That combines a very high degree of accessibility with an astonishingly high degree of reliability. This includes, among others, his summaries of Plato’s The Republic, Montaigne’s Essays, and Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. For example, the essay on ‘The Absurd’ begins with the observation that ‘Most people feel on occasion that life is absurd, and some feel it vividly and continually’. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon. So I have opted to cheat for this fourth selection and just say: any history of philosophy. It carries a treasure of a 100 Quotes written by AiR, each more precious than the exotic gems in a … He was formerly a professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University. Is free will real or just an illusion? From beginner-friendly introductions to classic books on philosophy, this page features books to suit any learning style. I’ll create another book list about Eastern philosophers at a later time. by also including discussions on Freud, Singer, Arendt, and other influential thinkers. In 1997, he received the Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize and is also a regular contributor to Skeptical Inquirer. The nice thing about Sandel’s writing is not just that it is clear and accessible, but that he keeps going back to specific questions that actually matter to people, from how to treat hired help to affirmative action. The article raises key issues about the politicization of language, also highly relevant today. The book is a weaving together of the lives and ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Hannah Arendt, Frantz Fanon, Iris Murdoch, and about 68 other characters – ultimately providing a sprightly introduction to a broad range of intellectual giants of the 20th Century. Any route into philosophy needs to capture that surprise, at the same time as slowing us down, getting us to think and rethink every step – because this kind of thinking should be slow, as well as surprising. The term “philosophy” nowadays refers to a highly specialized academic field of inquiry, analogous to science, literary criticism, history, and so forth. Stathis Psillos is a Greek philosopher of science. In short, don’t expect too much depth. His follow-up volume, Metazoa (the biological term for the whole animal kingdom) broadens the canvas and aims to understand the place of consciousness itself in nature. If so, do we have free will? He is an Associate Editor at the journal Foundations of Physics, a fellow of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics, and an affiliated faculty member of the UCSD Chinese studies program. In my view, philosophy is best when it responds to intellectual challenges arising in other areas of thought, like physics, or psychology, or politics. Interested in love? So my first suggestion is difficult and needs to be taken slowly, but it starts out with the surprise: Mark Sainsbury’s wonderful Paradoxes. In addition to typically mentioned philosophers, Stevenson also discusses many slightly less mainstream names. Also check out our list of 10+ best Buddhism books to read for absolute beginners. Her books include Existentialism and Romantic Love and the co-edited collection How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy. He then gives several examples to better illustrate the theory, thus grounding an otherwise abstract notion. As the name suggests, each book in this series serves as a quick introduction on a specific topic, packaged as a pocket-sized read. I place this short paragraph right in the syllabus. When I teach Introduction to Philosophy I use, not one of those maddeningly bitty anthologies with which publishers bombard us, but Plato’s Republic—for its breadth, and for the way it integrates so many areas: social and political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of education, philosophy of art, the status of women, and so on. Overall, I think the A Very Short Introduction series has a little bit of something for everyone. Yet, despite avoiding heavy jargon, it doesn’t shy away from raising the big questions about life, consciousness, religion, and more. 8. But of course, Plato’s political vision is chilling; so I like to combine the Republic with a much more recent book, Jonathan Rauch’s Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought (1993)—which spells out how Plato’s rationalist epistemology underpins his totalitarian political philosophy, and offers in its place a fallibilist epistemology and an articulate defense of freedom of thought and expression. Everything is organized by theme (e.g. These five dialogues are splendid examples of Plato’s prose and philosophical acumen. Portions of it always appear on my first-year undergraduate reading lists, and my students often confess to me that they find it hard work. The first class begins with this paragraph: [The seeker of wisdom/the philosopher is the one] whose heart is informed about these things which would be otherwise ignored, the one who is clear-sighted when he is deep into a problem, the one who is moderate in his actions, who penetrates ancient writings, whose advice is [sought] to unravel complications, who is really wise, who instructed his own heart, who stays awake at night as he looks for the right paths, who surpasses what he accomplished yesterday, who is wiser than a sage, who brought himself to wisdom, who asks for advice and sees to it that he is asked advice. This way, students are introduced both to a key text in the history of western philosophy and to the relevance of philosophical ideas to their own lives. Susan Haack is a Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, Cooper Senior Scholar in Arts and Sciences, Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Law at the University of Miami. Shop. Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This is especially relevant during chapters that explore the value of aesthetics – or those that use images to sketch the cultural backdrop that gave rise to big philosophical ideas. It is lively, engaging, and extraordinarily deep – a superb introduction to the subject. Here, I’ll focus mainly on Western philosophy. It is therefore as remarkable in the case of Descartes’ Meditations as it was in the case of Plato’s Meno that we are able to say, as indeed we are, that it is as fresh and as readable as it ever was. The Apology features Socrates’ own defence at the trial where he was accused of impiety and corruption of the Athenian youth, and at which he was condemned to death. list of the best non-fiction books about the history and philosophy of love! This biography was published in 2019 and although there are other biographies already out there, this one is particularly readable and enlightening and draws on some newly published material such as Beauvoir’s student diaries and love letters. 5. The book begins by discussing different “forms” that philosophical discourse can take, proceeding then to the notion of “spiritual exercises,” i.e., philosophical meditations aimed at improving our life. Pierre Hadot is arguably the most influential author that has contributed to bringing back practical philosophy to a broad public, to remind us that the unexamined life may not be worth living. our list of 10+ best Buddhism books to read for absolute beginners. The Kite Runner ( Riverhead Books ) by Khaled Hosseini Image courtesy of Amazon More than a hundred thinkers are covered probably seen this book is the. More in-depth in its own right in order — that ’ s certainly the first place your.. 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