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Robinson, Daniel, Great Ideas in Philosophy,
The Teaching Company, 2004
Available at the
Recommend you take one or two segments
at a time.
A great introduction to philosophy that starts at the beginning and works its way to the present covering the most significant philosophers and their ideas in a fascinating and easy to understand manner. This is what got me started in philosophy.
Robert
Solomon, No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life”,
Available
at the
Robert Solomon guides you through the exciting ideas of Existentialism making it clear with numerous examples. His love for this philosophy shines though and he explains how relevant Existentialism is today.
Robert
Solomon and Kathleen Higgins, Will to Power: The Philosophy of Friedrich
Nietzsche, Available at the Cumberland Library, 24, 30 minute lectures
on audio cassette.
Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins love Nietzsche and it shows. In these 24 lectures, they introduce you to Nietzsche’s great ideas and explain how it is relevant today.
Law,
Stephen, The Philosophy Gym – 25 Short Adventures in Thinking, 2003,
St. Martin’s Press
A terrific introduction to philosophy by
a series of discussion of major philosophical questions such as How
do I know other people really think and feel?, Is morality just whatever
we think is right and wrong?, What makes you, you? Because
each issue is covered by fictional dialogs between two people debating
the question, it is easy and fun to follow. The author explains
various points to clarify some of the less obvious issues.
Rauhut,
Nils Ch., The Big Questions – Philosophy for Everyone, 2005, Pearson
Longman
This book walks through some of the major questions of philosophy by analyzing the problem from various perspectives. It explains the strengths and weaknesses of each argument. What’s great is that it covers some of the basic concepts of philosophy at the same time. I recommend this book highly to someone who wants to learn more about philosophy and have fun thinking about the big questions.
Baggett and Klien, Harry Potter and Philosophy
‘If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts’, 2004, Open Court
A fascinating analysis of various philosophical implications of the Harry Potter stories. In a series of essays, many different perspectives are considered including the frequent use of lying and rule breaking by the heroes, the heroic versus evil and the impact of friendship. If you know the stories, it’s a great way to broaden your philosophical perspective.
Irwin,The Matrix and Philosophy, 2002,
A number of philosophical essays look at the first Matrix film from various philosophical perspectives. The Matrix is blatantly philosophical just by the premise of reality being a delusion which is as old as philosophy itself. However there are many other points discussed such as the morality of the heroes who kill fellow humans to save humanity.
Decker, Kevin S. and
Eberl, Jason T., Star Wars and Philosophy, 2005,
This is a fun way to learn about philosophy because it relates it to a familiar movie. I learned a lot about Star Wars and philosophy. Each chapter analyzes the films from a different philosophical perspective. For example, does Star Wars promote technology over nature? Are the droids just slaves? Are the Jedi really the good guys? The essays are some of the clearest presentations of any I have read. Enjoy!
Rowlands, Mark, The Philosopher at
the End of the Universe, 2004, Thomas Dunne Books
The subtitle “Philosophy Explained though Science Fiction” movies says it all. If you like sci fi, this is a great book to learn about the ideas expressed in films such as Total Recall, Blade Runner and the Terminator. The style is very informal which makes it more fun too read but sometimes gets a bit crass, i.e. foul language, so be warned
Marinoff,
Lou, PH.D., Plato Not Prozac, 1999, Harper Collins
A discussion of how philosophy can and is used to effectively deal with and solve life’s challenges. Philosophy counselors now help people that might have gone to psychologists in the past.
Popkin,
Richard H., Stroll, Avrum, Philosophy Made Simple, 1993, A Made Simple
Book
This book provides an excellent introduction to philosophy. It is easy to read and well organized. There is a section gives to each of the major topics of philosophy.
Russell, Bertrand,
The Conquest of Happiness, 1930, Liveright
Ideas ahead of their time. The great British philosopher gives us self help and advice on achieving happiness.
Ballini, The Philosopher's Toolkit, 1999
Comprehensive
well presented coverage of effective reasoning techniques. You’ll
win a lot more arguments after reading this one. It’s also a great
way to get up to speed on how a philosopher thinks.
Camus, Albert,The Stranger, 1957, Vintage International
A very unusual story
about a man who is out of sync with the world around him. He just
doesn’t seem to think or feel like others and there are grave consequences. I found it was both a critique of the main character but also of the
supposed ‘normal’ people who condemn him. This one makes you think.
Russell,
Bertrand, The Problems of Philosophy, Barnes & Noble Books, 2004
At
about 125 pages, this relatively short book provides a good smattering
of philosophic concepts and issues. Russell is one of the greatest
minds of the 20th century and goes to great effort to be clear and
direct.
Fisher, Alec, The Logic of Real Arguments,
If you want to master effective reasoning so you beat that
friend at all those debates, this is the book for you. It explains
how effective arguments are constructed and analyzed so you can build
sound arguments and see the flaws in weak ones.
James, William,Some Problems of Philosophy – A Beginning of an Introduction to Philosophy
James,
arguably the greatest American philosopher, has a winning way with
words and an interesting perspective. In this book, he touches
on some key issues in philosophy that were particularly relevant in
his day, i.e. the early 20th century.
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