If anyone wants a CHRONOLOGICAL ROADMAP into philosophy, Eastern and Western combined, here's my compilation. - Ancient Indian philosophy - 1. Vedic philosophy (2000 BCE) 2. Samkhya sutras of Kapila (~1500 BCE) atheistic school of dualism. 3. The Principal Upanishads (bw 1000 to 600 BCE) 4. Charvaka philosophy of Brihaspati (pre-1000BCE) - world's oldest atheistic and materialistic philosphy. The original Brihaspati Sutras didn't survive. 5. The Nyaya Sutras of Aksapada Goutama (7th century BCE - World's oldest complete book on logic and epistemology) 6. Bhagvad Gita (~500 BCE) 7. Mimansa Philosophy - the principal text woukd be Mimamsa sutra of Jamini (4th-century BCE) 8. Vaisheshika sutra of Kanada ( 7th century BCE - among others these sutras hypothesised the breakdown of matter into atoms and subatoms - Anu and Paramanu) 9. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (bw 500BCE - 400 CE) 10. Samkhyakarika of Ishvar Krishna (~350 CE) 11. Jain philosophy - outlined in the Tattvārthasūtra of Umaswati (possibly between 2nd-century and 5th-century CE) 12. Buddhist philosophy - important texts include those of the Mahayana sect - Mahaprajnaparamita sutra, Maha Ratnakuta sutra, Sandhinimochana sutra, Amitabha sutra, Vimalakriti sutra, Lankavatara Sutra, Shurngama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, Mahaparinirvana sutra, and Saddharma pundarika sutra. 13. Sociopolitical philosophy - Arthashastra of Chanakya (4th century BCE) 14. Ajivika philosophy - the original scriptures are lost. Hellinistic - 1. Thales of Miletus (624/623-548/545 BCE) - the father of ancient Greek philosophy. 2. Pythagoras (570 BCE) 3. On Nature by Parmenides (560 BCE - 510 BCE ) 4. Anaxagoras (500 BC-428 BCE) - the first to establish a philosophy in its entirety in Athens. 5. Zeno (490 BC-430 BC) 6. Empedocles (490 BC-430 BC) 7. Socrates (470 - 399 BCE - all of him. This man's THE man ) 8. Democritus (460 - 370 BCE - famous for his atomifc theory among others) 9. Plato, (born 428/427 - 348/347 BCE) 10. Aristotle (384-322 BCE ) Classical Chinese philosophy - 1. Daodejing of Lao Tzu (5th century) 2. Analects of Confucius (475-220 BCE) 3. Zhuangzi (476-221 BCE) 4. Mencius (3rd century BCE) 5. Xun Kuang (314-235 BCE) Classical Roman philosophy - 1. Lucretius (88- 55 BCE) 2. Cicero (106 - 43 BCE) 3. Seneca the Younger (BCE 4- 65 AD) 4. Pliny The Elder (23-79) 5. The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (121-180) 6. Porphyry of Tyre ( 233- 305) 7. Augustine (354-430) 8. Hypatia (370-415) 9. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (470/75-524) Islamic philosophy - 1. Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī (854 CE - 925 CE) Famed doctor, chemist, and philosopher. First person to describe smallpox and measles as separate diseases and author of the first book on pediatrics. 2. ArA ahl al-madīna al-fāḍila (The Views of the People of The Virtuous City) by Al-Farabi (872-951 AD) 3. Saadia Gaon (882 CE - 942 CE) 4. Yahya ibn Adi (893 CE - 974 CE) Logic theorist and doctor 5. Avicenna (980 CE - 1037 CE) Persian Polymath that is often regarded as the single greatest thinker of the Islamic Golden age. 6. Ihya Ulum al-Din - The Revival of Religious Sciences by Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111 AD) 7. Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 AD) - aka Averroes. 8. Sohrevardi (1154 CE - 1191 CE) Founder of the Islamic school of Illuminationism. 9. Tafsir Al-Kabeer of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149 CE - 1209 CE) 10. Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 AD) the first Islamic postmodern and feminist thinker. Medieval European and Renaissance era philosophy - 1. Augustine (354-430) 2. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (470/75-524) 3. Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) - the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God 4. Scholasticism - 13th and 14th century - Some of the main figures of scholasticism include Anselm of Canterbury (“the father of scholasticism"), Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas's masterwork Summa Theologica (1265-1274) is considered to be the pinnacle of scholastic, medieval, and Christian philosophy; 5. Humanism - important works include those by Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 - 4 May 1406), Petrarch (1304 - 1374), Michael de Montaigne (1533 - 1592), Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457), Rudolph Agricola (1443-1485), Mario Nizolio (1488-1567), Juan Luis Vives (1493-1540), and Petrus Ramus (1515-1572). 6. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) - the most important Renaissance Platonist. Modern Philosophy - 1. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) 2. Rationalists - Rene Descartes (1596-1650), Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) 3. Empiricist - George Berkley (1685-1753), John Locke (1732-1704), David Hume (1711-1776) 4. Political philosophy - Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Jean Rousseau (1712-1778), Voltaire(1694-1778), Giambattista Vico (1668 - 1744), Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), Giuseppe Mazzini (22 June 1805 - 10 March 1872), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Fredrich Engels (1820-1895). 5. Adam Smith (1723-90). 6. The German idealists - Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), G W F Hegel (1770-1831), F W J Schelling (1775-1854), 7. Existential philosophers - Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), Simone de Beauvoir, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Albert Camus (1913-60) 8. Analytic philosophers - Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970), Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), George Edward Moore, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), Moritz Schlick, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) 9. Neoconfucianism - Xiong Shili 10. Neo-Vedanta - Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan 11. Kyoto school of thought - founded by Kitaro Nishida Contemporary philosophy 1. Martha Nussbaum (b. 1947) 2. Cornel West (b. 1952) - pioneered the school of “neopragmatism” 3. Slavoj Žižek (b. 1949) 4. Gayatri Spivak (b. 1942) 5. Gu Su (b. 1955) 6. Postmodernist philosophers - Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida 7. Structuralism/Poststeucturalism - Michel Foucault, Jaques Derrida I may have missed many but this is all too much to finish anyway. 😂 Good luck everyone! 🙂
I wish I had started at your age! Just remember that it’s a lifelong pursuit and there’s no rush to know it all now. (That is advice I have to remind myself daily.)
I would encourage you to look into speech and debate, specifically Lincoln Douglas debate, in high school. Great way to immerse yourself in the world of philosophy
@@LeafbyLeaf keep doing what you do and I hope eventually you can make a career out of it. People need to know you dont need a classroom to learn and to stop learning is detrimental
I just wanted to thank you for being so generous and sharing as much as possible content to educate the masses about reading, I'm a high school kid and I genuinely find your recommendations unique and authentic which are rather quite hard to find over internet n library walls ( typically the existential literature ones!). keep on posting the good thing sir!.,it helps alot in influencing our destiny to be a voracious reader.
This may be the most inspiring comment I have received to date. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to hear this. You are very welcome. Great to “meet” you, Elijah.
Infinite Jest got me into philosophy as well. I started with Wittgenstein and was not ready. At ALL! It is a lifelong and how to get thru the day journey!
The first time I read the TLP I was lost! Then I decided to start with Plato. That was and still is the foundation. Amazing what Plato pulled off in terms of thought AND a new aesthetic.
I'm 15 and this past year have been on the philosophy side of youtube and I'm glad I stumbled upon this video, I think this is a great order, I was about to read beyond good and evil as my first philosophy book which I assumed will be a heavy read for a first philosophy book , so thank you for this :)
Hey there! Glad you found the video helpful. Nietzsche is a great place to start with philosophy, just for the pure fact that he is so engaging. All my best to you!
Hello, I'm 14 (will turn 15 soon). I dwelved into the philosophy side of RUclips when I was 12, and it was the best thing that happened to me. Although the order presented on this video is great, it is a pity stoicism and other more simpler philosophies aren't mentioned. As a young guy who has done some reading, I suggest you start with secondary texts (and others) such as Ryan Holiday's "Daily Stoic" and in the mean time read Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. Also consider Epictetus and Seneca. Before you delve into the more difficult philosophies Confucius might also be great. Afterwards, you can move towards the works of Plato and Machevillia, but I suppose you'll get a better understanding if you read The history of Western philosophy (Bertrand Russel) beforehand. All the best!
the myth of sisyphus by camus and beyond good and evil were my first philosophical endeavors At your age I highly recommend you get into Dostoevsky as he was a great inspiration to those two
I've just started my Philosophy 100 class at university, and my reading list for the year appears to be a slimmer version of this list, so well done! If interested, my list for the school year is: Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates Plato, Republic Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy Hobbes, Leviathan Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality Sartre, No Exit I would also recommend Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito (found in the trial and death of Socrates), as the discussion of piety/justice/morality tie in well with the topics in Republic. Plus of course the Apology contains two these two famous lines: "I know that I know nothing" and "the unexamined life is not worth living" Excellent video!
Right on! Best of luck with your studies. That is a solid and familiar-looking reading list indeed. I appreciate you sharing it with me. And I’m glad you also mentioned that particular 3 dialogues of Plato-especially the Apology. I should’ve made a bigger point about that. Great to hear from you!
@@LeafbyLeaf yes, but I wouldn't mind knowing where you went to. I am interested in philosophy and am considering going to school for it, this vid was quite helpful. Need to get these books now lol. I'm also considering other paths.
This is exactly the kind of video I needed. I’ve been trying to get into philosophy forever but I’ve always just been too overwhelmed on where to start.
I am apparently very late to this video, but I wanted to say thank you! This is a great guide, especially as someone who is just coming into philosophy. Also, your bookshelves/library is STUNNING. That's what dreams are made of, right there!
Well, thank you so much! It's funny because this is an early video of mine that unexpectedly got really popular. But, like, I am not well-versed in philosophy at all. I like to read it, and the point of the video was just to share the list of major western philosophical works I had read and love--as a reader (not as a philosopher or, God forbid, intellectual). But it quickly became my most-viewed, or top-viewed video, so it is the first impression most people have and I often get questions I know nothing how to deal with. LOL! OK, now I realize I'm randomly spilling all this out to you as a random and unfortunate victim, so i will stop. Thanks for complimenting my haven!
So i am coming back to this video just to leave a comment...I have been following the list for the last couple of months and have already reached Hume , thanx a lot for making this video . Philosophy is really keeping my mind busy through this pandemic .
Just adding to the pile of compliments. This is what I've been thirsting for: just a human helping humans navigate the chronological mess that is the main trunk of the philosophical tree. Thank you so very much for this; you've just made me open a bunch of tabs and prepare to fund Amazon's break room for a month! Excellent coverage and thoroughness, from providing us the broad-strokes beginning books to giving us the strongest rungs on the ladder to grasp onto as we ascend towards the modern-era. I plan on coming back to this video many times and searching out more of your videos to drool over. Again, thank you! (P.S. -and sorry for that last visual.)
I am so thrilled that you find the video so helpful! Many people, as you’ve noted, have made similar responses. Now I find myself wondering what (if anything) I should do as a follow-up to the video. (That’s funny about your Amazon tabs-I’ve done that many times!) Enjoy your journey!
Well, philosophy can't be dead, we all have to answer the meaning of life and experience! And Zizek, who I love, the Hegelian!, says covid has turned everyone into a philosopher😆. I had an Art Aesthetics course in college , what is beauty! philosophy of art. We read Plato, I was enchanted, then Aristotle, oh my HE MUST BE RIGHT!!! Then on down the rabbit hole. What a ride! I'm glad you have done this! This is fun! Especially since I ordered the Prince, because of Don Quixote!!!
