Reddit reviews A History of Western Philosophy
We found 28 Reddit comments about A History of Western Philosophy. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
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Reddit reviews A History of Western PhilosophyWe found 28 Reddit comments about A History of Western Philosophy. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
While these are all incredibly important books that outline the major chronological achievements in philosophy, I don't think that starting with ancient philosophy and working your way up is always the best move. Some of ancient philosophy is drawn out and can be intimidating to someone who's never read philosophy before, and reading whole books can be a daunting process. These are all books that would be necessary to read if one were getting a degree in philosophy, but OP is just interested in learning more on a casual level. I would recommend starting with an overview of modern problems of philosophy, like Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. If OP is interested in learning more about specific philosophers I always found that The History of Western Philosophy is a good place to start. And of course the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy will always have more.
The book I always recommend people start out with is Sophie's World, not because it's the most in-depth, but because it's the most accessible for a newcomer. It's also the most entertaining I've read. If you want something more in-depth, Russell's History of Western Philosophy is generally this subreddit's big recommendation, although I personally wouldn't say it's a great starting point. His reading of some thinkers is not great, and he's not quite as good at dumbing down certain ideas to an introductory level.
A good summary of philosophy will help you for a couple reasons. One, it will give you enough information to find out what thinkers and ideas interest you. If you're interested in a particular question or thinker, then that's obviously where you should go. Philosophy of religion? Logic? Aesthetics and art? Language? There's plenty written on all these topics, but it can be a bit overwhelming to try and just attack all of philosophy at once. Like any other field, there will be parts of it that click with you, and parts that don't really seem all that appealing. Find your niche, and pursue it. In addition to giving you an idea of where to go, a good overview will put ideas in context. Understanding Augustine and Aquinas will make more sense if you know that they're working with a foundation of the Greek thought of Plato and Aristotle. Descartes wrote his meditations during the enlightenment, and was a major contributor to much of the emphasis on reason that defined that era. Nietzsche and Kierkegaard's existentialist ideas become more powerful when you realize they're critiquing and challenging the technicality of Kant and Hegel. Ideas don't exist in a vacuum, and while you can't be expected to know all the details of everything, your niche area of interest will make more sense if you understand it's context.
As for easier texts that I'd recommend trying out (once you find an area of interest), here's a few that are pretty important and also fairly accessible. These are texts that are generally read by all philosophy students, due to their importance, but if you're just into this for personal interest, you can pick and choose a bit. Still, these are important works, so they'll be very good to read anyways.
Plato - Apology: not terribly dense, but an accessible text in which Socrates basically defends his pursuing philosophical thought. I'd recommend this as an accessible introduction that will get you to feel like philosophy matters; think of it as pump-up music before a big game.
Plato - The Republic: this is arguably Plato's most important work. In it, he talks about the nature of men, politics, education and art.
Aristotle - Nichomachean Ethics: a text that deals with leading a life in accordance with virtue. Aristotle's style is a bit dry and technical, but he's also very important.
Augustine - On Free Choice of the Will: a dialogue similar to Plato's in which Augustine argues that the existence of God does not conflict with man having free will.
Aquinas - Selected Excerpts: he wrote a lot, so you don't wanna try reading a whole one of his works. This selects his key ideas and puts them in bite-sized chunks. He's a big Christian thinker, arguing for the existence and goodness of God and related theological concepts.
Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy: Descartes uses reason to prove he exists, along with some other things. Pretty easy to read, although it sparked a revolution in thought, making epistemology a central problem of philosophy.
Kant - Grounding for Metaphysics of Morals: one of his easier works, but it's still one of the more technical works I'm recommending, in which Kant demonstrates that morals are a priori.
Kierkegaard - Fear and Trembling: one of my favorite books, Kierkegaard writes about the nature of faith using the story of Abraham and Isaac as his starting point. A huge critic of Kant's obsession with pure reason, he is generally considered to be the first existential thinker.
