Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Jeremy Bornstein · 01-28-2002, 12:43 PM

I'm trying to learn more about philosophy and recently purchased a book called 'Scepticism and Animal Faith'. After reading through about 40 pages of this book, I still only have a partial understanding of what hell the author is talking about. Anyone know the book? Also does anyone have any suggestions for books for an introduction into this subject, something a little more 'user friendly' than the book I'm reading now.

Thanks!!

Jeremy

[ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: Jeremy Bornstein ]

chickensoupforthebowl · 01-28-2002, 12:57 PM

If you haven't read anything dealing with philosophy, I would actually recommend "Idiots guide to philosophy", not because you're an idiot or anything, but it's an easy read to get you started and covers generally all the areas of philosophy. And, from there you can branch off into whatever interests you. I have seen, but haven't read the book you're discussing, but don't worry, I think the majority of us have read some philosophy book and half way through have no idea what the hell the author is talking about.
Definitely do not buy "Philosophy for Dummies" though. It is written by Tom Morris, a philosophy professor from Notre Dame, and, at least in my opinion, the book is incredibly biased towards a Christian worldview. Not that it's not a good book for christians, but as an intro one would at least hope they would present all the sides pretty fairly and just lay out the terrain. "Philosophy for Dummies" is Christian philosophy almost the whole way through.
In your typical bookstore there are generally a few writers who are hard to understand, and the rest tend to flow pretty easily. Wittgenstein, Frege, Quine, Kripke, Nozick (some of his books), Nietzche, and Kant, at least in my opinion, are pretty tough to understand, especially if you have no idea about their overall views. But, maybe you're a genius and can blow through Kripke.

Francois Tremblay · 01-28-2002, 12:59 PM

I recommend "Objectivism : The Philosophy of Ayn Rand". Although it was written by Peikoff, it's still a good introduction to philosophy. Most importantly, it will spare you from having to read all the other stuff and get your right to the important issues.

tronvillain · 01-28-2002, 01:05 PM

Objectivism: The Philosphy of Ayn Rand as an introduction to philosophy? I haven't read it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. I say go with An Idiot's Guide to Philosophy.

[ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: tronvillain ]

NialScorva · 01-28-2002, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Franc28:
I recommend "Objectivism : The Philosophy of Ayn Rand". Although it was written by Peikoff, it's still a good introduction to philosophy. Most importantly, it will spare you from having to read all the other stuff and get your right to the important issues.

Rand? I thought he wanted to read philosophy. Though I must admit from what I've read, Rand is all about simplified and watered-down ideas stolen from greater thinkers, presented in a way that their understandable to those who don't want to think all that much.

Clutch · 01-28-2002, 01:08 PM

Hoo-boy! If Morris' book shills for one sort of cult, Peikoff's does for another. I mean, read it if you have the time -- but bring as many grains of salt as your pockets will hold.

Jeremy, it's hard to beat Russell's Problems of Philosophy, as was just pointed out on the Gettier thread. Clear, accessible and substantive, its only limitation is scope; it does not consider moral philosophy. But page for page, as an introduction to problems, and as an exemplar of methods, in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophical logic, it has never been equalled. Good luck in your search!

Jeremy Bornstein · 01-28-2002, 01:13 PM

Thanks I'll check all those books out, and then I'll come back to this forum in a couple of months and start arguing/discussing with the best of you.

Jeremy

[ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: Jeremy Bornstein ]

NialScorva · 01-28-2002, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy Bornstein:
[QB]Thanks I'll check all those books out, and then I'll come back to this forum in a couple of months and start arguing/discussing with the best of you.

Jeremy

Bah, just wade into the fray, and be willing to be wrong a lot. I've learned more philosophy that way than by reading books. Philosophy should be a living, breathing arguement, suplemented and formalized by reading.

Adrian Selby · 01-28-2002, 10:30 PM

If you can get hold of it, one of my all time 'Bibles' is a small 180 page book by a guy called Roger Trigg, 'Reason and Commitment' it covers the whole gamut from the point of view of whether there is such a thing as objective truth, and relates is thinking on relativism and objectivity to art, science, philosophy etc. It's a thought provoking all round read in as close to natural english as you could hope.