I love your enthusiasm, Barbara! You’re right-philosophy as a disciple of discovering the right way to think about something and a pursuit of wisdom will never die. Certainly philosophy as etiology has been properly superseded by science, but science does not bestow meaning. That’s up to us! Žižek is a machine! I’ve read a couple of his books and he astounds me with the sweep of his sources/material covered. Onward to Machiavelli!
I've never understood why that Hawking quote took off in the way that it did. It's one of the few embarrassing things he said toward the end of his life, and I'd imagine he'll be laughed at for it in 100 years. Statements like that are borne out of ignorance (of both science and philosophy), and tell us that he has little bothered to read much about the time where philosophy and science were pretty much undifferentiated from one another, i.e., any time before the seventeenth century. As a society that tends to be highly suspicious of "eggheads" and intellectuals, we have a lamentable tendency to treat anyone who is a profound thinker in one field as a profound thinker in all of them. We need little more than Hawking's bon mot to show how that is unfortunately not the case.
Great points! I don't like it when any speaker from an area of expertise leads acolytes and sycophants into thinking poorly of all other areas. Alan Lightman (the physicist) is doing a lot to break down these walls, just like Edward O. Wilson in his book Consilience. Yet, like Walt Whitman says about being large and containing multitudes, and thus contradicting himself at some time or another, we have to allow that even the sharpest thinkers are going to make blunders. And, the higher the profile of the blunderer, the greater the range and longevity of the blunder.
I have found Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy to be very readable, comprehensive, and helpful in understanding many texts I will never have time to read individually. My interest in philosophy has been as a segment of literature, and as a source of wisdom. I find the Hellenistic philosophers - both Stoic and Epicurean - to have a lot of practical wisdom. I have no use for Plato other than for giving us a portrait of Socrates and his approach to thinking. Reason without facts is pure fantasy. Aristotle's Ethics is interesting if you can tolerate his tedious habit of classifying everything. Seneca's Letters to Lucilius is a friendly, personable series of letters which express a broad, wise, eclectic stoicism. I am enjoying reading that now and plan to re-read it many times in the future. Similarly, Montaigne's Essays are eclectic, humanistic, and insightful.
Yes, same here! I'm actually getting ready to cycle back through a lot of my philosophy and science books after the last 2-3 years of almost exclusive fiction.
So you're probably wondering what a watcher made of this. The time flew by. I checked how far we were at one point and it was already past 21 minutes. I call that a success. Naturally I thought of what I have read and what I have not. I never studied Plato, and what I read, I read too early and got too little out of it. I read Nietzsche, naturally, and had a blast with him. But I spent a great deal more of my life studying Eastern philosophy. Should you ever go that route, Radhakrishnan is the place to begin--his rendering and explication of the Bhagavad Gita is the best by far (he is 20th century, so he has the advantage of knowing what, for instance Sankara wrote in his version); but even more important is his 2 volume history of Indian philosophy. A fascinating recent work is Mircea Eliade's Yoga, which treats Tantric philosophy which I read to look for parallels to Western nihilism.
Thanks so much! I take umbrage with a lot of what is taught too early (Moby-Dick, for example, is typically foisted on students in such a manner that it spoils their view of it for life). I work with a lot of Indians and have gravitated to some recommendations. One of them is Bhagavad Gita (I used Easwarren), which I loved ever since I read the "Geethacharam" separately. The only Mircea Eliade I've read is The Sacred and the Profane, and I really liked his concept of sacred space, but what soared in that book was all the anthropological insights. I've also read around in Zen (Suzuki), I Ching, Tao Te Ching, and so on. But I cannot say I am firm in eastern philosophy. It is a new world waiting for my exploration.
@@LeafbyLeaf RE: Eliade, I think this book is not representative or much related to his others because it is so specific. As for the rest, I generally don't recommend any Eastern philosophy unless someone asks (except for maybe the I Ching because it is so fun). Western philosophy is, as you make clear, someting we're already immersed in whether we like it or know it or not.
Just wow! Found your channel today, while i was thinking how to start reading philosophy. I'm 18 now, i love reading, your videos to me, i think shall help, to have a great foundation for myself . And im glad i found your channel. 💖
I started to read philosophy yesterday with Nietzsche and had full conversation with myself during sleep it was so different experience thanks for video my fren
I just want to say THANK YOU! In all caps, because this is more than helpful to me. I've always wanted to read Philosophy but don't to know where to start and to "scared" to ask. I'm 25 going 26 and reading philosophy is something I felt that is lacking my reading life. THANKS once again, sir!
I get what you're saying about being scared to ask. The field of philosophy is basically predicated on finding the most precise way to think about thinking/being/etc., so it naturally breeds a culture of elitism/perfectionism. Which isn't bad in itself because, again, that's sort of the goal of the discipline--but newcomers/amateurs/etc., such as myself, can sometimes be wary of asking questions for fear of looking ignorant, getting corrected, etc. Thus the goal of this video: to give a reader's (i.e. not a philosopher's) guide to entering the world of western philosophy. All my best to you and happy reading!
Great list! I've read some of the books on it. I never thought of taking a chronological approach to Western philosophy but the way you explain it, it makes sense to do so.
Thanks! It really helped connect a lot of dots and bring more context to each work for me. Thanks also for dropping by my channel, which has now led me to yours!
Thank you for the video and list. I have some of these and have read some others. And you spared us a lot of 20th century French "thought". Many thanks.
What the problems with 20th century french philosopher , they are great in my opinion. Okay what we called "nouveau philosophe" are trash but existentialism are really interesting (Sartre and Beauvoir , but other too) , Foucault can teach you a lot of about the relation of power and domination in the society when Derrida invent his concept of Deconstruction , so useful today. Even Debord go further than Marx and describe your modern society well . (And that's just the top of the iceberg ) I Would understand if one philosopher or two wasn't your cup of tea but they are so different that i don't understand what you're trying to say .
@@Eldiran1 Derrida swiped his deconstructionism from Heidegger, and nothing else after Sartre and de Beauvoir is worth my time. Foucault's pronouncements seems silly and inconsistent to me. And there is another problem with the French system. Too many 'philosophers' become media stars, so they have to make themselves fashionable and trendy. And that creates a system where they often go off with stupid statements and beliefs (read Sokal's 'Fashionable Nonsense'). Just my thoughts...
@@MrUndersolo "Too many 'philosophers' become media stars, so they have to make themselves fashionable and trendy." -> it's true to some extent . The TV loved to bring a philosopher (genrealy one frome the wave of the "nouveau philosophe") because they answer to anything ; but in reality , they answer to nearly nothing. The french population see that and a lot of people thing philosophy = "nouveau philosophe" or the philosophy we learn at school. But in the mean time , that no how operate all of the french philosopher . To me , another thing i don't like with french philosopher , and continental philosophy in general , is that they associate philosophy with language , psychology and sociology. Why not but what about physics , chimistry , biologics and so on ? When i was in the faculty of philosophy some years ago , th wast majority of students here didn't like hard science at all , the epistemology course wheren't the favourite one to say the least .
@@Eldiran1 And that is why I mentioned the Sokal book. Too many of these philosophers made pronouncements related to the hard sciences that were completely illogical and stupid. Also, that idea of the philosopher being famous is very specific to France and something about that insularity also bothers me. That can create an environment where people take the laziest and most badly-conceived paths of thoughts. Noam Chomsky talks about this. And there is another book you might like: 'At the Existentialist Café' by Sarah Bakewell. She covers that very interesting moment in philosophy when many of the ideas of modern philosophy were just coming together. This is great, by the way. I love to talk about this. Strange how epistemology became so unpopular. I would have thought a basic existentialism course would have annoyed them even more. ;)
A SUGGESTION: Start with Clifford's 'Ethics of Belief' because it is a short, easy and entertaining read... It starts with a concrete moral situation, rather than with abstract ideas. A ship-owner faces a moral dilemma -- should he spend a large amount of his wealth to fix (or replace) his aging and deteriorating ship, or, should he save his money and simply hope his ship will remain sea-worthy, as it is already booked for yet another long voyage across the high seas ? How does the ship-owner answer this question ? Does he simply listen to his conscience and his intuition ? Or, does he try to psychologically rationalize what would be the best outcome for himself financially ? Or, does he undertake in earnest an impartial investigation into the actual sea-worthiness of his ship ? Intuition, rationalization, investigation... Which of these is true source of our justifications ? Which of these is the true source of our moral beliefs ? Which of these is the true source of how we form our opinions in reality ? Now, read Plato's 'Apology', Rousseau's 'Discourse on the Arts & Sciences', and William James' 'Will to Believe' for three very different ways of answering these same questions... All easy reads, all entertaining, all thought-provoking !
Thank you for this video. I particularly enjoyed your thoughts and references regarding language. I have a nine month old son and I have been having the same thoughts regarding the importance of language and for him to develop his language skills in order to live a more full life and more deeply connect with others. You put these ideas more in to context. I will have to look more into Wittgenstein and Socrates. Thank you!
Tussen tak! The pleasure is mine. I remember those early months with my daughter--I read many, many books at odd hours of the night while rocking her to sleep.
Huhuhuhu gustong gusto ko talaga ta mag aral ng philosophy, neuroscience and universal physics, and at the same time, law. Ang dami kong gustong pag aralan. I'm just a 1st year highschool student but I think it's nice to start early diba?
Tama ka dyan, pa 1 month na ako sa pag-aaral. Na-eenhance na reading comprehension ko. At nagiging knowledgeable na ako sa part ng epistemology (philosophy). Grade 10 na ako hehe, pa grade 11. Sinayang ko yung 3 years ng highschool ko sa barkada kaya ang bagal makatuto.
Your daughter(name?)made your notebook of an unestimable value with her drawings! I fell in love with philosophy in high school. I read tons of books in ancient times. But Now I'm not more interested in the Subject. Schopenhauer was my greatest love of all. "Parerga e paralipomena" was an astounding reading!
Great vid! Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy is the ultimate crash course, got me hooked on philosophy during undergrad study, (was ‘studying’ geography ha). The best contemporary book I’ve read recently is David Deutsch’s Beginning of Infinity, it makes you very optimistic about the human condition, our creativity potential to solve problems, and our significance in the universe.
@@LeafbyLeaf The guy who wrote Beginning of Infinity has some terrifying ideas. He reminds me of the Mark Rylance character in the film Don't Look Up. Deutsch believes in an extreme form of capitalism. He believes we can solve global warming with MORE human interference in nature, not less. His arrogance and egotism has no bounds. I did enjoy his description of the two slit experiment in quantum physics. The rest was dangerous narcissism of the highest order and his political ideology is disgusting.
I have read Russell's 'Autobiography' and loved it, so I will go on to his 'History'. I would also recommend 'Fashionable Nonsense' by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont to point out the charlatans and fakes that seem deep with texts that mean and say nothing.
I am 16 and i recently developed an interest for philosophy but i was wondering if i should avoid reading it because i think it will kill the originality of my thinking. I am afraid that i will stop thinking for myself and will borrow the philosophers ideas completely.
I think that's a legitimate concern, but consider two things: (1) studying the history of philosophical ideas will ensure that you aren't repeating something that's already been done; and (2) it will only serve to challenge your ideas to become even better/more original.
That’s very probable - you’ll become an -Ian: Kantian, Hegelian, Wittgensteinian…etc. On the other hand, it’s equally probable that what you now suspect is original has almost certainly been thought of - in quite a lot of detail - by someone else earlier. Beginning to suspect yourself of being a genius runs the standard risk of making you obnoxious.
There is a Swedish book called Filosofins Historia, by Svante Nordin. It covers all of western philosophy from Plato all the way to Sartre and Fanon. Nordin makes an excellent job of capturing the essence of each great work of philosophy in a very available manner. It really should be translated into English as it surpasses any summary of western philosophy that I have read in English.
