Recommend me some good philosophy

[Arrian]

Nietzche

Was out of his ****ing mind.

He was also big on the idea that society is an artificial construct, designed to protect our feeble minds from the awful reality of human nature. And, of course, the only people who could tear aside this "veil" were the Great Men (Ubermensch or somesuch) who, accordingly to Nietzche, could do just about anything.

I am above the Law! [/Southpark]

-Arrian

[Laertes]

Sartre is very difficult to read. I bought "Being and Nothingness" and have tried several times to read it but never got further than a couple of pages. Ugh

[alva]

To start with philosophy (at the risk of sounding pedantic) start of with with "Sofie's world" - Gardner(?). It gives some nice introduvtions to all the philosophies through the ages.
-

That's not really my interpretation on Nietzsche, for me it's about becoming more then you are.

[Zero]

No one mentioned Tao of Poo yet...

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Kaak
I would recommend you start earlier with some presocratics, particularly Epicurus, and the Atomists. It isn't heavy reading, and won't take you long.

Epicurus is post-socratic.

Try reading some popular Russell. It's accessible and not prone to flaky misinterpretations.

[Agathon]

And Habermas is not generally studied by professional philosophers. Nor are Derrida or Kristeva or any of those other "cranks". Basically, if a contemporary philosopher wraps up his arguments in excessive verbiage and is loved by literary theorists, he isn't a serious thinker.

I'd be willing to argue that this stuff isn't philosophy, but a peculiar kind of literature.

[Bosh]

No one mentioned Tao of Poo yet...

Cute book. Works as a decent introduction to Taoism.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Agathon
Try reading some popular Russell. It's accessible and not prone to flaky misinterpretations.

Russell is good, but start with something easy, such as "Why I am not a Christian" instead of "Limits of Knowledge."

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Boshko
Cute book. Works as a decent introduction to Taoism.

Nah, The Tao of Motorcycle Maintanence is better.

[Bosh]

zen not tao UR
and it is a great book

[Cruddy]

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"



Took me years to get into it - well worth the effort.

[Ramo]

I've never read a good philosophy book. They all put me to sleep. And they usually are logically total crap, without the sort of rigor that mathematics has.

My advice is to work out philosophy for yourself; you don't need blowhards telling you how to think.

[Japher]

Read "Apolyon: The OT Board"

Good mix of views with a lot of humor

[Imran Siddiqui]

Nietzche is all about the "Will to Power"

He feels that the moral way through life is to do whatever it takes to amass the most power for yourself and be the most advanced, powerful human possible. Do whatever you want, whenever you want, and don't let anyone else get in your way.

It seems someone doesn't like Nietzche .

He also states that society is constructed to keep all the masses like sheep. Certain truthes are drilled into the heads of people until they believe them and follow them and simply nod. Nietzche says there is no absolute truth or morality and those great men, who don't fall into the idea of being sheep should form their own truths and morals and cast away the constructs of society. The thing to grasp is power, but not for its own sake, but because with power you are truely free of the hive-mind of the mass and society. In the end, power is about freedom to Nietzche. Those that break the mold are the ones who are truely free, while those that follow, while they may say they are free, are really enslaved.

Personally I love Nietzche, but your milage may vary .

[Eli]

Ignore. Me stoopid.