The Writings of Dead Germans

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Lord Chrusher
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The Writings of Dead Germans

Postby Lord Chrusher » 28 Dec 2008, 23:20

Not just dead Germans but dead Greeks, dead Frenchmen and dead Englishmen. I suspect there is also a Scotsman or two in there as well.

My uncle gave my the book 'I am a Strange Loop' by Douglas Hofstadter for Christmas, an interesting look at consciousness. Admittedly I would not have read it had it not been given to me - reading things that you would not otherwise is part of the joy of being given a book - but it has kindled an interest in philosophy. My question, especially to The Hitman who seems to be the local expert on such things, is what philosophical works should I read?
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Evil Jim
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Postby Evil Jim » 29 Dec 2008, 13:50

There is only one thing I can sing to that!
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Postby wordnerd » 29 Dec 2008, 14:46

I recommend "This is not a book" by Michael Picard
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Postby Metcarfre » 29 Dec 2008, 14:48

Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is a classic.
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Postby HomeBurger » 02 Feb 2009, 17:46

how is that book? I'm somewhere near the middle of Hofstadter's other book, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (pretend that o has an umlaut). Since you're looking for recommendations, I'd recommend GEB. Excellent book (so far), especially the short story Djinn and Tonic.
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Postby King Kool » 02 Feb 2009, 18:02

My brother's recommendations, from most novel-like to least novel-like:

Catch-22 by Joeseph Heller

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Stranger by Albert Camuys

Thus Sprach Zarathushtra by Frederick Nietzche

In Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

There's plenty of stuff he can suggest, but that's a good start.
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Postby Corax » 02 Feb 2009, 21:29

the Vatican library has some amazing stuff i've heard

oh wait no one is allowed in there
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Postby Jillers » 02 Feb 2009, 21:32

I enjoy the Tao of Pooh.

Edit: There's also the Te of Piglet, but that's not as good.
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Postby spartanhelmet » 02 Feb 2009, 21:37

Did nobody else notice the irony of a thread with this name was necro'd?

That is all.
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Postby HomeBurger » 03 Feb 2009, 07:49

spartanhelmet wrote:Did nobody else notice the irony of a thread with this name was necro'd?

That is all.

I couldn't resist.
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Postby Elomin Sha » 03 Feb 2009, 08:07

I'd suggest:

Act of Creation and Ghost in the Machine both by Arthur Koestler.
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Postby FlintPaper577 » 06 Feb 2009, 18:42

I think the best way to get into philosophy is to start at (or near) the beginning. You'll find that just about everything is founded on Plato and Aristotle, so have a look at The Republic, The Symposium, maybe Gorgias (all Plato), as well as Ethics and some others by Aristotle. Might be easier to get a guide to them instead, to get a good overview - Aristotle in particular can get a bit heavy-going. However you simply can't make much sense of a lot of 'hard-core' modern philosophy without a grounding in the classics.

As far as modern stuff goes, it's hard to go past Nietzsche for sheer madness and fun. Beyond Good and Evil is fun - I find Thus Sprach Zarathustra a bit tough. Sartre's good too - Being and Nothingness is his most famous. But it all, of course, depends on what you're interested in. Philosophy is massive - I did Philosophy as part of my final year at High School, and even at that level I looked at about 4 distinct areas of inquiry, with little cross-over.

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