I've worked for a Swedish company for 20 years now, been to Sweden many, many times, went through a phase of trying to learn the language. Really wish I had stuck with my studies. Then I could watch Bergman without subtitles and read Strindberg in the original.
Just got Marcus Aurelius Meditations. Cannot wait! Finishing A New World Begins a French Revolution book. I'm waiting for Kotkin to finish his 3rd volume of Stalin too!
my journey to philosophy was very unique. i never read any book before starting friedrich Nietzsche at 19yo. itwas a difficult read but i managed to enjoy it and got addicted to books
I became interested in philosophy from reading the 12 volume set "History of Civilization". Then I bought a series on tape (shows you how long ago) from Great Courses. It was a series of lectures by an English guy a professor at Cambridge. It was a long series 60 to 90 hours long. He referred to Copelstone's "History of Philosophy" 11 volumes. Finally, I started reading at least 30 volumes of a set called Cambridge Companions, from Plato to John Rawls. And as I read I would read the actual works of the philosophers. Took some extra Great Courses. The project was over 10 years. Did all this but no PhD after my name.
As a philosophy major (years ago) may I suggest starting not with Republic but with Plato's Timaeus. It is short and easily comprehended, but, best of all, it is among the most influential of all philosophical works of the classical age. Read it and you will quickly see why.
Thank you so much for motivating me to begin reading philosopy, I was always very scared of it and have thought I could not read it without a formal academic training in this matter.I am a painter.I will take fistl the" history of philosopy" Perhaps I am afraid of the feeling that I am too dull and do not understand the thoughs of the philosophers.Well, you have given me the idea of getting a panorama of the western philosphy reading this liste you gve us for two years.The advantage is that I can read the hard germnas in original, perhaps it helps me understand them,I have just tried Wittgenstein once and I failed.Have a nice week, you are awesome.!
Plato is a lot easier to read than you might think. I'm reminded of reading Dostoevsky for the first time, this giant of Russian literature...and finding that he was just a novelist writing about people, so despite the depth of ideas the books were extremely funny in places and the behaviors recognizable. I agree with the implication of the video: be not afraid until you get to Kant. Also, if the video has a weakness it is that Chris doesn't stress the fact that you needn't go through all of these. You can buy a comic book version of most of the books--I can't remember the series that did this for literature and philosophy, but it was a treat for me, espeicailly when I didn't want to take the time to concentrate on one book and author, but did want to understand a few things. And even those on books I read--there was one on Joyce, who I had read--that filled in a lot of the spaces my haphazard brain missed...Ah: found one: Introducing Nietzsche. It's not dumbed down, but it is succinct. The author is a philosophy professor, the illustrator a madman. If you haven't read Nietzsche and looked through this book you would probably buy at least one of his books.
@@rickharsch8797 your reading experiences are precious for me! Comics can be are a great way to get into something intimidating, it is so good that you have pointed to this possibility. I will begin with Plato and a history of philosophy, but will also search for some" Introducing...." books, since I do not want do get discorages again.Thank you very much for sharing !
Rick's comments are poignant (as usual). Like he says, Plato is amazingly approachable. If anything, start with a smaller dialogue (I suggest "The Apology") to get your mind around his style. To extend Rick's suggestions, I highly recommend The Book of Philosophy from DK Publishing. They take all the major thinkers in chronological order and highlight their main ideas with very clear sentences and lots of big, shiny, pleasing graphics. It would be a good idea to use it as an encyclopedia and consult it first before reading the original sources. And, yes, don't feel that you need to read them all--or even all of each book! Pick through them, read the introductions, read the first and last chapters. The first time through is about getting the flavor. Then, take the one that tasted the best and dig further into it.
In regards to feeling daunted and too dull: I think this is mainly because of something from which I suffer. Namely, I feel like I should know everything on the first approach (really, before I even start!), and when I find that I don't "get it" I get discouraged. There is no shame in saying "I don't get this" right in the face of so many snobs flaunting their vast stores of knowledge--then, take time to figure it out for yourself. For example, I felt like I was cognitively-challenged when I first read Plato's argument for why the soul is immortal, but then I fought through, rereading and questioning, writing the thread of the argument out in my own words, and when the light came on and I got it there was a feeling of enlightenment to which I am much addicted now.
@@LeafbyLeaf this is such a great help!!Thank you a lot.I am so glad I have discovered this channel, It took me away from my intelectual isolation, since I my friends are mostly mistery readers.I know some DK books, they are very well done and also a visual joy.The journey into the philosophical universe cann begin now!And yes, I will take time to dialog with the great minds and with myself.Thanks again!
If you have the time, I recommend reading through Copleston's History of Philosophy, it filled in a lot of gaps for me. Peter Adamson’s History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps is also good, and he gives greater emphasis to non-western philosophy
I was eyeing a nearly complete set of Copelston at a used bookstore recently. Probably should have just snagged it. Haven’t heard of that Adamson, but I do want to move into more eastern philosophy. My ideas a scant and come mainly from Bhagavad Gita and similar texts.
Lately, I’ve been feeling down so I’m reading Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. My favorite lines: “Faith sees best in the dark.” “Everything profound loves a mask.”
Great quotes! I went back-and-forth on Aurelius, first having it in there, and then wanting to stick with primary texts only and so then adding in Seneca and Epicurious and others who come out in the meditations. But, alas, I had to be exclusive and it is an unfortunate omission. This is also the reason that Montaigne is missing.
I understand. It makes sense they’d be in a separate group. I consider their books - practical philosophy. I always have Seneca and Montaigne close by. :)
So very glad to have stumbled upon your channel, particularly through this video that I found quite informative, although I was hoping it was gonna touch on eastern philosophy too. On an anecdotal side note, I first learned the difference between intelligence and wisdom thanks to Hawking's postulation that "philosophy's death now that science is here". I've always thought of science as philosophical questions that had found answer and proof. Qst: "my friend pee standing up, why, what's wrong with my body" Asw: "Nothing's wrong with your body. You're xx he's xy". (body problem moves to science-box). Qst: "Why is the sun chasing me down and looking at me funny everyday?" Asw: "the sun aint moving or looking at you, you're the one moving around, spinning and staring". Sun problem moves to the science-box. Qst: "Why are we here?" Asw: ... radio silence. Problem stays in philosophy-box :)
In hindsight I probably should change the title to specify Western philosophy. That's a solid and entertaining approach to the roles of science and philosophy!
I was a philosophy major as an undergraduate, and we started with the pre-Socratics and moved our way through philosophy history. I don't recommend non-majors start there, even though it was useful. Also, philosophy majors start with and remain with the actual texts. There is no secondary reading about philosophy, except for the pre-Socratics which are short fragments and tons of commentary on them by Guthrie. And even with the pre-Socratics, we had to interpret them on our own. They were the first cosmologists. I also hope you have listened to the Philosophy Now podcasts. Many are very interesting. I was disappointed they stopped doing them. I know that I was heavily influenced by Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Nietzsche, Popper, and Kuhn. I find Kant especially useful in arguments against torture. I was also interested in the philosophy of science, and it shaped how I view what science does. More scientists should study philosophy. Those that do are more critical about what they do and have a better understanding of the nature of scientific discovery. It keeps them from saying ridiculous things. (Philosophy Now has a great podcast that takes you through a whole course in the philosophy of science in an hour.) I have never regretted my philosophy background. It gave me a solid foundation for critical thinking about anything and everything. I, too, started out only reading fiction when I was young. My graduate studies were in English Literature. Although I still read and enjoy poetry, I no longer read fiction. It doesn't interest me anymore. I do watch some films. I was also trained to teach film but only got the chance to teach film in graduate school. It should be no surprise that one of my favorite films is the Coen Brothers A Serious Man, a modern day, comic version about the problem of evil and the book of Job.
Rewatching this video again - the first time I saw it you convinced me to dive into Russell's History of Western Philosophy. And I originally was going to look into individual philosophers that intrigued me (Pascal, Spinoza, Dewey, Hegel, Nietzsche, and a lot of modern Theory-types) but I felt enough lack of context to where I'm now starting a chronological read through of major philosophical texts. I'm actually pairing this with an effort to read historical books and fiction from the era as well. I finished Gilgamesh recently, currently reading a Pre-Socratics collection from Penguin as well as Hesiod and Theognis. With Plato's Republic as well in the mix. Gonna be reading most of Plato's Dialogues, Herodotus, Thucydides, Greek playwrights, and Aristotle to come! I wanted to add a comment, because I have the same edition of Republic as you do, the interesting thing, to me, is that the faded Greek spelling above and below the English title looks the exact same on mine as well (same degree of fading/coloring). I always wondered if it was a previous owner's scrawling or an initial edition detail, but faded over time. So loved noticing this similarity this time through! As always, really appreciate your content and passion for knowledge/books!
What a neat guy! good going! And yes, Gregory is amazing! such a generous guy! Flocks of a feather cite together! There are other great professors for the lay public: Jeffrey Kaplan ... CrashCourse in Philosophy. And to note, you were recommending Philosophy while COVID-19 was a-comming! Berkeley is my favorite thinker, the guy's ace.
Great recomendations I tried to read phenomenology of Hegel (in Spanish )many years ago is a hard read, the Best way of understand him is throught the marxist dialectical
You're definitely doing the right thing, stockpiling the greatest, most profound thinkers of our time, Leaf by Leaf as it were, what a gift you're amassing for you and yours and others... you'll never run out of toilet paper 🚽🧻
If people are going to read Capital (which is pretty much the only thing I have expertise on I any area of political theory/philosophy) I'd also recommend David Harvey's books and video companions on it. Believe me, for the first three chapters you're going to need it. Specifically important is explaining Marxs method, his dialectics. Sadly, you cannot understand any of how/why Marx wrote Capital in the way he did without understanding dialectics, and this means sadly, you're going to have to try and understand Hegel. However, maybe read/watch some Zizek on Hegel first, befire you drown yourself on near impenetrable dense German metaphysics. An excellent discussion of dialectics and why its brilliant can also be found in Andreas Malm's The Progress of This Storm, which is also brilliant of you want to read stuff on mind/body dualism, nature/society debates, relativist v realism in approaches to scientific objectivity and a strenous defence of materialism and critical realism against postmodern deconstructionism.
I completely agree about the inevitability of understanding Hegel; he is a giant in western philosophy. Nice to have you mention Zizek. I've only read two of his many, many books, but he is a sort of wunderkind of philosophy and fun to read. Thanks for your super helpful input here!
@@LeafbyLeaf thanks so much for responding! You seem to do it on every video. What a great RUclips you are! :) yeh, Zizek said somewhere all of philosophy is essentially indetted to Plato, Descartes and Hegel. Honestly, from my limited look, I think that's entirely correct. Much, if not all of modern philosophy in particular seems to be overwhelmingly a footnote to Hegel, either trying to destroy him (Nietzsche, and then people like Foucault and Popper afterwards) or sort of reinvent the wheel while not really acknowledging him (Heiddiger screams of this, to the point that it seems to me he's to trying to work out something that Hegel seemingly already worked out in the first chapter of Phenomology of Spirit). But gosh, is Hegel hard work. Heiddiger is like a children's book by comparison. That's why I stress the need for ALOT of build up to him. For the love of god do not just jump straight in there. He has a lexicon nigh on impenetrable, a sentence style which will force you to read about three times, and a really headache inducing insistence in trying to keep former concepts in mind in order to build on to get to even further concepts. But he's a giant, Ive never seen a philosophical system so humongous in scope, so all consuming in nature, and also so utterly at odds with either Anglo empiricism or Continental deconstructionism. No wonder so many people don't understand him, it's like learning an entirely new language. But honestly, when you "get" Hegel, I actually find it makes you see the world very differently. Things which otherwise drive you crazy in trying to work suddenly are bequeathed with wonderful opportunities when you have a dialectical mindset. Yeh, Zizek is great, his Sublime Object is good, and he's a much better writer than speaker IMO (and not just because he has an accent, It's writing seems to force him to actually concentrate on what he's saying a focus on the point, something his talks seem to struggle to do).