Nietzsche - Beyond Good & Evil: Nietzsche is one of the more controversial thinkers in history. Also a critic of Kant, he is one of the most profound critics of religion. This book is one of his more important, in which he talks about his problems of religion, the culture around him, and at times points us in the direction he wants us to go. Know that he doesn't write in a terribly direct manner, so if you choose to read him, come here for assistance. He's a bit different to read, and can be challenging if you're not ready.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and having a good reference to help you along will be very helpful.
For future reference, /r/askphilosophy exists for these kinds of questions.
Now, if you're looking for something more narrative that will allow you to get your feet wet, you have a few different options.
Sophie's World is really quite enjoyable, though I suppose its intended audience is probably younger than yourself.
If you're looking for something more mature, you might try philosophical fiction like Camus' The Stranger or Sartre's Nausea. Both are a great way to get into something philosophical without having to worry too much about terminology or technical language.
If you're looking for something more analytic (logic, phil math, phil science, etc.), you might try something like Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. It's a pretty good read and it's short.
If you're looking for a general introduction to philosophy, something more mature than Sophie's World but focused on the history of philosophy as opposed to a particular area, you might want to look at something like Russell's The History of Western Philosophy. If you do get more involved in philosophy, you'll discover that the book has its flaws, and Russell was wrong about several of the philosophers that he discusses, but it's a good introduction to the history of philosophy that is easily accessible if you have the time to sit down and read it.
In terms of which one's are more fun to read, I'd say the philosophical fiction and Sophie's World are at the top, as the other two books are a bit more dry, but if you're looking for something substantive and not too technical, then all of these might serve your purposes.
I hope that helped in some way, and in future, if you have any philosophy related questions, don't hesitate to ask over in /r/askphilosophy.
The first two books that come to mind are The Story of Philosophy by William Durant, and A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. I've never read the Russell book personally, but I've heard great things about it (plus, its got a great cover).
For "where to start" with books, see this FAQ post, from r/askphilosophyFAQ. There are Introductory anthologies, like these. Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy is something I read at about that age, and it was great (with some caveats).
There are also anthologies for Chinese & Indian Philosophy, or introductions to Chinese & Indian Philosophy; or an intro anthology to World Philosophy.
I like Bertrand Russel's A History of Western Philosophy
from David C. Moses's amazon review of Russell's History of Western Philosophy
>Despite this book's well-deserved status as a classic work, it has some major flaws that a reader should keep in mind, all stemming from Russell's intolerance of viewpoints different from his own... Russell has no tolerance for systems of thought that do not conform to his preferences for democracy, atheism, pacifism, and social liberalism. So... Nietzsche is depicted as a warmonger... Russell's book is a great place to start, but to get a fair treatment of thinkers such as Rousseau and Nietzsche, it should be supplemented with material such as the chapters on those thinkers in Strauss and Cropsey's "History of Political Philosophy."
That's a very interesting looking link, but I think BennyG02 was talking about an audiobook of Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy.
Speaking of that book, I listened to a fair amount of that (and read the other parts), and I do think it's quite good. The thing is that it contains a lot of Russell's own opinions and criticisms of the views he describes, probably more than one might expect a general "history of" book to have. But, IIRC, Russell didn't have any pretense of it being otherwise: he wasn't really trying to make "just another history of philosophy book".
Although I would love to say "read Kant" or "read Wittgenstein" or "read Sartre" or "start with Plato" I don't think you would get a really good start to reading philosophy because sometimes they can get a little complicated.
I think the best way to get introduced to Philosophy is to learn a little bit about a bunch of philosophers and their philosophies.
So seeing that you are 16, there is a great book that was written called "Sophie's World" http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World/dp/0297858815 It's a novel about a girl around your age who studies philosophy but it touches upon almost every major philosopher and it's not too harsh of a read. The plot is ok and the dialogue is miserable but I think it gives a good sampling of the major philosophers that is on a reading level for your age.
