"__________ and Philosophy" Books - Which to get?

[leadchipmunk]

I was at the bookstore today to help further my challenge and I'm considering getting back into philosophy. It has been a while since I've studied it, but I used to love it. My favorite area of philosophical study was ethics, though I never went too far into that subject. I dabbled way too much to focus on one area.

Anyway, I found a series of books titled "_____ and Philosophy" and I flipped through one of the books and am quite interested. It seems to be a pretty good explanation of philosophy within the realms of the chosen topic; show, book, comic, movie, even game. Has anybody heard of this series and have any further information about it?

I'm planning on getting the "Green Lantern and Philosophy" book, though it may be a while before I get to read it.

Also, does anybody have other good, entertaining resources for philosophy in general, or ethics in particular?

[ZenGwen]

As a philosophy major... I hate them all, because they are kind of superficial and contrived, and everyone insisted on giving me geeky ones for Christmas. I have Science Fiction and Philosophy, The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy, and one about superheroes. (Okay I'm actually kind of tempted to get the Avengers one now that I see it there.)

But! The fact that I hate them doesn't mean they aren't good! I was having to force myself through Kant and Descartes at the time. So I was bound to be bitter towards anything which was philosophical and easy to read. And I did recently pick this up.

So, recommendations. My favorite philosopher is Epicurus. Rational hedonism, scientific method, self-sufficiency, my role model. Probably not interesting to you, but if it is, the surviving works we have from him are mostly available in translations which are surprisingly easy to read compared to modern philosophers. (Damn you, modern philosophy. Eschew obfuscation!)

For an introduction which is fairly easy to read (think freshman year of college), I recommend the Routledge "What is this thing called _______" series. They're really good, clear overviews of topics. There's an Ethics one which I haven't read, but I've heard great things about. If you're interested in getting into more "deep questions" kind of philosophy, I recommend the ones on Epistemology and Metaphysics, which will have you questioning truth, knowledge and the universe in no time. Both very well written and easy to understand, some of the few books I kept after graduation. Duncan Pritchard (who wrote the Epistemology one) was one of my lecturers, great guy.

The problem is, though, that those are priced like textbooks! Sorry I don't have better pop-Philosophy recommendations. A lot of the big guys are available in cheap paperbacks, but they tend to be very dense, I wouldn't make any particular suggestions until you've found out what you're interested in. The Republic is classic, of course, but kind of meh.

BUT, I have taken some really kickass Ethics classes. Really, really fun subject. So if you're interested in particular ethical issues, I've got a lot of good articles I can recommend (which are usually easier to find than whole books). First one to check out is Moral Saints by Susan Wolf (link to PDF), which will have you in an appropriately values-questioning mindset for doing some philosophy, heh. Susan Wolf is a goddess, I worship everything she writes.

Oh, the last thing you might check out is the Very Short Introduction To.... books. They are tiny, and cover a whole bunch of specific topics. They're good for getting an idea of what you're interested in, and giving you a grounding in the basics.

[leadchipmunk]

I figured they wouldn't be the best, but I do think that if done well, the Green Lantern book could work awesomely. The whole emotional spectrum, the emphasis of fear, and the necessity to do what is right without second thought. And I just love Alice in Wonderland and am confused as to how much philosophy you could get out of it.

I went to a small town technical college, so we didn't have much in the way of philosophy, so the only class I had the chance to take was ethics (which actually became required when I took the cybersecurity major), and it wasn't bad but I am really bad about reading stuff that I have to. So I'm sitting on a small stack of classic philosophy books that I haven't even opened (still passed with a B, not bad for total BS-ing my way through, huh?). People like Confucius, Plato, Epictetus, Machiavelli and a few others.

About 2 quarters after I took my Psych class, they changed books and included "Action Philosophers!" so I missed out on that one.

Those "Very Short Introduction" books look awesome, but I can see myself buying all of them. Literally every single one, at 5 to 10 dollars a pop. As I said, I like to dabble... in everything. Haha

[ZenGwen]

Seriously, don't worry about skipping the "classics" unless you're looking at doing philosophy as a degree. I do think everyone should read The Prince at some point, but for the most part, all the big thinkers have incredibly dense writing, but lots of other people writing about them in ways which are much easier to read, so there's not a lot of point in forcing yourself to do the original if you just want to know generally what they thought.