I think unironically the bible is the best starting point to western philosophy next to Plato because it influenced western philosophy so much, that even atheist Philosophers like Nietzsche constantly reference the bible.
New subscriber here.💫 I stumbled upon your channel after going through some philosophy videos and stopped here when I saw your library behind you! As an avid reader and Philosophy major, I loved all of your suggestions. I want to check out quite a few of them. I graduated quite awhile ago and I am so eager to go back and read some works that I both loved and didn't love. I will definitely be going through your other subject areas as well. These are all great suggestions- I can't wait to read some of these! Great channel!
Hey there! Thanks so much! To be honest, it has been a while since I’ve read a lot of these myself. Republic and Nicomachean Ethics I read early last year, but it’s been at least 5+ years on the others. I know I would get so much more out of them now.
@@LeafbyLeaf Yes. I am interested to see if I am able to absorb them differently now that the world is going through so much and I feel less in charge of my destiny as I did at a younger age. Thank you for such a comprehensive list! I can't wait to dive in!
I love that your daughter was adding her two cents to your notes. I used to do that. I'm curious to know what she'll choose as a career as an adult. =) That's hilarious. My dad and his brother would also "test" philosophy on me and one was that tree question. But my father was somewhat antagonisitic about arguing my responses. I think my son has philosophy next year. Thank you for sharing these books. We'll have some books to grab for the subject. Just last week I had a conversation with a woman about the importance of words. She "unfriended" me. 🤔
She currently wants to be a veterinarian! But there's no telling what she'll be at this point; she is very multi-faceted. Your son ("Prometheus" yes?) I am sure will bring the fire of wisdom to humans. Unfriending, I suppose, precludes conversation at all, so that is pretty conclusive about what she thinks of the importance of words. :)
@@LeafbyLeaf ah, thank you. I'm not sure Prometheus will bring fire of wisdom to humans. Great expressive writing there. He wants to be an aeronautical (design) engineer. He's never once wavered. You hammered that nail about the woman and the importance of words. Wow! Write a book. lol
I’m surprised John Stuart Mill wasn’t on here as one of the major utilitarian and liberal philosophers. I would definitely say his book “Utilitarianism” and treatise “On Liberty” are philosophical hallmarks.
I debated on putting On Liberty on here, especially since it’s so short. But I wanted to keep the list short too. You’re right though, of course. Perhaps it’s time to make a second video.
Very nice video. I‘ve been interested in reading philosophy for about a year now and I‘ve got the feeling that I only start to realize how vast this field is and how difficult it is to find out where to start. I‘m from Germany and I also speak french and english quite well so I‘m in the very nice position to be able to read a lot of philosophers in their native language but that doesn‘t really help to narrow it down to a Good starting point. At the moment I really like reading about the ideas of existentialism like Camus, Sartre and Arendt because I think that their reflections about the meaning of life are especially relevant to teenagers who struggle to find their path (I‘m 17). So I definitely can recommend Camus‘ L‘Etranger and L‘hôte and Huis Clos by Sartre because they are really easy to understand and show their philosophy quite well. Edit: I totally agree that Kant is very hard to read. I read his texts in german and even in the original version it is just insane how hard it is. His ethics isn‘t too complicated though but I do recommend secondary literature.
Danke, merci, thanks! I've read L'Etranger in the original (French is the only other language I speak) too! I would love to read Pascal in the original (I've only read the Pensees in translation). As for a good starting point, Plato's dialogues are a standard, since there is truth in Alfred North Whitehead's (common attribution) proposition that all of western philosophy is a footnote to Plato. All my best to you!
Just ordered the first 3 of the list!, very excited! Can you tell me more about the notes that you take while reading philosophy? What should I pay attention to? If that makes sense. I suspect that reading philosophy needs a whole different approach
That’s exactly what I did. I bought a fresh blue Leuchtturm 1917 just for philosophy notes. Yes, philosophy requires a different set of tools. But I think you will find The Apology and Republic very readable. Plato was really a skilled thinker and artist-his dialogue format is engaging and mostly clear. Each book of the Republic, for example, is very clear about what it’s topic will be. Other works of philosophy won’t be so precise, but most people are surprised at the accessibility of Apology and Republic. Take it slowly and jot down questions you have as you go along. If you encounter something you just don’t get, mark that passage as such and come back to it.
Phenomenal list! :) I would highly recommend _Some Answered Questions_ by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. It address philosophy, science, religion, the soul, and many other subjects in a series of questions and answers. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá was the son of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baháʼu'lláh. Baháʼu'lláh's _The Book of Certitude_ and the short work _The Hidden Words_ are great for a dive into some meaty Baha'i theology
Okay....I think before introducing us to all these books you have to teach us your tricks on how to read and absorb as fast as you, which is truly unbelievable.
I get into my approaches to reading a bit in my QnA videos, but I have been thinking of ways to present this kind of stuff/advice better in a video. I will say, though, that what you see in these videos is a cumulative/synthesized version of many, any hours and, really, years of reading. So don't be misled by the immediacy of the video/library. This type of reading is a way of life, not a goal to reach. In fact, it is an ever-vanishing finish line, but one whose pursuit nonetheless is worth the journey.
As I prepare to begin my philosophy major (as a second career) - I've noticed a trend in the resources I consume (expert videos, blogs, and articles). There seems to be a focus on greco-roman and european thought, neglecting(?) the vast richness of world philosophy. While I recognize the importance of the western philo, I believe I'll be missing a significant portion of the world philosophical thought.
Hey there! All best to you in this exciting new journey of your life! Yes, oh how I wish I could go back and really make clear that this video focuses specifically on Western philosophy, as I get dinged all the time for not including more. Part of the reason is practical: with so vast a subject, one almost has to be selective in order to get anything like a handle on its fine points. Plus, there's the matter of translation into English that limits what's available to Westerners. But, of course, in the end, you're right: with only half the hemisphere, we're lopsided in our knowledge of the globe's thought across time. I've been slowly accumulating Eastern texts in English and preparing to round this out (in philosophy and literature) with the "back 9" of my life.
Another excellent video. I have to take this opportunity to plug an intellectual hero of mine: Frederick Copleston, author of A History of Philosophy in eleven volumes. Every volume is informative and readable, from the Greeks to the 20th century. A remarkable achievement for one person. I agree that B. Russell is the premier single volume intro. Keep the videos coming.
Ah, yes! Forgot about that series. I keep eyeing them at used book shops but I think I’m going to end up buying my own set in full and brand new. Thanks for the addendum!
Begin to: 1. Master the fallacies. You need to be able to recognize all of them. 2. Get historical overviews, such as: - History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell - The Enlightenment And Why It Still Matters, by Anthony Pagden Make sure you have access to dictionaries including dictionaries of philosophy. As you read you need to look up words you don't fully understand, one by one. Then - when you know the meaning of every word - reread the section. This is crucial. We fail to read and understand a section when we miss the meaning of just ONE word. If you try to read without knowing all the terms you'll be wasting your time. I'm assuming, here, that you want to understand Western history and how we got here.
If anyone wants a CHRONOLOGICAL ROADMAP into philosophy, Eastern and Western combined, here's my compilation. -
Ancient Indian philosophy -
1. Vedic philosophy (2000 BCE)
2. Samkhya sutras of Kapila (~1500 BCE) atheistic school of dualism.
3. The Principal Upanishads (bw 1000 to 600 BCE)
4. Charvaka philosophy of Brihaspati (pre-1000BCE) - world's oldest atheistic and materialistic philosphy. The original Brihaspati Sutras didn't survive.
5. The Nyaya Sutras of Aksapada Goutama (7th century BCE - World's oldest complete book on logic and epistemology)
6. Bhagvad Gita (~500 BCE)
7. Mimansa Philosophy - the principal text woukd be Mimamsa sutra of Jamini (4th-century BCE)
8. Vaisheshika sutra of Kanada ( 7th century BCE - among others these sutras hypothesised the breakdown of matter into atoms and subatoms - Anu and Paramanu)
9. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (bw 500BCE - 400 CE)
10. Samkhyakarika of Ishvar Krishna (~350 CE)
11. Jain philosophy - outlined in the Tattvārthasūtra of Umaswati (possibly between 2nd-century and 5th-century CE)
12. Buddhist philosophy - important texts include those of the Mahayana sect - Mahaprajnaparamita sutra, Maha Ratnakuta sutra, Sandhinimochana sutra, Amitabha sutra, Vimalakriti sutra, Lankavatara Sutra, Shurngama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra, Mahaparinirvana sutra, and Saddharma pundarika sutra.
13. Sociopolitical philosophy - Arthashastra of Chanakya (4th century BCE)
14. Ajivika philosophy - the original scriptures are lost.
Hellinistic -
1. Thales of Miletus (624/623-548/545 BCE) - the father of ancient Greek philosophy.
2. Pythagoras (570 BCE)
3. On Nature by Parmenides (560 BCE - 510 BCE )
4. Anaxagoras (500 BC-428 BCE) - the first to establish a philosophy in its entirety in Athens.
5. Zeno (490 BC-430 BC)
6. Empedocles (490 BC-430 BC)
7. Socrates (470 - 399 BCE - all of him. This man's THE man )
8. Democritus (460 - 370 BCE - famous for his atomifc theory among others)
9. Plato, (born 428/427 - 348/347 BCE)
10. Aristotle (384-322 BCE )
Classical Chinese philosophy -
1. Daodejing of Lao Tzu (5th century)
2. Analects of Confucius (475-220 BCE)
3. Zhuangzi (476-221 BCE)
4. Mencius (3rd century BCE)
5. Xun Kuang (314-235 BCE)
Classical Roman philosophy -
1. Lucretius (88- 55 BCE)
2. Cicero (106 - 43 BCE)
3. Seneca the Younger (BCE 4- 65 AD)
4. Pliny The Elder (23-79)
5. The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (121-180)
6. Porphyry of Tyre ( 233- 305)
7. Augustine (354-430)
8. Hypatia (370-415)
9. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (470/75-524)
Islamic philosophy -
1. Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī (854 CE - 925 CE) Famed doctor, chemist, and philosopher. First person to describe smallpox and measles as separate diseases and author of the first book on pediatrics.
2. ArA ahl al-madīna al-fāḍila (The Views of the People of The Virtuous City) by Al-Farabi (872-951 AD)
3. Saadia Gaon (882 CE - 942 CE)
4. Yahya ibn Adi (893 CE - 974 CE) Logic theorist and doctor
5. Avicenna (980 CE - 1037 CE) Persian Polymath that is often regarded as the single greatest thinker of the Islamic Golden age.
6. Ihya Ulum al-Din - The Revival of Religious Sciences by Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111 AD)
7. Ibn Rushd (1126-1198 AD) - aka Averroes.
8. Sohrevardi (1154 CE - 1191 CE) Founder of the Islamic school of Illuminationism.
9. Tafsir Al-Kabeer of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149 CE - 1209 CE)
10. Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 AD) the first Islamic postmodern and feminist thinker.
Medieval European and Renaissance era philosophy -
1. Augustine (354-430)
2. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (470/75-524)
3. Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) - the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God
4. Scholasticism - 13th and 14th century - Some of the main figures of scholasticism include Anselm of Canterbury (“the father of scholasticism"), Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas's masterwork Summa Theologica (1265-1274) is considered to be the pinnacle of scholastic, medieval, and Christian philosophy;
5. Humanism - important works include those by Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 - 4 May 1406), Petrarch (1304 - 1374), Michael de Montaigne (1533 - 1592), Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457), Rudolph Agricola (1443-1485), Mario Nizolio (1488-1567), Juan Luis Vives (1493-1540), and Petrus Ramus (1515-1572).
6. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) - the most important Renaissance Platonist.
Modern Philosophy -
1. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
2. Rationalists - Rene Descartes (1596-1650), Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)
3. Empiricist - George Berkley (1685-1753), John Locke (1732-1704), David Hume (1711-1776)
4. Political philosophy - Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Jean Rousseau (1712-1778), Voltaire(1694-1778), Giambattista Vico (1668 - 1744), Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), Giuseppe Mazzini (22 June 1805 - 10 March 1872), Karl Marx (1818-1883), Fredrich Engels (1820-1895).
5. Adam Smith (1723-90).
6. The German idealists - Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), G W F Hegel (1770-1831), F W J Schelling (1775-1854),
7. Existential philosophers - Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980), Simone de Beauvoir, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Albert Camus (1913-60)
8. Analytic philosophers - Rudolf Carnap (1891-1970), Gottlob Frege (1848-1925), George Edward Moore, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), Moritz Schlick, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
9. Neoconfucianism - Xiong Shili
10. Neo-Vedanta - Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan
11. Kyoto school of thought - founded by Kitaro Nishida
Contemporary philosophy
1. Martha Nussbaum (b. 1947)
2. Cornel West (b. 1952) - pioneered the school of “neopragmatism”
3. Slavoj Žižek (b. 1949)
4. Gayatri Spivak (b. 1942)
5. Gu Su (b. 1955)
6. Postmodernist philosophers - Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Derrida
7. Structuralism/Poststeucturalism - Michel Foucault, Jaques Derrida
I may have missed many but this is all too much to finish anyway. 😂 Good luck everyone! 🙂
Thank you very much for this! What an excellent resource!
thank you very much
Great
So much to read!
It is a lifetime list.
Wow ... that library!
Thanks! I still pinch myself every day.
Damn... That's exactly what I thought to my self as soon as I opened the video
I just rewatched it and had the same reaction. 😜
I know right? :O
Yeah, it's really beautiful. It must feel nice just to be in the room, surrounded by it.
Thanks for the nice complement - though I can't say I'm wise!
Dr. Sadler!-Welcome! What an honor to have you here after all these years watching your videos. Thanks for dropping a line.
I’m 14 and have developed an interest in philosophy so here i go!
I wish I had started at your age! Just remember that it’s a lifelong pursuit and there’s no rush to know it all now. (That is advice I have to remind myself daily.)
hey, me too!
I would encourage you to look into speech and debate, specifically Lincoln Douglas debate, in high school. Great way to immerse yourself in the world of philosophy
@@timothycuddy2541 i watch religion and politics debates daily!
Frederick Copleston "History of Philosophy" Vols 1-11 .
I pursue philosophy the same way I have learned to play guitar. If I took classes I would be bored, outside of that its just profound thoughts
You know what-that’s very similar to my own experience.
@@LeafbyLeaf keep doing what you do and I hope eventually you can make a career out of it. People need to know you dont need a classroom to learn and to stop learning is detrimental
I just wanted to thank you for being so generous and sharing as much as possible content to educate the masses about reading, I'm a high school kid and I genuinely find your recommendations unique and authentic which are rather quite hard to find over internet n library walls ( typically the existential literature ones!). keep on posting the good thing sir!.,it helps alot in influencing our destiny to be a voracious reader.
This may be the most inspiring comment I have received to date. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to hear this. You are very welcome. Great to “meet” you, Elijah.
Where are you now? I’m also a high schooler reading philosophy, and just wondering how it went
I was going to say start with a haircut and go to the barber shop, but this was too interesting. Great job.
Haha! It’s even more out of control post quarantine. Well, actually, I’m still in quarantine. Not sure I’ll ever see the office again. Or my ears.
@@LeafbyLeaf I'm actually at work for the first time since March. Hope all turns out well for you.
Uncle Diggie I never thought I’d say this, but, I think I’m ready to get back to the office.
@@LeafbyLeaf yep
Sartre is also a very literary and approachable philosopher, and really refined existentialism into what people are generally familiar with today.
I probably should have put his short treatise “Existentialism is a Humanism” on the list. I need to do an updated video.
Haha really. He rejected everything before him like a typical modern super-egotist. You need to read more.
@@outofoblivionproductions4015 That sounds more like Nietzsche. Sartre was able to admit when he was wrong.
Infinite Jest got me into philosophy as well. I started with Wittgenstein and was not ready. At ALL! It is a lifelong and how to get thru the day journey!
The first time I read the TLP I was lost! Then I decided to start with Plato. That was and still is the foundation. Amazing what Plato pulled off in terms of thought AND a new aesthetic.
9:22 is where the video starts
😁
I'm 15 and this past year have been on the philosophy side of youtube and I'm glad I stumbled upon this video, I think this is a great order, I was about to read beyond good and evil as my first philosophy book which I assumed will be a heavy read for a first philosophy book , so thank you for this :)
Hey there! Glad you found the video helpful. Nietzsche is a great place to start with philosophy, just for the pure fact that he is so engaging. All my best to you!
YOOO SAMEE
@@Gyembo1981 VAGABOND PFP
Hello, I'm 14 (will turn 15 soon). I dwelved into the philosophy side of RUclips when I was 12, and it was the best thing that happened to me. Although the order presented on this video is great, it is a pity stoicism and other more simpler philosophies aren't mentioned.
As a young guy who has done some reading, I suggest you start with secondary texts (and others) such as Ryan Holiday's "Daily Stoic" and in the mean time read Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. Also consider Epictetus and Seneca. Before you delve into the more difficult philosophies Confucius might also be great. Afterwards, you can move towards the works of Plato and Machevillia, but I suppose you'll get a better understanding if you read The history of Western philosophy (Bertrand Russel) beforehand.
All the best!
the myth of sisyphus by camus and beyond good and evil were my first philosophical endeavors
At your age I highly recommend you get into Dostoevsky as he was a great inspiration to those two
I've just started my Philosophy 100 class at university, and my reading list for the year appears to be a slimmer version of this list, so well done!
If interested, my list for the school year is:
Plato, Trial and Death of Socrates
Plato, Republic
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy
Hobbes, Leviathan
Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality
Sartre, No Exit
I would also recommend Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito (found in the trial and death of Socrates), as the discussion of piety/justice/morality tie in well with the topics in Republic. Plus of course the Apology contains two these two famous lines:
"I know that I know nothing"
and
"the unexamined life is not worth living"
Excellent video!
Right on! Best of luck with your studies. That is a solid and familiar-looking reading list indeed. I appreciate you sharing it with me. And I’m glad you also mentioned that particular 3 dialogues of Plato-especially the Apology. I should’ve made a bigger point about that.
Great to hear from you!
Where do you go
I presume you’re talking to Evan and not me, yes?
@@LeafbyLeaf yes, but I wouldn't mind knowing where you went to. I am interested in philosophy and am considering going to school for it, this vid was quite helpful. Need to get these books now lol. I'm also considering other paths.
@@Zen-vk2vl I'm at the University of Toronto
Nothing quite like a person's own joyful demeanour to make me want to do something myself.
We need that Philosophy shelf tour
I know, I know--I'm disgustingly behind on my bookshelf tours!
This is exactly the kind of video I needed. I’ve been trying to get into philosophy forever but I’ve always just been too overwhelmed on where to start.
I’m so glad you found it useful!
Excited to start.
I am apparently very late to this video, but I wanted to say thank you! This is a great guide, especially as someone who is just coming into philosophy. Also, your bookshelves/library is STUNNING. That's what dreams are made of, right there!
Well, thank you so much! It's funny because this is an early video of mine that unexpectedly got really popular. But, like, I am not well-versed in philosophy at all. I like to read it, and the point of the video was just to share the list of major western philosophical works I had read and love--as a reader (not as a philosopher or, God forbid, intellectual). But it quickly became my most-viewed, or top-viewed video, so it is the first impression most people have and I often get questions I know nothing how to deal with. LOL! OK, now I realize I'm randomly spilling all this out to you as a random and unfortunate victim, so i will stop. Thanks for complimenting my haven!
So i am coming back to this video just to leave a comment...I have been following the list for the last couple of months and have already reached Hume , thanx a lot for making this video . Philosophy is really keeping my mind busy through this pandemic .
Thanks excellent! And yes-what a great way to keep the mind productively occupied during all these shenanigans!
i personally love your bookshelves. you really display a fancy fond for reading just like me. keep it up!
Thanks so much! Here’s to many more happy years of reading!
thanks for such down to earth, practical advice. new subscriber. keep it up! you're inspiring
Thanks! Glad you found the video useful!
Just adding to the pile of compliments. This is what I've been thirsting for: just a human helping humans navigate the chronological mess that is the main trunk of the philosophical tree. Thank you so very much for this; you've just made me open a bunch of tabs and prepare to fund Amazon's break room for a month! Excellent coverage and thoroughness, from providing us the broad-strokes beginning books to giving us the strongest rungs on the ladder to grasp onto as we ascend towards the modern-era. I plan on coming back to this video many times and searching out more of your videos to drool over. Again, thank you! (P.S. -and sorry for that last visual.)
I am so thrilled that you find the video so helpful! Many people, as you’ve noted, have made similar responses. Now I find myself wondering what (if anything) I should do as a follow-up to the video. (That’s funny about your Amazon tabs-I’ve done that many times!) Enjoy your journey!
Finding your channel has been a weight off of my shoulders in finding exciting books. Truly a gem find 😌
Very kind of you to say!
History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell is in my top ten favourite books. Thanks for recommending this! 👍
Yes--it's a good one!
Well, philosophy can't be dead, we all have to answer the meaning of life and experience! And Zizek, who I love, the Hegelian!, says covid has turned everyone into a philosopher😆. I had an Art Aesthetics course in college , what is beauty! philosophy of art. We read Plato, I was enchanted, then Aristotle, oh my HE MUST BE RIGHT!!! Then on down the rabbit hole. What a ride! I'm glad you have done this! This is fun! Especially since I ordered the Prince, because of Don Quixote!!!
I love your enthusiasm, Barbara! You’re right-philosophy as a disciple of discovering the right way to think about something and a pursuit of wisdom will never die. Certainly philosophy as etiology has been properly superseded by science, but science does not bestow meaning. That’s up to us! Žižek is a machine! I’ve read a couple of his books and he astounds me with the sweep of his sources/material covered. Onward to Machiavelli!
I've never understood why that Hawking quote took off in the way that it did. It's one of the few embarrassing things he said toward the end of his life, and I'd imagine he'll be laughed at for it in 100 years. Statements like that are borne out of ignorance (of both science and philosophy), and tell us that he has little bothered to read much about the time where philosophy and science were pretty much undifferentiated from one another, i.e., any time before the seventeenth century. As a society that tends to be highly suspicious of "eggheads" and intellectuals, we have a lamentable tendency to treat anyone who is a profound thinker in one field as a profound thinker in all of them. We need little more than Hawking's bon mot to show how that is unfortunately not the case.
Great points! I don't like it when any speaker from an area of expertise leads acolytes and sycophants into thinking poorly of all other areas. Alan Lightman (the physicist) is doing a lot to break down these walls, just like Edward O. Wilson in his book Consilience. Yet, like Walt Whitman says about being large and containing multitudes, and thus contradicting himself at some time or another, we have to allow that even the sharpest thinkers are going to make blunders. And, the higher the profile of the blunderer, the greater the range and longevity of the blunder.
Nice suggestions, definitely will follow
Love Philosophy now! Relevant for accessible philosophy.
Agree! Great little magazine.