If you want a great book touching upon the major philosophers - there's always Bertrand Russell's "The History of Western Philosophy"http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343832717&sr=1-1&keywords=bertrand+russell+history+of+western+philosophy The reading level is more advanced than Sophie's World but you get a very in depth perspective of the major philosophers from a major philosopher.
And then again, you can try to read a philosophical writing. If you're going to try that, I think Plato is an easy beginning along with Descartes.
Hi, I have a degree in Philosophy and teach Philosophy/English to high schooler. The following advice and recommendations are what I give my students who are interested in philosophy. I would not recommend Kant as an introduction (not that he's bad, but he is difficult to understand). Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar is a book that explains philosophical topics and questions through humor and uses jokes to illustrate the concepts. It is accessible and thought provoking. If you are interested in logic you might enjoy Logicomix. It is a graphic novel that gives a biographical narrative of Bertrand Russell, an English philosopher whose work is the basis of all modern logic. It is not a book about logic per se, but it does give a good introduction to what logic is and how it can be used. Also, Russell's book A History of Western Philosophy is a good place to start your education in philosophy. If you are interested in atheism, read Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion. This book goes through the most common arguments for the existence of God, and debunks them using logic and reasoning. Good luck and read on!
I'd start with Bertrand Russell's book "A History of Western Philosphy" which is basically a Whitmans sampler for Western thought - after reading it you should have a pretty good idea of which philosphers you want to do a "deep dive" on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Western_Philosophy
You can a used copy from Amazon for $6
http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
If you are coming from a perspective where you have not learned much about philosophy before, I would recommend this as well...
https://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/History%20of%20Western%20Philosophy.pdf
Understanding physics
The Problems of Philosohy
A History of Western Philosophy
It starts with why you are interested in philosophy. Begin with your personal areas of interest (looks like you have a head-start there).
Perhaps a mix of both...
While true that there is no substitute for original texts, a little mediation to provide context and framework (which you can later disregard if you so choose) isn't so bad. In fact, that's what you're doing by coming to Reddit!
I've been reading A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. So far it strikes me as a pretty accessible work. I also like that he's big on historical context.
I also picked up a copy of Main Currents of Western Thought at a used bookstore, and it seems like a useful book for a relative newb as well.
It is hard to find books that really square this topic, and I'm not sure of your exposure so I'm going to suggest some fun fiction works to start you off.
The Diamond Age is a good book to express some of the computer science concepts.
and
Cryptonomicon is good to understand how some of Turing's ideas were understood.
For actual philosophy ideas I recommend just ordering some heavier works that are harder to get through like
Quintessence
German Idealism
History of Western Philosophy
And (while I hesitate to mention it because I worry about the backlash on /r/philosophy) I think that Philosophy: Who Needs It is important to read if only to argue with people that believe in Ayn Rand's teachings.
I'll leave it at that for now. Most of what I've learned about this have been by reading Wikipedia and random usenet and irc posts. Books that are succinct and good are hard to come by.
This is the perfect book for you. http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
Russell explains everything you would want to know as a beginner to philosophy, and he explains it assuming you know nothing about philosophy. He even explains how each thinker leads into the next. One of my favorite books period, and exactly what you are looking for. Enjoy the read.
i would suggest reading one of the big surveys of western philosophy like http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581 rather than trying to read the greeks etc. without a guide in the form of a good course. one reason i liked your list is that they reflect the traditional genteel female pursuits (literature, art history and music appreciation in particular), the study of philosophy makes people prone to debate, and the problem with intellectual women ISNT that they are smart, its that they are prone to debate/lord over their men in a competitive and unfeminine way
As /u/FreeHumanity has pointed out below, it makes it easier for us to help you if we know what you're interested in.
However, these are a couple of books on my bookshelf that I find interesting and are mentioned on here quite often:
The Pig that Wants to be Eaten, by Julian Baggin. It's 100 ethics-related thought experiments, laid out in a very easy-to-read way. Amazon link here.
