What philosophers/philosophy books are worth reading?

[AMHOLIO]

Genuine question. Putting this in mass debates because people have very strong opinions on it.

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

Philosophers: Murray Rothbard, Ayn Rand, Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Books:
- H. Binswanger: How We Know - Epistemology on an Objectivist Foundation.
- H.-H. Hoppe: A Short History of Man: Progress and Decline.
- M. Rothbard: Power and Market.

 

[AMHOLIO]

Ayn Rand

Ah ha, Ayn Rand, you can't trick me into objectivism!

She's too goddamn long and so many of her fans are speds. I'll consider the others though, thank you.

 

[XL xQgg?QcQCaTYDMjqoDnYpG]

you can't trick me into objectivism!

just pick up the metaphysics (can be comprehensively summarized in one short paragraph) and epistemology and you're gucci
everything else is superfluous or outright contradictory to the former

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

 

[scallion]

Camus, A Happy Death and The Stranger are nice because they're not explicitly philosophy books, they're stories that convey his philosophy. Basically if life is truly meaningless why not at least enjoy it while you're here.

 

[Red Saltire]

Philosophy is a pretty big subject. What are you interested in, generally speaking?

 

[Hypercop]

Hume and Kant ended philosophy as a serious discipline. You can read the philosophers who came after them if you want, but there's not much of a reason to.

 

[VF-1J Armored Valkyrie]

Read Sun Tzu's Art of War and Miyamoto Musashi's Book of 5 Rings. Art of War is a text on strategy that also easily applies to success in business, politics, and many other competitive endeavors. Book of 5 Rings is more focused on weapons and martial arts of the period, but also contains useful philosophy on best utilizing tools, organizing work, and training/managing workers.

 

[AMHOLIO]

Philosophy is a pretty big subject. What are you interested in, generally speaking?

I like most history readings. I haven't read any philosophy yet, so you could recommend a beginner text if you'd like. Anything to be less of a dumbass and at least see what people are raving lunatics about.

 

[Not A Cat Person]

Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra and none of Nietzsche's other works.

 

[AMHOLIO]

and none of Nietzsche's other works.

Why discard them? Honest question.

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

Asking which philosophy works to read is like asking which food to eat.

If you want a serious answer you'll need to be more specific in what you're looking for. Otherwise you'll just end up with a bunch of people throwing out random books, half of which will contradict the other.

 

[AMHOLIO]

Asking which philosophy to read is like asking which food to eat.

Which food should I eat?

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

Which food should I eat?

You seem like a chicken tendies kinda guy

 

[Lonjil]

A good book I always recommend is "The Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker. It's a good exploration of how humans and broadly human society handles/copes with mortality

 

[Not A Cat Person]

Why discard them? Honest question.

Thus Spake Zarathustra is written in allegorical story form, it is somewhat poetic and I would consider it his magnum opus. His other works are just straight-up rambling philosophical treatises and much less enjoyable to read. And if you've digested Thus Spake Zarathustra you already understand his philosophy anyway (and it does have some merits).

 

[Red Saltire]

As a very general roadmap, especially for a western reader, you should trace a line from Descartes -> Hume -> Kant -> Nietzsche -> today. That will give you an overview of the conversation that has been taking place in philosophy (generally) for the last 300 years. The things that resonate today are hard to pin down, but I would recommend Alasdair MacIntyre who will give you a contemporary response to all these guys and fill you in on a lot of the Greek stuff that influenced all of the above.

 

[scallion]

half of which will contradict the other

To be fair that's a plus in philosophy, you're here to glean perspectives and mindsets not be told what to think.

 

[Schway Bae]

I <3 Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, but the average KF user's views of language probably align closer with Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. (Essentially his later writings would go on to argue against and directly contradict his earlier works, but lots of people think he had it all down in 1921.) Either way I think for those looking to engage in debates and criticism of others understanding both of these perspectives and how others use language is extremely beneficial.