I have found Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy to be very readable, comprehensive, and helpful in understanding many texts I will never have time to read individually. My interest in philosophy has been as a segment of literature, and as a source of wisdom. I find the Hellenistic philosophers - both Stoic and Epicurean - to have a lot of practical wisdom. I have no use for Plato other than for giving us a portrait of Socrates and his approach to thinking. Reason without facts is pure fantasy. Aristotle's Ethics is interesting if you can tolerate his tedious habit of classifying everything. Seneca's Letters to Lucilius is a friendly, personable series of letters which express a broad, wise, eclectic stoicism. I am enjoying reading that now and plan to re-read it many times in the future. Similarly, Montaigne's Essays are eclectic, humanistic, and insightful.
I love this video. You and I have eerily similar interests in reading, and I have many of these books waiting on my shelves to be finished.
Right on! Hope to hear more from you!
It was through my fiction reading that I first developed my love for philosophy and science
Yes, same here! I'm actually getting ready to cycle back through a lot of my philosophy and science books after the last 2-3 years of almost exclusive fiction.
So you're probably wondering what a watcher made of this. The time flew by. I checked how far we were at one point and it was already past 21 minutes. I call that a success. Naturally I thought of what I have read and what I have not. I never studied Plato, and what I read, I read too early and got too little out of it. I read Nietzsche, naturally, and had a blast with him. But I spent a great deal more of my life studying Eastern philosophy. Should you ever go that route, Radhakrishnan is the place to begin--his rendering and explication of the Bhagavad Gita is the best by far (he is 20th century, so he has the advantage of knowing what, for instance Sankara wrote in his version); but even more important is his 2 volume history of Indian philosophy. A fascinating recent work is Mircea Eliade's Yoga, which treats Tantric philosophy which I read to look for parallels to Western nihilism.
Thanks so much! I take umbrage with a lot of what is taught too early (Moby-Dick, for example, is typically foisted on students in such a manner that it spoils their view of it for life). I work with a lot of Indians and have gravitated to some recommendations. One of them is Bhagavad Gita (I used Easwarren), which I loved ever since I read the "Geethacharam" separately. The only Mircea Eliade I've read is The Sacred and the Profane, and I really liked his concept of sacred space, but what soared in that book was all the anthropological insights. I've also read around in Zen (Suzuki), I Ching, Tao Te Ching, and so on. But I cannot say I am firm in eastern philosophy. It is a new world waiting for my exploration.
@@LeafbyLeaf RE: Eliade, I think this book is not representative or much related to his others because it is so specific. As for the rest, I generally don't recommend any Eastern philosophy unless someone asks (except for maybe the I Ching because it is so fun). Western philosophy is, as you make clear, someting we're already immersed in whether we like it or know it or not.
rick harsch I welcome your recommendations!
Just wow! Found your channel today, while i was thinking how to start reading philosophy. I'm 18 now, i love reading, your videos to me, i think shall help, to have a great foundation for myself . And im glad i found your channel. 💖
Thanks so much! I’m glad you found the video useful. And what a great life you have ahead of you to be a serious reader at 18! All my best to you.
I started to read philosophy yesterday with Nietzsche and had full conversation with myself during sleep it was so different experience thanks for video my fren
That sounds like a pretty radical start to your philosophy journey! 😁
Nietzsche is nuts, and went nuts.
@@outofoblivionproductions4015Great argument my guy 😂, you should have read more about formal logic.
I just want to say THANK YOU! In all caps, because this is more than helpful to me. I've always wanted to read Philosophy but don't to know where to start and to "scared" to ask. I'm 25 going 26 and reading philosophy is something I felt that is lacking my reading life. THANKS once again, sir!
I get what you're saying about being scared to ask. The field of philosophy is basically predicated on finding the most precise way to think about thinking/being/etc., so it naturally breeds a culture of elitism/perfectionism. Which isn't bad in itself because, again, that's sort of the goal of the discipline--but newcomers/amateurs/etc., such as myself, can sometimes be wary of asking questions for fear of looking ignorant, getting corrected, etc. Thus the goal of this video: to give a reader's (i.e. not a philosopher's) guide to entering the world of western philosophy.
All my best to you and happy reading!
Great list! I've read some of the books on it. I never thought of taking a chronological approach to Western philosophy but the way you explain it, it makes sense to do so.
Thanks! It really helped connect a lot of dots and bring more context to each work for me. Thanks also for dropping by my channel, which has now led me to yours!
@@LeafbyLeaf You explained the reasons really well. I need to check out some of your other videos. I have a feeling I'll like them!
That last point about sculpting using language was wonderful. Great video!
My pleasure! Glad you found it useful.
Just like a nail to the head this was what I was looking for. Thank you sir!
You are most welcome! So glad this was helpful for you!
Thank you for the video and list. I have some of these and have read some others. And you spared us a lot of 20th century French "thought".
Many thanks.
My pleasure! I tried to stick as closely as possible to what I consider the essentials, while also being mindful of keeping the list at or around 25.
What the problems with 20th century french philosopher , they are great in my opinion. Okay what we called "nouveau philosophe" are trash but existentialism are really interesting (Sartre and Beauvoir , but other too) , Foucault can teach you a lot of about the relation of power and domination in the society when Derrida invent his concept of Deconstruction , so useful today. Even Debord go further than Marx and describe your modern society well . (And that's just the top of the iceberg )
I Would understand if one philosopher or two wasn't your cup of tea but they are so different that i don't understand what you're trying to say .
@@Eldiran1 Derrida swiped his deconstructionism from Heidegger, and nothing else after Sartre and de Beauvoir is worth my time. Foucault's pronouncements seems silly and inconsistent to me. And there is another problem with the French system. Too many 'philosophers' become media stars, so they have to make themselves fashionable and trendy. And that creates a system where they often go off with stupid statements and beliefs (read Sokal's 'Fashionable Nonsense').
Just my thoughts...
@@MrUndersolo "Too many 'philosophers' become media stars, so they have to make themselves fashionable and trendy." -> it's true to some extent . The TV loved to bring a philosopher (genrealy one frome the wave of the "nouveau philosophe") because they answer to anything ; but in reality , they answer to nearly nothing. The french population see that and a lot of people thing philosophy = "nouveau philosophe" or the philosophy we learn at school.
But in the mean time , that no how operate all of the french philosopher .
To me , another thing i don't like with french philosopher , and continental philosophy in general , is that they associate philosophy with language , psychology and sociology. Why not but what about physics , chimistry , biologics and so on ? When i was in the faculty of philosophy some years ago , th wast majority of students here didn't like hard science at all , the epistemology course wheren't the favourite one to say the least .
@@Eldiran1 And that is why I mentioned the Sokal book. Too many of these philosophers made pronouncements related to the hard sciences that were completely illogical and stupid. Also, that idea of the philosopher being famous is very specific to France and something about that insularity also bothers me. That can create an environment where people take the laziest and most badly-conceived paths of thoughts. Noam Chomsky talks about this.
And there is another book you might like: 'At the Existentialist Café' by Sarah Bakewell. She covers that very interesting moment in philosophy when many of the ideas of modern philosophy were just coming together.
This is great, by the way. I love to talk about this.
Strange how epistemology became so unpopular. I would have thought a basic existentialism course would have annoyed them even more.
;)
Thanks for the guide. It helps me a lot.
My pleasure!
@@LeafbyLeaf 😄
A SUGGESTION: Start with Clifford's 'Ethics of Belief' because it is a short, easy and entertaining read... It starts with a concrete moral situation, rather than with abstract ideas. A ship-owner faces a moral dilemma -- should he spend a large amount of his wealth to fix (or replace) his aging and deteriorating ship, or, should he save his money and simply hope his ship will remain sea-worthy, as it is already booked for yet another long voyage across the high seas ? How does the ship-owner answer this question ? Does he simply listen to his conscience and his intuition ? Or, does he try to psychologically rationalize what would be the best outcome for himself financially ? Or, does he undertake in earnest an impartial investigation into the actual sea-worthiness of his ship ? Intuition, rationalization, investigation... Which of these is true source of our justifications ? Which of these is the true source of our moral beliefs ? Which of these is the true source of how we form our opinions in reality ?
Now, read Plato's 'Apology', Rousseau's 'Discourse on the Arts & Sciences', and William James' 'Will to Believe' for three very different ways of answering these same questions... All easy reads, all entertaining, all thought-provoking !
Planning on majoring in philosophy in the fall in university, don’t know what to expect so will definitely check these books out! Great video 😊
Thanks so much! And best of luck on your journey!
Thanks for the recommended reading list of 23 books (starting 16:30)
My pleasure!
Thank you for this video. I particularly enjoyed your thoughts and references regarding language.
I have a nine month old son and I have been having the same thoughts regarding the importance of language and for him to develop his language skills in order to live a more full life and more deeply connect with others. You put these ideas more in to context. I will have to look more into Wittgenstein and Socrates. Thank you!
Tussen tak! The pleasure is mine. I remember those early months with my daughter--I read many, many books at odd hours of the night while rocking her to sleep.
You may just be my new youtube hero :-) Thank you for bringing books to life.
Incredibly kind of you to say!
Thanks for the list.
You bet!
Hoping that someday when I grow up I can buy my own books. Great job sir👌. Im watching from Philippines 👌👌
I wish the same for you! Thanks for checking out the video. Nice to have you here!
Huhuhuhu gustong gusto ko talaga ta mag aral ng philosophy, neuroscience and universal physics, and at the same time, law. Ang dami kong gustong pag aralan. I'm just a 1st year highschool student but I think it's nice to start early diba?
Tama ka dyan, pa 1 month na ako sa pag-aaral. Na-eenhance na reading comprehension ko. At nagiging knowledgeable na ako sa part ng epistemology (philosophy). Grade 10 na ako hehe, pa grade 11. Sinayang ko yung 3 years ng highschool ko sa barkada kaya ang bagal makatuto.
@Jasmin Kate Same! im still in 8th grade but I want to learn so much!
I love seeing this enthusiasm for learning! This attitude will take you very far!
A year late, but I would suggest Karl Popper’s OPEN SOCIETY ... while you are reading Plato, And for a modern philosopher certainly Ken Wilber,
Thanks for these additions! I’ve been meaning to get around to Popper for years.
I've been delving into similar topics on my channel. It's interesting to compare notes with others passionate about these subjects.
Your daughter(name?)made your notebook of an unestimable value with her drawings! I fell in love with philosophy in high school. I read tons of books in ancient times. But Now I'm not more interested in the Subject. Schopenhauer was my greatest love of all. "Parerga e paralipomena" was an astounding reading!
I agree: she made my old notebook invaluable! How wonderful to have taken to philosophy so young!
Great vid!
Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy is the ultimate crash course, got me hooked on philosophy during undergrad study, (was ‘studying’ geography ha).
The best contemporary book I’ve read recently is David Deutsch’s Beginning of Infinity, it makes you very optimistic about the human condition, our creativity potential to solve problems, and our significance in the universe.
Thanks! That Deutsch book is on my list!
@@LeafbyLeaf The guy who wrote Beginning of Infinity has some terrifying ideas. He reminds me of the Mark Rylance character in the film Don't Look Up. Deutsch believes in an extreme form of capitalism. He believes we can solve global warming with MORE human interference in nature, not less. His arrogance and egotism has no bounds. I did enjoy his description of the two slit experiment in quantum physics. The rest was dangerous narcissism of the highest order and his political ideology is disgusting.
I have read Russell's 'Autobiography' and loved it, so I will go on to his 'History'. I would also recommend 'Fashionable Nonsense' by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont to point out the charlatans and fakes that seem deep with texts that mean and say nothing.
I am 16 and i recently developed an interest for philosophy but i was wondering if i should avoid reading it because i think it will kill the originality of my thinking. I am afraid that i will stop thinking for myself and will borrow the philosophers ideas completely.
