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It's not cheap, but Kearney and Rasmussen's anthology is one of the best I've encountered (though I'm quite partial to the more continental side of things). Amazon link & publisher link. It's pricey, but a great deal for all the content - looking through the selections included might lead to the essay's of interest for cheaper (for example - Kant's Critique of Judgement and Merleau-Ponty's "Eye and Mind" can both be found relatively cheap).

I'd also suggest the far less expensive anthology by Hofstadter and Kuhn's Philosophies of Art and Beauty anthology. It's pretty comprehensive (and massively sized) for it's price - covering Plato to Heidegger. Amazon link & publisher link.

I've heard great things about Lamarque & Olsen's anthology on the more anglophonic side of things, though it's not cheap either. Amazon link & publisher link. I'd give the same advice as above, look through the table of contents and select essays of particular interest.

On a cheaper/lower key level Aesthetics: A Beginner's Guide is a far easier and cheaper read - it's pretty good for getting your feet wet.

Finally, as a way to do your own book finding, why not look through this google search, look through any SEP page that catches your interest, and then check out the bibliographies!

Hope any of these help!

My best guess is that it could be done, but one would definitely want to read at least a summary of the key ideas from the first two critiques. Certain editions of the CPJ have good introductions, as well, that would help orient a newcomer. The [Cambridge edition] (http://www.amazon.com/Critique-Judgment-Cambridge-Edition-Immanuel/dp/0521348927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374935222&sr=8-1&keywords=cambridge+critique+of+the+power), for example, has a helpful intro.

If this work is chosen, I will try to find helpful material for getting started, but I imagine a lot of people here will be valuable resources in safely navigating the treacherous waters of Kant.

Great selection--one of the best works of all time!

This was a required reading for philosophy majors at my university, and I was the TA for the course (aptly referred to as "Philosophy Bootcamp") that required it for one semester after taking the course myself. I'm happy to share our required edition and reading schedule for your consideration.

The edition my professor required was the 1999 Oxford University Press edition edited by Tom Beauchamp. She required this one because Beauchamp makes it specifically for students by offering excellent, concise summaries of each section, thorough footnotes and annotations, and a glossary (which is extremely helpful for reading old and un-standardized English).

Our reading schedule was based off of a course that met on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with this book assigned over February 23rd to April 17th (about 7 weeks), and was as follows:

• R: (Beauchamp 7-16) Hume Sec. 1
  
• T: (Beauchamp 16-21) Hume Sec. 2
  
• R: (Beauchamp 21-29) Hume Sec. 3 (Part 1-9), Sec. 4 (Part 1)
  
• T: Hume Sec. 4 (Part 2)
  
• R: Hume Sec 4 (Part 2)
  
• T: Review Day
  
• R: Exam Day
  
• T: (Beauchamp 29-31) Hume Sec. 5 (Part 1)
  
• R: Hume Sec. 5 (Part 2)
  
• T: (Beauchamp 54-57) Hume Sec. 7 (Part 1)
  
• R: Hume Sec. 7 (Part 2)
  
• T: (Beauchamp 54-57) Hume Sec. 12 (par. 6-16)
  
• R: Hume Sec. 12 (par. 17-34)
  
• T: Exam Day
  

A Universe Of Consciousness How Matter Becomes Imagination

by Gerald Edelman and Giulio Tononi

--I have not read this book (which is one reason I'm throwing it into the ring) but I'd be interested in discussing the various ideas relating to consciousness held by modern philosophers. This book seems to be written with the layperson in mind and is well reviewed. I think consciousness is a mysteriously fascinating subject and the different hypotheses posited to better understand it are thought provoking and would make for lively discussion.

Diaspora by Greg Egan is one of the best books I've ever read, period. While the entirety of the book is philosophical in nature the concepts are generally philosophy of mind related, as is common in science-fiction.

The book deals with the theme of what makes a mind 'conscious' as it explores civilizations existing within supercomputer calculations, with real-time information flooding in from galaxies away, self-cloning, slowing and speeding up time perception, dimensional jumping, personality architecting, and more. Even if you're not terribly into science fiction you'd likely enjoy the book - truly an incredible work.

Blackburn's Think introduces philosophy fairly well - though it might be too general for your purposes. Since you need something more focused on ethics, perhaps his Being Good would serve your purposes better. I haven't read that one yet, but he is a good writer and it's a small, short book.

Try this book it contains the brilliant
'Utopia' by Thomas More, 'New Atlantis' by Francis Bacon and 'The Isle of Pines' by Henry Neville.

Also try 'The Blazing World' by Margaret Cavendish, a feminist utopia and the first sci-fi novel at the same time!

Hi, I’m new here having just discovered the sub and I intend to join in. To introduce myself, I’m Dave, male, 40, professional programmer (BSc computer science from a technical college, so no academic background to speak of really and no formal background in philosophy), I have listened to a few philosophy courses on tape over the years!

Question - is this penguin edition suitable? Critique of Pure Reason (Penguin Modern Classics) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0140447474/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kT-2BbNKG9F2E

Thanks, and nice to meet you all.

99% sure it was here. If I'm not mistaken, this general idea was also fairly important for Freud as well, who saw the human subject as being largely at the beck-and-call of a number of psychological and biological drives (mainly sexual, but others as well), so if this idea intrigues you, he might be worth looking into.

Is there anywhere to get these books? Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science is super expensive. Sounds interesting as hell though.

I had to get this version for a class I'm taking: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0872203492/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_EsWbKIhPrvLKy

Is this the book you will be using?

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Good-Evil-Prelude-Philosophy/dp/0679724656

This is the one I was thinking of starting with. Open to suggestions on which Dennett book to read either alongside Churchland or immediately after.

Could someone confirm that this is the correct text? https://www.amazon.com.au/d/ebook/Enquiry-Concerning-Human-Understanding-David-Hume/B0082UFTWE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482577236&sr=1-1&keywords=Enquiries+Concerning+Human+Understanding

The Limits of Morality By Shelly Kagan

I think this book is accessible to beginner philosophers, and at the same time, it's engaging to the non-beginner. For anybody that's interested in the plausibility of the moral theory of consequentialism, this is something you want to check out. In it, Kagan argues against many of our commonsense intuitions about morality, arguing for instance that there is no moral constraint against killing another human being. He also argues, quite provocatively, that we are morally required to donate to charity and to contribute to as much of the public good as we can. I should add that these arguments are indirect defenses, meaning that he argues against the plausibility of moral constraints as well moral limits of contributions to the public good. He doesn't offer a positive defense of his consequentialism.

The book gets dense as it goes on, but I find Kagan to be one of clearest writers around. And at roughly 400 pages, I say it's manageable to read it in a month.

The Cooper edition is the one to get if you want all the dialogues in one spot. Otherwise, the Hackett editions are the way to go. For your specific itinerary, they have this one: https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335. It has all the dialogues you want to read minus the republic, but also the meno and phaedo.

If you're reading the apology, euthyphro, and crito, then you gotta read the phaedo, too. It's the one where Socrates takes the fatal poison.