If you're interested in something a little more academic and a little more comprehensive, The History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell, is one of the best one-volume histories of philosophy around. You have to be a little bit careful with him, though--he tends to put his own ideas about the philosophers into his text :) Again, Amazon link here.
If you would like more specialised help, please do clarify what your interests are so that we can recommend books, youtube clips, or other things that are tailored to your interests :)
Hope that helps :)
http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
The same man giving this talk also wrote the most comprhensive book I know about western philosophy, he starts with the greeks and offers his opinion while going step by step through the past 2000 years, it's a very long read but you can always skip and move in eras and philosphoers according to what you find ineresting at the time .
http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
I think philosophy is pretty neat. I got into it after reading this book.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
It condenses every (western) philosopher into 1-5 pages.
Betrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy.
Covers quite a bit. Definitely worth the read.
https://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/0671201581
Well it depends on how you define science. Understanding the philosophy behind the scientific method and being careful to follow it is different than doing it by accident.
The noted philosopher Bertrand Russell discusses this partially in his classic A History of Western Philosophy when he discusses Egypt. For example, when Russell points out what they called math was really just lucky rules of thumb they stumbled across over centuries. You can't find any derivations using logic as modern mathematics is understood.
Same with the Greeks. Russell points out though they did many scientific things, you can't find Greek books explaining the philosophical underpinnings of how the scientific method works because frankly they really didn't understand it. It wasn't until the rise of the Christian nations before science was understood well enough that the philosophical importance and implications of the scientific method was understood and taught.
However you bring up a second important point. The Greeks, though not Christian, shared the Christian ideal of a Platonic world (Plato!) related to their gods, where there are laws out there waiting for humans to understand and comprehend. If they were just atheists who believed there is nothing beyond this purposeless, meaningless world they would have never written volumes trying to understand this ideal world of laws related to the gods. Volumes that gave rise to modern philosophy.
So yes, with the Greeks you bring up another good example of a civilization where the wonderful contributions would have been non-existant if they adopted the atheistic worldview that there is nothing more than this purposeless and meaningless world. They would have had no glorious platonic world to occupy their thoughts thus killing their contributions to the foundations of philosophy.
I heard SMBC Comics Zach Weiner last month, and he recommended Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. I've been going through it since, and it's a great overview to begin with.
I think that A History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell is one of the better places to start imho.
It will provide you a toes wet entry into a broad spectrum of western philosophy.
I'd likely think you'll get hooked on certain era's or persons and stick with them for a while. This isn't a bad thing, apply their thoughts to others perspectives and try your best to be critical of all.
If you want to just know buzzwords to throw around, spend a bunch of time clicking around on Wikipedia, and watch stuff like Crash Course on YouTube. It's easy to absorb, and you'll learn stuff, even if it's biased, but at least you'll be learning.
If you want to become SMARTER, one of my biggest pieces of advice is to either carry a notebook with you, or find a good note taking app you like on your phone. When someone makes a statement you don't understand, write it down and parse it up.
So for instance, write down "Social Democracy", and write down "The New Deal", and go look them up on simple.wikipedia.com (Put's all of it in simplest language possible), it's a great starting point for learning about any topic, and provides you a jumping board to look more deeply into it.
If you are really curious about starting an education, and you absolutely aren't a reader, some good books to start on are probably:
"Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words" by Randall Munroe
"A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
"Philosophy 101" by Paul Kleinman, in fact the ____ 101 books are all pretty good "starter" books for people that want an overview of a topic they are unfamiliar with.
"The World's Religions" by Huston Smith
"An Incomplete Education" by Judy Jones and Will Wilson
Those are all good jumping off points, but great books that I think everyone should read... "A History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell, "Western Canon" by Harold Bloom, "Education For Freedom" by Robert Hutchins, The Norton Anthology of English Literature; The Major Authors, The Bible.
Read anything you find critically, don't just swallow what someone else says, read into it and find out what their sources were, otherwise you'll find yourself quoting from Howard Zinn verbatim and thinking you're clever and original when you're just an asshole.