I think that's a legitimate concern, but consider two things: (1) studying the history of philosophical ideas will ensure that you aren't repeating something that's already been done; and (2) it will only serve to challenge your ideas to become even better/more original.
That’s very probable - you’ll become an -Ian: Kantian, Hegelian, Wittgensteinian…etc. On the other hand, it’s equally probable that what you now suspect is original has almost certainly been thought of - in quite a lot of detail - by someone else earlier. Beginning to suspect yourself of being a genius runs the standard risk of making you obnoxious.
Fantastic introduction! Stocking up my Amazon cart right now!
Thanks! I love keeping TBRs healthy!
Such a great video. Well organized and beautifully explained. Really appreciated!
Thanks so much! I’m so glad this video has been helpful.
My daughter did the same exact thing to my notebooks. They are some of my favorite possessions now and far more valuable than my notes.
I completely agree. These notes are now treasures.
There is a Swedish book called Filosofins Historia, by Svante Nordin. It covers all of western philosophy from Plato all the way to Sartre and Fanon. Nordin makes an excellent job of capturing the essence of each great work of philosophy in a very available manner. It really should be translated into English as it surpasses any summary of western philosophy that I have read in English.
I've worked for a Swedish company for 20 years now, been to Sweden many, many times, went through a phase of trying to learn the language. Really wish I had stuck with my studies. Then I could watch Bergman without subtitles and read Strindberg in the original.
I have been watching Dr. Gregory Sadler too! He’s such a gem and so are you. Awesome videos. I’m going to check out your Proust playlist soon.
That's a HUGE compliment to me! I love Dr. Sadler's videos!
Just got Marcus Aurelius Meditations. Cannot wait! Finishing A New World Begins a French Revolution book. I'm waiting for Kotkin to finish his 3rd volume of Stalin too!
Very nice! I really enjoy Aurelius-he embodies plato’s vision of the philosopher-king.
A lover of philosophy with a sense of humor is unique.
:):):) Maybe for my follow-up video I'll do philosophy-themed stand-up comedy!
my journey to philosophy was very unique. i never read any book before starting friedrich Nietzsche at 19yo. itwas a difficult read but i managed to enjoy it and got addicted to books
Ahhhh, I love that moment when the book addiction takes hold!
@Tripti Mehra beyond good and evil then thus spoke zarathustra. i found zarathustra to be a little too difficult
I became interested in philosophy from reading the 12 volume set "History of Civilization". Then I bought a series on tape (shows you how long ago) from Great Courses. It was a series of lectures by an English guy a professor at Cambridge. It was a long series 60 to 90 hours long. He referred to Copelstone's "History of Philosophy" 11 volumes. Finally, I started reading at least 30 volumes of a set called Cambridge Companions, from Plato to John Rawls. And as I read I would read the actual works of the philosophers. Took some extra Great Courses. The project was over 10 years. Did all this but no PhD after my name.
Wow. That is very admirable and a testament to what can be done with time and perseverance. Bravo!
Very very interesting video. Huge help, thank you very much for spending the time to share this information.
I’m so thrilled you and others are finding this useful! Take care, and happy reading!
As a philosophy major (years ago) may I suggest starting not with Republic but with Plato's Timaeus. It is short and easily comprehended, but, best of all, it is among the most influential of all philosophical works of the classical age. Read it and you will quickly see why.
Thank you so much for motivating me to begin reading philosopy, I was always very scared of it and have thought I could not read it without a formal academic training in this matter.I am a painter.I will take fistl the" history of philosopy" Perhaps I am afraid of the feeling that I am too dull and do not understand the thoughs of the philosophers.Well, you have given me the idea of getting a panorama of the western philosphy reading this liste you gve us for two years.The advantage is that I can read the hard germnas in original, perhaps it helps me understand them,I have just tried Wittgenstein once and I failed.Have a nice week, you are awesome.!
Plato is a lot easier to read than you might think. I'm reminded of reading Dostoevsky for the first time, this giant of Russian literature...and finding that he was just a novelist writing about people, so despite the depth of ideas the books were extremely funny in places and the behaviors recognizable. I agree with the implication of the video: be not afraid until you get to Kant. Also, if the video has a weakness it is that Chris doesn't stress the fact that you needn't go through all of these. You can buy a comic book version of most of the books--I can't remember the series that did this for literature and philosophy, but it was a treat for me, espeicailly when I didn't want to take the time to concentrate on one book and author, but did want to understand a few things. And even those on books I read--there was one on Joyce, who I had read--that filled in a lot of the spaces my haphazard brain missed...Ah: found one: Introducing Nietzsche. It's not dumbed down, but it is succinct. The author is a philosophy professor, the illustrator a madman.
If you haven't read Nietzsche and looked through this book you would probably buy at least one of his books.
@@rickharsch8797 your reading experiences are precious for me! Comics can be are a great way to get into something intimidating, it is so good that you have pointed to this possibility. I will begin with Plato and a history of philosophy, but will also search for some" Introducing...." books, since I do not want do get discorages again.Thank you very much for sharing !
Rick's comments are poignant (as usual). Like he says, Plato is amazingly approachable. If anything, start with a smaller dialogue (I suggest "The Apology") to get your mind around his style. To extend Rick's suggestions, I highly recommend The Book of Philosophy from DK Publishing. They take all the major thinkers in chronological order and highlight their main ideas with very clear sentences and lots of big, shiny, pleasing graphics. It would be a good idea to use it as an encyclopedia and consult it first before reading the original sources. And, yes, don't feel that you need to read them all--or even all of each book! Pick through them, read the introductions, read the first and last chapters. The first time through is about getting the flavor. Then, take the one that tasted the best and dig further into it.
In regards to feeling daunted and too dull: I think this is mainly because of something from which I suffer. Namely, I feel like I should know everything on the first approach (really, before I even start!), and when I find that I don't "get it" I get discouraged. There is no shame in saying "I don't get this" right in the face of so many snobs flaunting their vast stores of knowledge--then, take time to figure it out for yourself. For example, I felt like I was cognitively-challenged when I first read Plato's argument for why the soul is immortal, but then I fought through, rereading and questioning, writing the thread of the argument out in my own words, and when the light came on and I got it there was a feeling of enlightenment to which I am much addicted now.
@@LeafbyLeaf this is such a great help!!Thank you a lot.I am so glad I have discovered this channel, It took me away from my intelectual isolation, since I my friends are mostly mistery readers.I know some DK books, they are very well done and also a visual joy.The journey into the philosophical universe cann begin now!And yes, I will take time to dialog with the great minds and with myself.Thanks again!
Glad to find another philosophical RUclipsr :-)
:):):)
If you have the time, I recommend reading through Copleston's History of Philosophy, it filled in a lot of gaps for me. Peter Adamson’s History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps is also good, and he gives greater emphasis to non-western philosophy
I was eyeing a nearly complete set of Copelston at a used bookstore recently. Probably should have just snagged it. Haven’t heard of that Adamson, but I do want to move into more eastern philosophy. My ideas a scant and come mainly from Bhagavad Gita and similar texts.
@@LeafbyLeaf Peter Adamson also has an extensive podcast series on the history of philosophy historyofphilosophy.net/all-episodes
Coplestone's HoP is MASSIVE. Is it engaging enough to read or is it more of a reference book?
the library, I wish my room was like that...
I dreamed of a home library for 35 years.
Good to know that, because that was inspiring. Keep safe😊
The teaching without words
And the benefit of taking no action
Are without compare in the universe.
Your library🏫📚 is beautiful✨
Thanks so much!
Great video, as always! I would just add Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. :)
Lately, I’ve been feeling down so I’m reading Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. My favorite lines:
“Faith sees best in the dark.”
“Everything profound loves a mask.”
Great quotes! I went back-and-forth on Aurelius, first having it in there, and then wanting to stick with primary texts only and so then adding in Seneca and Epicurious and others who come out in the meditations. But, alas, I had to be exclusive and it is an unfortunate omission. This is also the reason that Montaigne is missing.
I understand. It makes sense they’d be in a separate group. I consider their books - practical philosophy. I always have Seneca and Montaigne close by. :)
@@Telly234 Me, too! I have three copies of Montaigne, one of which stays at my bedside.
So very glad to have stumbled upon your channel, particularly through this video that I found quite informative, although I was hoping it was gonna touch on eastern philosophy too. On an anecdotal side note, I first learned the difference between intelligence and wisdom thanks to Hawking's postulation that "philosophy's death now that science is here". I've always thought of science as philosophical questions that had found answer and proof. Qst: "my friend pee standing up, why, what's wrong with my body" Asw: "Nothing's wrong with your body. You're xx he's xy". (body problem moves to science-box). Qst: "Why is the sun chasing me down and looking at me funny everyday?" Asw: "the sun aint moving or looking at you, you're the one moving around, spinning and staring". Sun problem moves to the science-box. Qst: "Why are we here?" Asw: ... radio silence. Problem stays in philosophy-box :)
In hindsight I probably should change the title to specify Western philosophy.
That's a solid and entertaining approach to the roles of science and philosophy!
I was a philosophy major as an undergraduate, and we started with the pre-Socratics and moved our way through philosophy history. I don't recommend non-majors start there, even though it was useful. Also, philosophy majors start with and remain with the actual texts. There is no secondary reading about philosophy, except for the pre-Socratics which are short fragments and tons of commentary on them by Guthrie. And even with the pre-Socratics, we had to interpret them on our own. They were the first cosmologists. I also hope you have listened to the Philosophy Now podcasts. Many are very interesting. I was disappointed they stopped doing them. I know that I was heavily influenced by Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Nietzsche, Popper, and Kuhn. I find Kant especially useful in arguments against torture. I was also interested in the philosophy of science, and it shaped how I view what science does. More scientists should study philosophy. Those that do are more critical about what they do and have a better understanding of the nature of scientific discovery. It keeps them from saying ridiculous things. (Philosophy Now has a great podcast that takes you through a whole course in the philosophy of science in an hour.) I have never regretted my philosophy background. It gave me a solid foundation for critical thinking about anything and everything. I, too, started out only reading fiction when I was young. My graduate studies were in English Literature. Although I still read and enjoy poetry, I no longer read fiction. It doesn't interest me anymore. I do watch some films. I was also trained to teach film but only got the chance to teach film in graduate school. It should be no surprise that one of my favorite films is the Coen Brothers A Serious Man, a modern day, comic version about the problem of evil and the book of Job.
Rewatching this video again - the first time I saw it you convinced me to dive into Russell's History of Western Philosophy. And I originally was going to look into individual philosophers that intrigued me (Pascal, Spinoza, Dewey, Hegel, Nietzsche, and a lot of modern Theory-types) but I felt enough lack of context to where I'm now starting a chronological read through of major philosophical texts. I'm actually pairing this with an effort to read historical books and fiction from the era as well. I finished Gilgamesh recently, currently reading a Pre-Socratics collection from Penguin as well as Hesiod and Theognis. With Plato's Republic as well in the mix. Gonna be reading most of Plato's Dialogues, Herodotus, Thucydides, Greek playwrights, and Aristotle to come!
I wanted to add a comment, because I have the same edition of Republic as you do, the interesting thing, to me, is that the faded Greek spelling above and below the English title looks the exact same on mine as well (same degree of fading/coloring). I always wondered if it was a previous owner's scrawling or an initial edition detail, but faded over time. So loved noticing this similarity this time through!
As always, really appreciate your content and passion for knowledge/books!
What a neat guy! good going! And yes, Gregory is amazing! such a generous guy! Flocks of a feather cite together!
There are other great professors for the lay public: Jeffrey Kaplan ... CrashCourse in Philosophy. And to note, you were recommending Philosophy while COVID-19 was a-comming! Berkeley is my favorite thinker, the guy's ace.
