once I'm done with a book on logic.

[Metacrock]

It's an old book. Just ask for it on inter library loan.

I found the book! My college's library has it. I was trying to figure out how to spell the last name for a while, then I saw The Essential Writings of William James (ed. Bruce W. Wilshire--duh! of course that's the spelling) in a downtown bookstore.

For a while, I thought you were joshing, that this was some sort of new forum user initiation--I Googled "Pegasus Classics" and found out that they produce faucets. Luckily, this hypothesis turned out to be a little bit paranoid.

I will check out the Wilshire book once I'm done with a book on logic.

I don't think they are in business anymore. I think they folded a long time ago, like the 60s or 70s.

[Gwarlroge]

What would be some good books to read if I wanted to figure out a working definition of "evidence"?

[sgttomas]

What would be some good books to read if I wanted to figure out a working definition of "evidence"?

Essential listening! viewtopic.php?f=4&t=247

-sgtt.