A History of Western Philosophy

Here are books I recommend to everyone and got me interested in economics and philosophy: - The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner - The Cost of Rights: Why Liberty Depends on Taxes by Stephen Holmes and Cass Sunstein - Wittgenstein's Poker by David Edmonds and John Eidinow - A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

A history of western philosophy? GEB and that book don't have much overlap in content and GEB is a more fun read. History of Western Philosophy is occasionally witty but is otherwise pretty dry. GEB isn't much to do with philosophy at all, it's more focused on computing and touches on philosophy where that seems relevant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Western_Philosoph... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Western_Philosophy) Its value is to plot the course of religious inspirations as a longer development with each informing the next.

His History of Western Philosophy is really great, too.

These are a mixture of audio books and paperbacks I've been reading. I'm listening to more and more audiobooks via audible as it allows me to keep learning new stuff whilst travelling or doing simple household jobs. Anyways. Here are a few of my best of I've read/listened to this year: Dictators Handbook by Bruce De Mesquita and Alastair Smith - Very interesting theories on power structures. History of western philosophy by Bertrand Russel - I love my history. And it was fascinating seeing how ideas/thoughts/thinking have evolved over the centuries. America the Farewell tour by Chris Hedges - Very interesting ideas and points of view. A tough read at times. I really hope it some part of the book doesn't come true. Chasing the Scream by Johanne Hari - Good history of the war on drugs, the cost and its futility. I've read more but these are my top 5 of 2018

Here is a quick list of the last great books I've read which are available in English (some 'Ive read in other languages): - History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell : This is a wonderful book. Read it. - Why the West rules -- for now, Ian Morris : How geography drives history. really deep and thought-provoking. - the Strange Defeat, Marc Bloch : A gripping, living narration of the French armies collapse in 1940, from the inside (Marc Bloch was an officer). With a very deep analysis of the long maturing reasons for this defeat. - Histories of Alexander the Great, Quintus Curtius Rufus : The title says it all. Very elegant Latin prose. - The Golden Ass, Apuleius : A funny story and an immortal classic. - The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West, Karl-Heinz Frieser : For true military history geeks :) I notice that these are either classics, or history. Well, so be it :)

1984 - because it was the first book in English that I read front to cover, with a dictionary by my side, and learned so much recurring essential vocabulary that after that effort I could read anything; by now I have read much more from the much larger pool of writings in English than in my mother language. And, of course, it made me look differently at so many things. Things Fall Appart - because it helped me understand how religions like Christianity and other initially subversive beliefs spread, and the sudden impact of Western culture on other cultures. Anthropology (Marvin Harris) - because it impacted the way I look at humanity, society and history, and also helped me understand that marxism is much more than an arguably failed political doctrine. The Bernstein Tapes about Critique of Pure Reason - I am still working through this, but has already impacted my conception of what knowledge is History of Western Philosophy (Bertrand Russel) - because it made me understand the interwining between ideas and history. A desert island book…

Modeling the world generally (as in, why mathematics works and can apply to the real world): =Bertrand Russell= * An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth * A Theory of Knowledge * Logic and Knowledge =W.V. Quine= * Word and Object * Mathematical Logic =Norbert Weiner= * Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine =Smullyan= * Diagonalization and Self Reference Squishy Human Things: Thomas Kuhn - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Norbert Weiner - The Human Use of Human-Beings Bertrand Russell - A History of Western Philosophy Karl Popper - The Open Society and Its Enemies Daniel Dennet - Consciousness Explained E. Abbot Abbot - Flatland

* "The history of western philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. A fun read so far (~100 pages). Russell is not afraid to tell the reader that he really dislikes Plato, and thinks he destroyed western philosophy. * SICP (Structure and interpretation of computer programs). Learning Scheme for fun now with this book. I'm only in chapter 2 so far, but it is really fun * "Gödel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hoefstadter. The story in one line: he have a theory that consciousness aries from "strange loops". Along the way he talks about fractals, programming, patterns in music and in pictures,... * "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoyevskij. Fun read.

Franny and Zooey -- Salinger Mostly by introducing me to the Stoics (Aurelius especially) and a variety of Eastern, especially Zen Buddhist, works. Revolutionary Road -- Yates Yay, mentioned that one in two threads today and it's not even noon yet! A History of Western Philosophy -- Russell Vonnegut in general. Bluebeard serves as a good overview of his major themes and ideas, to pick just one book. The part about how people with small talents who were once valued by their communities have been rendered eccentrics of no special value to anyone by easy, cheap, global distribution of media is always near the front of my mind. How to Read a Book -- Adler

Bertrand Russel – A History of Western Philosophy. Easily my most favorite non-fiction book. Even though there are some flaws in the treatment of some philosophers (and their models) here and there (esp. 19th Century ones – but it might just be that I'm more familiar with these myself), it's a great read: Well written, thorough, and never shy with his own opinion. The chapter on scholastic philosophy was an eye-opener for me, as was the part about the 11th-Century church reforms. Before I read this book, I rarely cared about pre-Kantian philosophy, as I thought it to be outdated and not really relevant anymore. Russel encouraged me to re-discover the philosophical models from a cultural-historical point of view – something that sounds obvious to me now, but at the time I discovered the book (in my early twenties) it was not.

It really depends on what you're looking for, but Philosophy is a field where one philosopher's work is built on top of the other's going all the way back to the ancient Greek's. Its important (I think anyways) to read the raw texts before you read philosophical commentary so that you have a chance to form your own opinions. That being said, here's some recommendations of mine that cover a breadth of philosophical subjects and time periods. Its always good to see someone else want to learn more philsophy, especially if its of their own volition. Plato. Strangely enough, Plato is probably one of the best introductions to philosophy, not only because he was one of the first whose writings survive to modern time, but also because its relatively simple to read and understand. Some of my personal favorite are 'The Apology', 'The Symposium', and 'The Phaedrus', and of course 'The Republic'. The weird thing with Plato is you'll never know how much of his writings are his thinking as opposed to Socrates teaching. I still reread Plato because the stories (most of his writing is in narrative form) are so damn entertaining.…

A couple by Stanley Cavell: Must We Mean What We Say? (1969) The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy (1979) New York: Oxford University Press. I would also second Russell's A Brief History of Western Philosophy. It's biased and weirdly shallow in some places, but written by a philosopher, so not a toothless compilation. Obscure but made an impression on me: Ways of Worldmaking by Nelson Goodman. If you can get through it: John Rawls's A Theory of Justice...an important book with a few very important ideas. Stuff by Amartya Sen. On philosophy of science, the historical narratives do the job I think, like The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler (a great read once you get through the Greeks). You could read Thomas Kuhn, Feyerabend's autobiography "Killing Time" which is great, and if you're really serious read Peter Galison's stuff. Finally, again, more history that pure philosophy but I really liked Wittgenstein's Vienna by Toulmin.

Bertrand Russell: A history of western philosophy. I haven't read it all but what I've read was both informative and witty. Note that Russell, kind of similar to The Economist, is "opinionated". Must be that British style...