August Spies

No offense to people, but I fail to see how The Hobbit or Dune or books like that coule possibly have shaped your political/philsophical positions.

Walross

Oh, I don't know about that. I think the fiction that I have read has had a great impact upon my moral thought, which, in turn has a strong influence upon my political and philosophical positions. While I, personally wouldn't put Dune or The Hobbit on my list, I would say that my fiction reading habits overall have probably contributed just as much (if not more) to my current attitudes and positions as my non-fiction reading habits.

In any case here's my list (devoid of any fiction, which is strange, considering the rant I just made) in no particular order:

Cosmos by Carl Sagan - taught me not only to love the natural world, but to find the beauty and awe in it as well.

Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan - did more than anything else to teach me the need for critical thought

Fads and Fallacies in The Name of Science by Martin Gardner - did more than anything else, except for the above, to teach me the need for critical thought.

People of The World (I forget the author) it's just a 2nd year anthropology text, but it has had a huge impact on how I view the world and our place in it.

Ecological Imperialism by Alfred Crosby - again in the category of "having a huge impact of how I view the world and our place in it".

Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman. This one may seem kind of trivial, but, more than any other book, this one has shown me the beauty of simply enjoying life as it comes (sounds corny, I know).

I'm sure there are more, but those are the best I can think of for now.

Walross

elwoodblues

Oh, I dunno. If I had to list mine, Robert Heinlein's body of work would be at the head of the list. Stranger In a Strange Land, Starship Troopers, Time Enough For Love, and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress especially, but all of his non-juveniles deal with politics and philosophy. They talk about politics and/or philosophy in a very pragmatic way, and they're accessible to growing minds in a way that Dostoevsky, Sartre and Ingersoll really aren't. That can't be overstated.

Tack on Huxley, Rand, Hofstadter, Orwell, Sagan and Dawkins to Heinlein for me. I won't bother listing specific books.

Ensign Steve

I'm not home, so I can't site authors or publishers unfortunately, but ...

+ How to Think About Weird Things
+ How the Mind Works
+ The Born-Again Skeptic's Guide to the Bible
+ God's Debris, Scott Adams (weak logic, but a funny read anyway)
+ Every episode of Star Trek ever made (not a book, but THE single most influencial force in my current views of the nature of life, the universe, and everything)

That reminds me!

+ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

August Spies

wait hold on... im did not say I can't imagine fiction changing your point of view. Hell, I myself listed 1984. But I mean.... Tokien? Im sorry those books dont' bring up interesting political or philosophical questions. Unless of course you are interested in 17th century metaphysics like some Good vs. Evil dichotomy or you think that blood lines help make better people.

Silent Acorns

Hmmm ... I added "the Hobbit" at the last minute when I was thinking "books that influenced you" (i.e. the thread title) not "books were instrumental in shaping or changing your political/philosophical views". While I feel The Hobbit belongs on former, I agree that it doesn't qualify for the latter (at least for me)

Friar Bellows

scarmig, I'm not sure I would want to meet you alone in a dark alley.

Mageth

A few more than 5 or 10, I guess:

Desert Solitaire, The Monkey Wrench Gang, etc. by Edward Abbey, consummate desert rat, philosopher and environmental advocate.
Kudos to Demon Haunted World.
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, that introduced me to the concept of Memetics.
Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Daniel Dennett.
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
A Rumor of War, Philip Caputo. One of the better books about the Vietnam War.
Dispatches, by Michael Herr. Perhaps an even better book about the Vietnam War.

The following two helped me view American history from a different perspective:
Black Elk Speaks, as told by John G. Neihardt
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Alexander Brown

Read at an early age, which helped shape my early thinking about society, the future, etc:
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
1984, George Orwell
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
On the Beach, Nevil Shute
Lord of the Flies, William Golding

August Spies

Silent Acorns:

okay I understand. In case you missed it though, the OP said

Walross

August Spies wrote:

oh, ok, fair enough. I think I just misunderstood what you were getting at. Regards,

Walross