Hi,

Can anyone recommend any excellent books for a beginner reading Philosophy?

James

On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:20:33 GMT, "James" ntlworld.com> wrote:

Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
by V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee, Oliver Sacks (Foreword)
http://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Human/dp/0688172172/sr=1-1/qid...

and the Churchland books.

IMO anything before neuroscience and neurophilosophy
is some goof's confabulated nonsense. Others here disagree.

Hello James,

I am into a lot of everything.

But if you like a beginner's book in Wittgenstein, may I suggest
"Wittgenstein: An Introduction" by Schulte, et al.

On Oct 31, 4:20 pm, "James" ntlworld.com> wrote:

Encyclopedia articles discussing "philosophy," aren't necessarily dull,
so skim as many as you can stand.

I'd go from WORLD BOOK to BRITTANICA and everything in between.

I truly like the Univ of Chicago's Thomas Kuhn because he explains "how
reality/normalacy is constructed/created."

He wets my appetite for studying philosophy, and I suppose he sort of
"writes down" for every student's comprehension.

If you can comprehend Plato, then ...go for it (PHAEDO, THE REPUBLIC).

James wrote:

"James" ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:B6P1h.48098$Or2.15213@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...

There is philosophy in every book.

Is your goal to find out what other "philosophers" believe?

"James" ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:B6P1h.48098$Or2.15213@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net...

The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy by Anthony
Gottlieb

James wrote:

Philosophy The Classics by Nigel Warburton - easy to read general
introduction to some of the great books by some of the great
philosophers. I like the way Warburton dedicates a single short
chapter to each of several great books of the Western philosophical
tradition.

Henri Bergson's *The Creative Mind*.

W : )

In a word, Yes :o)

"James" ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:TSa2h.32885$w07.4721@newsfe6-win.ntli.net...

Make a list philosophers and Google them - Wikipedia is usually good for a
digested version of the philosopher's thoughts. If any interest you futher
the Internet (and libraries if you swing that way) are full of expanded
descriptions as well as self-portraits.

My suggested starting place would be Dr.Suess, "Oh, The Places You'll Go" in
particular.

My suggested ending point would be your own book, describing your own
philosophy. Keep it short, read it and consider revising it every day.

Somewhere in the middle try to fit in Pirsig's ZAMM and Lila.