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The Philosophy degree thread! (Information and reading list!)

Hello and welcome to the Philosophy, religious studies and theology forum. :biggrin:

Do you enjoy philosophy?
How much experience have you had with the subject?
What got you interested in the subject to start with?
Do you have any tips for future philosophy applicants or students?

:colondollar:

Please share and chat below. :colondollar:

>>>Click here to read all about what to expect from a philosophy degree.<<<

See the next post for a comprehensive philosophy reading list. Post below if you have any queries or suggestions!

Also quick note, see this other forum for anything related to PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).

Some advice

dbmag9I'd recommend anyone interested in philosophy teaches themselves basic logic; it's not difficult, and gives you a massive leg up in thinking critically about arguments.

Think about getting a bit of an understanding of metaphyscis before reading political philosophy

The rationalists came before the empiricists and Kant replies directly to Hume (causality).

Hegel is a different animal but inspired many modern and contemporary philosophers. I dare say his work is the hardest to read and understand.

Don't feel as though you have to read these before your course starts...

AthematicaReading university core texts in a subject you plan to take is seldom a good plan for a couple of reasons. Some of these are dense, rigorous and dry texts to study on your own. The very first reason one should go to university to read philosophy is to engage in debate with others about the texts and in the case of History of Philosophy I think it is especially true that this acts as a source of relief, even through writing essays if discussion on the matter isn't necessarily what interests you.

See also:
> Are you a current or former philosophy student and want to help other students? Apply to be a Community Assistant here.

> Philosophy, religious studies and theology study help
> Philosophy debate forum

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

[scroll]Recommended Reading List[/scroll]

Each list is order alphabetically by author surname. :smile:

While authors have been repeated throughout several sections of this list, no text has been repeated, so make sure you look through the full list. :yep:

If you spot any anomalies, believe there to be an error, would like a text moving into a different section, would like to make an addition, or anything else, just post below and tag me. And I'll see to it that this is changed if need be.

Introductory

The Pig that Wants to be Eaten - Julian Baggini
Think - Simon Blackburn
Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
Philosophy in practice - Adam Morton
The Problems of Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Philosophy: the Basics - Nigel Warburton
The spirit level - Richard Wilkinson

Very Short Introduction books (available for loads of different philosophical interests)

Core texts

Nichomachean Ethics - Aristotle
Meditations - Rene Descartes
Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes
Treatise on Human nature- David Hume
The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx
On Liberty - John Stuart Mill
The Republic - Plato

Art of War
The Prince

Logic
Languages of Logic - Samuel Guttenplan
Logic - Wilfred Hodges

Ethics
Being good - Simon Blackburn
Practical Ethics - Peter Singer

Mathematics
Thinking About Mathematics - Shapiro (a completely readable introduction to the philosophy of mathematics)

Politics
An Introduction to Political Philosophy - Jonathan Wolff

Miscellaneous

Language Truth and Logic - Ayer
The Language of Morals - Hare
Phenomenology of Spirit - G.W.F. Hegel
Being and Time - Martin Heidegger
Enquiry concerning Human Understanding - Hume
Critique of Pure Reason - Kant
Toleration & Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - Locke
What does it all mean? - Thomas Nagel
Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche
The Genealogy of Morality - Nietzsche
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Nietzsche (don't start with this one until you're more familiar with Nietzsche)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig
Logic of Scientific Discovery - Popper
History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
Social Contract & Inequality - Jean Jaque Rousseau
Existentialism and Humanism - John-Paul Sartre
World as Will and Representation - Schopenhauer
Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Philosophical Investigations - Ludwig Wittgenstein
Tractatus Logico Philosophicus - Ludwig Wittgenstein

Great free philosophy resources

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Like Wikipedia, but written by experts in all fields of philosophy to an academically rigorous standard.)
PhilosophyBro.com
Wikibooks, introduction to Philosophy
Rust Belt Philosophy (The author takes current writing and disassembles the bad reasoning and argument that comes out of the pens of so many modern-day commenters.) ning and argument that comes out of the pens of so many modern-day commenters.)

Reply 2

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

(It's also worth noting that none of the content in this thread is original to me, credit goes to many other people, including @FadedJade for starting the reading list)

Reply 3

gjd800

If you think Hegel is hard, try getting your head around Dignāga is Skt :laugh:

Reply 4

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by gjd800

If you think Hegel is hard, try getting your head around Dignāga is Skt :laugh:

Was wondering when you'd rock up. :tongue:

Anything in this guide you think needs adding or changing? :colondollar:

Reply 5

gjd800

Original post by 04MR17

Was wondering when you'd rock up. :tongue:

Anything in this guide you think needs adding or changing? :colondollar:

Not really, though I do wonder how sage tha advice about 'teach yourself logic' is. You course will do that and it will usually (though not always) be easier/better than you doing it on your own. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get yourself familiar with some informal logic but I'd not bother with formal/symbolic until the course covers it, and I'd not get too bogged down.