Adrian

Someone7 · 01-29-2002, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Someone7 in another thread:
I own The Story of Philosophy, A History of Western Philosophy, Philosophy for Dummies and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Philosophy, and I strongly suggest getting the first two and not getting the last two, especially not Philosophy for Dummies. PfD should be called Manipulative Catholic Theology for Dummies, and any text on philosophy really isn’t of any use unless it is put into its proper historical context, something which neither PfD or TCIGtP do. Also, TCIGtP pushes postmodernism and New Age beliefs pretty heavily, but that is a lot easier to swallow than Tom Morris’s shit. Of course, at least he has a formal education in philosophy, something Stevenson doesn’t.

The downside to Durant and Russell's books are that they barely cover 20th century philosophy. Russell could have covered this topic pretty well yet didn't, but Durant was writing in the early 20th century, so at least he has an excuse. I would suggest reading The Story of Philosophy first, and then reading A History of Western Philosophy, since it is more in depth.

Santayana's book is not an introduction to philosophy (it is an attack on idealism), so I suggest putting it down now Jeremy.

01-28-2002, 12:43 PM	#1
Jeremy Bornstein Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Austin, TX - Travis Posts: 22	Intro to Philosophy I'm trying to learn more about philosophy and recently purchased a book called 'Scepticism and Animal Faith'. After reading through about 40 pages of this book, I still only have a partial understanding of what hell the author is talking about. Anyone know the book? Also does anyone have any suggestions for books for an introduction into this subject, something a little more 'user friendly' than the book I'm reading now. Thanks!! Jeremy [ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: Jeremy Bornstein ]</p>

01-28-2002, 01:05 PM	#4
tronvillain Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 5,658	Objectivism: The Philosphy of Ayn Rand as an introduction to philosophy? I haven't read it, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. I say go with An Idiot's Guide to Philosophy. [ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: tronvillain ]</p>

01-28-2002, 01:13 PM	#7
Jeremy Bornstein Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Austin, TX - Travis Posts: 22	Thanks I'll check all those books out, and then I'll come back to this forum in a couple of months and start arguing/discussing with the best of you. Jeremy [ January 28, 2002: Message edited by: Jeremy Bornstein ]</p>

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01-28-2002, 12:57 PM	#2
chickensoupforthebowl Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Posts: 27	If you haven't read anything dealing with philosophy, I would actually recommend "Idiots guide to philosophy", not because you're an idiot or anything, but it's an easy read to get you started and covers generally all the areas of philosophy. And, from there you can branch off into whatever interests you. I have seen, but haven't read the book you're discussing, but don't worry, I think the majority of us have read some philosophy book and half way through have no idea what the hell the author is talking about. Definitely do not buy "Philosophy for Dummies" though. It is written by Tom Morris, a philosophy professor from Notre Dame, and, at least in my opinion, the book is incredibly biased towards a Christian worldview. Not that it's not a good book for christians, but as an intro one would at least hope they would present all the sides pretty fairly and just lay out the terrain. "Philosophy for Dummies" is Christian philosophy almost the whole way through. In your typical bookstore there are generally a few writers who are hard to understand, and the rest tend to flow pretty easily. Wittgenstein, Frege, Quine, Kripke, Nozick (some of his books), Nietzche, and Kant, at least in my opinion, are pretty tough to understand, especially if you have no idea about their overall views. But, maybe you're a genius and can blow through Kripke.

01-28-2002, 12:59 PM	#3
Francois Tremblay Banned Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Montreal, QC Canada Posts: 876	I recommend "Objectivism : The Philosophy of Ayn Rand". Although it was written by Peikoff, it's still a good introduction to philosophy. Most importantly, it will spare you from having to read all the other stuff and get your right to the important issues.

01-28-2002, 01:08 PM	#6
Clutch Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Canada Posts: 3,751	Hoo-boy! If Morris' book shills for one sort of cult, Peikoff's does for another. I mean, read it if you have the time -- but bring as many grains of salt as your pockets will hold. Jeremy, it's hard to beat Russell's Problems of Philosophy, as was just pointed out on the Gettier thread. Clear, accessible and substantive, its only limitation is scope; it does not consider moral philosophy. But page for page, as an introduction to problems, and as an exemplar of methods, in metaphysics, epistemology and philosophical logic, it has never been equalled. Good luck in your search!

01-28-2002, 10:30 PM	#9
Adrian Selby Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Farnham, UK Posts: 859	If you can get hold of it, one of my all time 'Bibles' is a small 180 page book by a guy called Roger Trigg, 'Reason and Commitment' it covers the whole gamut from the point of view of whether there is such a thing as objective truth, and relates is thinking on relativism and objectivity to art, science, philosophy etc. It's a thought provoking all round read in as close to natural english as you could hope. Adrian

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