Pretty crazy coincidence with COVID, indeed! Thanks for adding more recommendations!
Great recomendations
I tried to read phenomenology of Hegel (in
Spanish )many years ago is a hard read, the Best way of understand him is throught the marxist dialectical
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve received several comments about easing the Hegel journey. Very thankful!
Thanks a lot for this wonderful video. One can really appreciate the efforts put into it!
Very kind of you to say!
You're definitely doing the right thing, stockpiling the greatest, most profound thinkers of our time, Leaf by Leaf as it were, what a gift you're amassing for you and yours and others... you'll never run out of toilet paper 🚽🧻
Terrific punchline!
If people are going to read Capital (which is pretty much the only thing I have expertise on I any area of political theory/philosophy) I'd also recommend David Harvey's books and video companions on it. Believe me, for the first three chapters you're going to need it. Specifically important is explaining Marxs method, his dialectics. Sadly, you cannot understand any of how/why Marx wrote Capital in the way he did without understanding dialectics, and this means sadly, you're going to have to try and understand Hegel.
However, maybe read/watch some Zizek on Hegel first, befire you drown yourself on near impenetrable dense German metaphysics. An excellent discussion of dialectics and why its brilliant can also be found in Andreas Malm's The Progress of This Storm, which is also brilliant of you want to read stuff on mind/body dualism, nature/society debates, relativist v realism in approaches to scientific objectivity and a strenous defence of materialism and critical realism against postmodern deconstructionism.
I completely agree about the inevitability of understanding Hegel; he is a giant in western philosophy. Nice to have you mention Zizek. I've only read two of his many, many books, but he is a sort of wunderkind of philosophy and fun to read. Thanks for your super helpful input here!
@@LeafbyLeaf thanks so much for responding! You seem to do it on every video. What a great RUclips you are! :) yeh, Zizek said somewhere all of philosophy is essentially indetted to Plato, Descartes and Hegel. Honestly, from my limited look, I think that's entirely correct. Much, if not all of modern philosophy in particular seems to be overwhelmingly a footnote to Hegel, either trying to destroy him (Nietzsche, and then people like Foucault and Popper afterwards) or sort of reinvent the wheel while not really acknowledging him (Heiddiger screams of this, to the point that it seems to me he's to trying to work out something that Hegel seemingly already worked out in the first chapter of Phenomology of Spirit). But gosh, is Hegel hard work. Heiddiger is like a children's book by comparison. That's why I stress the need for ALOT of build up to him. For the love of god do not just jump straight in there. He has a lexicon nigh on impenetrable, a sentence style which will force you to read about three times, and a really headache inducing insistence in trying to keep former concepts in mind in order to build on to get to even further concepts. But he's a giant, Ive never seen a philosophical system so humongous in scope, so all consuming in nature, and also so utterly at odds with either Anglo empiricism or Continental deconstructionism. No wonder so many people don't understand him, it's like learning an entirely new language. But honestly, when you "get" Hegel, I actually find it makes you see the world very differently. Things which otherwise drive you crazy in trying to work suddenly are bequeathed with wonderful opportunities when you have a dialectical mindset. Yeh, Zizek is great, his Sublime Object is good, and he's a much better writer than speaker IMO (and not just because he has an accent, It's writing seems to force him to actually concentrate on what he's saying a focus on the point, something his talks seem to struggle to do).
Harvey is great…the condition of postmodernism is underrated. I’d also recommend Critique of Everyday Life
great video, thank you kindly!
My pleasure!
Nietzsche was my favorite to fall asleep - never got further than page 11!!!
😆😆😆
I think unironically the bible is the best starting point to western philosophy next to Plato because it influenced western philosophy so much, that even atheist Philosophers like Nietzsche constantly reference the bible.
New subscriber here.💫 I stumbled upon your channel after going through some philosophy videos and stopped here when I saw your library behind you! As an avid reader and Philosophy major, I loved all of your suggestions. I want to check out quite a few of them. I graduated quite awhile ago and I am so eager to go back and read some works that I both loved and didn't love. I will definitely be going through your other subject areas as well. These are all great suggestions- I can't wait to read some of these! Great channel!
Hey there! Thanks so much! To be honest, it has been a while since I’ve read a lot of these myself. Republic and Nicomachean Ethics I read early last year, but it’s been at least 5+ years on the others. I know I would get so much more out of them now.
@@LeafbyLeaf Yes. I am interested to see if I am able to absorb them differently now that the world is going through so much and I feel less in charge of my destiny as I did at a younger age. Thank you for such a comprehensive list! I can't wait to dive in!
Sad, but true. All my best to you!
Thank you for this mate. Lot of (platonic) love from India.
My pleasure!
I love that your daughter was adding her two cents to your notes. I used to do that. I'm curious to know what she'll choose as a career as an adult. =) That's hilarious. My dad and his brother would also "test" philosophy on me and one was that tree question. But my father was somewhat antagonisitic about arguing my responses. I think my son has philosophy next year. Thank you for sharing these books. We'll have some books to grab for the subject. Just last week I had a conversation with a woman about the importance of words. She "unfriended" me. 🤔
She currently wants to be a veterinarian! But there's no telling what she'll be at this point; she is very multi-faceted. Your son ("Prometheus" yes?) I am sure will bring the fire of wisdom to humans. Unfriending, I suppose, precludes conversation at all, so that is pretty conclusive about what she thinks of the importance of words. :)
@@LeafbyLeaf ah, thank you. I'm not sure Prometheus will bring fire of wisdom to humans. Great expressive writing there. He wants to be an aeronautical (design) engineer. He's never once wavered. You hammered that nail about the woman and the importance of words. Wow! Write a book. lol
BookZealots an excellent career choice! I wish him all the best in his endeavors. Where there is passion and determination, there will be fruit!
You are great Sir.
Very kind of you to say!
An even easier survey folded into a mystery story, or as life changing gift for young curious mind is Sophie’s World.
Good point. I should've added that one to this video. I read it many year ago. An admirable project for sure.
I’m surprised John Stuart Mill wasn’t on here as one of the major utilitarian and liberal philosophers. I would definitely say his book “Utilitarianism” and treatise “On Liberty” are philosophical hallmarks.
I debated on putting On Liberty on here, especially since it’s so short. But I wanted to keep the list short too. You’re right though, of course. Perhaps it’s time to make a second video.
Very nice video. I‘ve been interested in reading philosophy for about a year now and I‘ve got the feeling that I only start to realize how vast this field is and how difficult it is to find out where to start. I‘m from Germany and I also speak french and english quite well so I‘m in the very nice position to be able to read a lot of philosophers in their native language but that doesn‘t really help to narrow it down to a Good starting point. At the moment I really like reading about the ideas of existentialism like Camus, Sartre and Arendt because I think that their reflections about the meaning of life are especially relevant to teenagers who struggle to find their path (I‘m 17). So I definitely can recommend Camus‘ L‘Etranger and L‘hôte and Huis Clos by Sartre because they are really easy to understand and show their philosophy quite well.
Edit: I totally agree that Kant is very hard to read. I read his texts in german and even in the original version it is just insane how hard it is. His ethics isn‘t too complicated though but I do recommend secondary literature.
Danke, merci, thanks! I've read L'Etranger in the original (French is the only other language I speak) too! I would love to read Pascal in the original (I've only read the Pensees in translation). As for a good starting point, Plato's dialogues are a standard, since there is truth in Alfred North Whitehead's (common attribution) proposition that all of western philosophy is a footnote to Plato. All my best to you!
Just ordered the first 3 of the list!, very excited!
Can you tell me more about the notes that you take while reading philosophy? What should I pay attention to? If that makes sense. I suspect that reading philosophy needs a whole different approach
I bought some notebooks only for philosophy note-taking, I'm taking this seriously, haha
That’s exactly what I did. I bought a fresh blue Leuchtturm 1917 just for philosophy notes. Yes, philosophy requires a different set of tools. But I think you will find The Apology and Republic very readable. Plato was really a skilled thinker and artist-his dialogue format is engaging and mostly clear. Each book of the Republic, for example, is very clear about what it’s topic will be. Other works of philosophy won’t be so precise, but most people are surprised at the accessibility of Apology and Republic. Take it slowly and jot down questions you have as you go along. If you encounter something you just don’t get, mark that passage as such and come back to it.
*Excellent video! Subbed!*
Thanks so much! Now if I could just figure out how to follow this one up with another philosophy video. Haha!
Thank you!
You're welcome!
Phenomenal list! :) I would highly recommend _Some Answered Questions_ by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. It address philosophy, science, religion, the soul, and many other subjects in a series of questions and answers. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá was the son of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baháʼu'lláh. Baháʼu'lláh's _The Book of Certitude_ and the short work _The Hidden Words_ are great for a dive into some meaty Baha'i theology
Hey-thank you so much for these recommendations! Always a thrill to discover something new. Much appreciated.
Okay....I think before introducing us to all these books you have to teach us your tricks on how to read and absorb as fast as you, which is truly unbelievable.
I get into my approaches to reading a bit in my QnA videos, but I have been thinking of ways to present this kind of stuff/advice better in a video. I will say, though, that what you see in these videos is a cumulative/synthesized version of many, any hours and, really, years of reading. So don't be misled by the immediacy of the video/library. This type of reading is a way of life, not a goal to reach. In fact, it is an ever-vanishing finish line, but one whose pursuit nonetheless is worth the journey.
I love your videos..... keep it up 👌🏻
Thank you so much 😀
I suggest strating with Hegel or Kant.
As I prepare to begin my philosophy major (as a second career) - I've noticed a trend in the resources I consume (expert videos, blogs, and articles). There seems to be a focus on greco-roman and european thought, neglecting(?) the vast richness of world philosophy. While I recognize the importance of the western philo, I believe I'll be missing a significant portion of the world philosophical thought.
Hey there! All best to you in this exciting new journey of your life! Yes, oh how I wish I could go back and really make clear that this video focuses specifically on Western philosophy, as I get dinged all the time for not including more. Part of the reason is practical: with so vast a subject, one almost has to be selective in order to get anything like a handle on its fine points. Plus, there's the matter of translation into English that limits what's available to Westerners. But, of course, in the end, you're right: with only half the hemisphere, we're lopsided in our knowledge of the globe's thought across time. I've been slowly accumulating Eastern texts in English and preparing to round this out (in philosophy and literature) with the "back 9" of my life.
The Apology, Gorgias, Symposium before The Republic.
EDIT: In fact, before anything.
That’s a solid suggestion. The Apology is a great first text for philosophy.
@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks. Republic is *really* hard. Impressive start.
Another excellent video. I have to take this opportunity to plug an intellectual hero of mine: Frederick Copleston, author of A History of Philosophy in eleven volumes. Every volume is informative and readable, from the Greeks to the 20th century. A remarkable achievement for one person. I agree that B. Russell is the premier single volume intro. Keep the videos coming.
Ah, yes! Forgot about that series. I keep eyeing them at used book shops but I think I’m going to end up buying my own set in full and brand new. Thanks for the addendum!
I with to own a library like yours one day :)
I wish the same for you!
Begin to:
1. Master the fallacies. You need to be able to recognize all of them.
2. Get historical overviews, such as:
- History of Western Philosophy, by Bertrand Russell
- The Enlightenment And Why It Still Matters, by Anthony Pagden
Make sure you have access to dictionaries including dictionaries of philosophy. As you read you need to look up words you don't fully understand, one by one. Then - when you know the meaning of every word - reread the section. This is crucial. We fail to read and understand a section when we miss the meaning of just ONE word. If you try to read without knowing all the terms you'll be wasting your time.
I'm assuming, here, that you want to understand Western history and how we got here.
Do you know when you are going to do your bookshelf tour on your philosophy books?
You know-I am long overdue on bookshelf tours.