[bigm141414]

Seriously, don't worry about skipping the "classics" unless you're looking at doing philosophy as a degree. I do think everyone should read The Prince at some point, but for the most part, all the big thinkers have incredibly dense writing, but lots of other people writing about them in ways which are much easier to read, so there's not a lot of point in forcing yourself to do the original if you just want to know generally what they thought.

I'm gonna jump in here real quick and second The Prince, as well as The Art of War.

[leadchipmunk]

Mainly for the classics, I just drop into a book and read a section or two and move on. They are too dense for me to be taken as a whole. That's why I like Confucius and Epictetus. I can just pick it up and in 5 minutes get through a few passages and be happy with that.

The Prince and Art of War are on my list, as is Bushido and possibly the Book of Five Rings.

[HorrorGeek]

One vote for House and Philosophy. But that's just because I think he is the best character television ever created. I have it on my shelf. I haven't read it yet. But I fully intend to.

[Barbarossa]

I do think everyone should read The Prince at some point, but for the most part, all the big thinkers have incredibly dense writing...

The most important thing to remember about the "big thinkers" and "pop philosophy":

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger? Heighdegger was a boozy begger who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume Shopenhauer and Hegel,

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as shloshed as as Schlegel.

(Further study).

[drsloomis]

...all the big thinkers have incredibly dense writing, but lots of other people writing about them in ways which are much easier to read, so there's not a lot of point in forcing yourself to do the original if you just want to know generally what they thought.

Agreed, to a point. I think there is value in the mental exercise of working through the dense writing, along with a wonderful sense of discovery and accomplishment when you have "A-ha!" moments while reading (apologies to the 80's Norwegian pop band of the same name). Heidegger's Being and Time is a personal favorite, but it's dense as all hell and a serious commitment. I'm also a big Foucault fan, but that's for another thread.

On a more general level, I'm not a huge fan of the ________ and Philosophy series for the reasons mentioned above. That said, I have read several, and enjoyed Monty Python, Hitchcock, Philip K. Dick, and The Simpsons (The D'Oh of Homer). There's a Neil Gaiman one on the way, and I have often wondered why no H.P. Lovecraft.

[leadchipmunk]

I like the mental exercise when I have time to go through it and spend time deciphering everything in my head, but time is something I have little of right now. That's why I want to start with books like this, where it explains a lot of it. That still allows you to delve deeper, but doesn't necessitate it.

How did I miss the Philip K Dick book? That's on the list now too! Androids is one of my favorite books.

[ZenGwen]

The most important thing to remember about the "big thinkers" and "pop philosophy":

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable.

Heidegger? Heighdegger was a boozy begger who could think you under the table.

David Hume could out-consume Shopenhauer and Hegel,

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as shloshed as as Schlegel.

(Further study).

Ohhhhhh there's nothing Neitzche couldn't teach ya bout the raising of the wrist,

Socrates himself was permaaanently piiiissed...

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will, on half a pint of shandy was particularly ill,

Plato they say could stick it away, half a crate of whisky every day...

Yeah that was most of what I learned as a freshman, heh.

Agreed, to a point. I think there is value in the mental exercise of working through the dense writing, along with a wonderful sense of discovery and accomplishment when you have "A-ha!" moments while reading (apologies to the 80's Norwegian pop band of the same name). Heidegger's Being and Time is a personal favorite, but it's dense as all hell and a serious commitment. I'm also a big Foucault fan, but that's for another thread.

On a more general level, I'm not a huge fan of the ________ and Philosophy series for the reasons mentioned above. That said, I have read several, and enjoyed Monty Python, Hitchcock, Philip K. Dick, and The Simpsons (The D'Oh of Homer). There's a Neil Gaiman one on the way, and I have often wondered why no H.P. Lovecraft.

I think it's worth working through some of the originals too - but not unless you know it's something you're actually interested in getting that far into. (Or you're assigned it.) I loved reading Epicurus and Descartes, I could've done without the original Kant.

And I am definitely going to have to get the Neil Gaiman philosophy book. Awesome. Sandman especially makes me pretty excited for that.

[leadchipmunk]

Well, I made it back to the bookstore today, but somebody bought the only copy of Green Lantern and Philosophy! I was dumbfounded, I don't see anybody in the area being interested in both Green Lantern and philosophy (clearly I'm the exception in my mind). Oh well, I ended up buying "Dr. Seuss and Philosophy"