A list of works in philosophy for summer reading, please?

[The One and Only...]

I'm interested in reading some philosophical works over the summer. Not broad, summarizing textbooks like I already have; actual works, such as those by Plato, Hume, Kant, Nietzche... the list goes on.

I'd like to read works on as many different branches of philosophy as possible. The idea is to gain a more thorough understanding of various positions in philosophy that have evolved through the ages. I'll need to read classics, of course, but modern (and postmodern) pieces should not be ignored.

Can anyone recommend a list of books to get started?

[Emu]

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. :<

[theapportioner]

Philosophical Investigations by Wittgenstein. It rules. I'd try to get an idea of what logical positivism is about (Carnap, etc.) before you tackle it, though.

As far as the classics go, I like Aristotle's De Anima.

Maybe not "philosophy", but Saussure's Cours de linguistique generale is a canonical text and sets the stage for a lot of postmodern shite.

GE Moore's Principia Ethica.

Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Kierkegaard - Fear and Trembling

[Helm]

GE Moore's Principia Ethica. <seconded.

Inventing Right and Wrong by Mackie is sexxelent.

Utilitarianism by Mills of course

Read some Zerzan because it's interesting

Don't read anything Post-Modern. They're not really relevant to anything, or useful in any way. Only go that way if you want to pick up philosophy club chicks or something. The summaries you've read of post-modernism are all you need to know.

[mburbank]

"A Schoolboy's guide to getting beaten up less." -J. Weiner Blowhard.

"Infinte progressions beyond breaches" - Narcissus H. Handmirror

"Being, nothingness and not kissing girls." - I.M.A. Supergenius.

"Beyond appearances: A concise treatess on the use of obfuscating verbiage to convey the impression of greater knowledge." - Handbag Carp Williams-Bennington III

Anything by V.C. Andrews.

[El Blanco]

Max, no Heywood Jablome?

[ziggytrix]

I recommend Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter and some illicit drug experimentation.

[El Blanco]

some illicit drug experimentation.

Thats your solution to everything.

[ziggytrix]

Nah, just for people who think they know everything. Nothing like a bad acid trip to take the old ego down a few pegs.

[mburbank]

I gotta agree with Ziggy on this one. I don't generally recomend drug abuse, but I think OAO needs a bushel of the speediest, nastiest, poorly cut with baby laxative acid available. Maybe once he's hauled in by the cops for running around the playground weeping and slapping at the invisible bats he'll be less of an annoying hot air balloon.


Heywood Jablome is a great joke name, but the best joke name ever is E. Normous Penis, because it asks you to suspend your disbelief and except 'Normous' as a name.

[derrida]

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault (though you seem like a pervert so History of Sexuality might interest you more) Basically, read one thing by Foucault. Alternately, read something by DeBeaurevoir.

The Condition of Postmodernity by David Harvey. Explains cultural change as a result of shifts in the mode of production and attendant consequences such as urbanization, globalization and cultural schizophrenia.

Max Weber, the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

[kahljorn]

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by nietzsche is great.

Hegel's Phenomenology of spirit is good if you got the mustards.
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ph/phconten.htm

Umm, Pathagoras of course. He's a great read. So are "Hermetic" reads.

H.P. Blavatsky; secret doctrines, isis unveiled... you can get both the isis unveiled books at barnes and noble for like 20 bucks, and they are like 300 page books.

"Classic" philosophy is easy.. there's like huge pages dedicated to their writings online.
http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index-Plato.html

You should read "Lucretius' Nature of things", that is good to read just to laugh at the "Scientific" community who made ohsomanydiscoveries.

[kahljorn]

I could reccomend you occult/mystery school books to read as well, if you want... at the very least they are engaging.. just give me something to tell you about..

[Sethomas]

I used to have a really good synopsis of Foucault, but it's not fresh in my mind anymore so just take my word that he sucks.


Oh yeah, now I remember. History of Sexuality would have just as much relevance after replacing every instance of the words "sex" or "sexuality" with "baseball" or "crumpet" than it does at present.

[Helm]

I recommend Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter


seconded, this book is good reading.


I would suggest reading some Foucault if you have the time to read thoroughly (otherwise brainhurt), like Madness and Civilization. He's not really a post-modernist anyway.

[The One and Only...]

These seem to be some good suggestions.

I've also heard that I should read Rawls' and Nozick's major books, since they're (supposedly) the greatest contributions to political philosophy in the 20th century. I've heard so much about Nozick I'm not sure if I should bother going over his arguments again, but anyway... anybody read either of them?

Two other points:

1) How is Foucault not really a post-modernist? He formed the theory (read: FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM) of the metanarrative!!!

2) Max, I'm getting plenty of tongue these days, so I think I'll pass on the 3rd title. :wink

[Helm]

Foucault considered his early work to be structuralist, and later on, when he decided formalist approaches were not his thing, he was still very hesistant to describe himself as a post-modernist. I think it has to do with post-modernism being about nothing at all, really. That, or with that modernity was not strictly found to be a completed project.

[mburbank]

Any deli can supply you with beef tongue.

[kellychaos]

The Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason by Arthur Schopenhauer (bites off yet sometimes critiques Kant's works. I sometimes sense jealousy more than profound thoughts yet still some interesting counter-arguments)

Husserl/Heidegger

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson (quasi-philosophy)

[Chojin]

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