Can you reccommend a good philosophy book?

[bif]

It's for my 21-year old college nephew. He's a junior in college majoring in computer science. It should be an off-the-shelf book (not a special order) since his birthday is coming up pretty soon. Any help would be appreciated.

[msanger]

1. that seems a bit board

What kind of philosophy? Why give him a philosophy book and not a computer game?

I think we'd need a sense of who he is before making recommendations. Not that any come to mind right away anyway.

[bif]

2. Well...

Because he asked for philosophy books for his birthday. He's a good kid, very smart and a tad nerdy (in a good way). He's into music and computers but not into computer games that I know of. He likes to read sci-fi and fantasy and I guess wants to broaden his literary horizons.

[MrPrax]

3. "A History of Western Philosophy"

by Bertrand Russell.

Consider one of the best introductions to western philosophy and quite accessible to most readers.
Goes from the Ancients all the way through to early 20th century and Russell puts a lot of philosophers' thoughts into a social and political context...

[Shakespeare]

17. Excellent suggestion, and I'd add....

Just to blow his mind a little more, throw in Greene's Elegant Universe, and Feynman's The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. Philosophy meets quantum physics, in a way--this should appeal to his scientific mind.

[karlschneider]

4. Maybe Plato's "Republic", it's not too long and fairly easy to grasp...

I like it anyway. ;-)

[randr]

5. Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

Very hard to find but an excellent start.

[pretzel4gore]

26. hahaha!...

what a title!

[wysimdnwyg]

6. "The Art of Happiness" - The Dalai Lama

Great book for anyone. You don't have to be Buddhist to get a lot out of it. (Hey, I'm an atheist, and I recommend it!)

[GOPisEvil]

13. I agree with this choice.

In fact, I need to re-read it. I've lost that happy feeling lately.

[felonious thunk]

7. Voltaire's Candide is a good start

It's written more like a story than abstract philosophy. I've always found JS Mill and Kant to be pretty approachable, in terms of life philosophies. The Prince is a good read too, though I find the theory completely deplorable. Euthyphro by Plato is an easy read and a good introduction to his philosophy.

[SheilaT]

8. Man's Search for Meaning

by Viktor Frankl. He was a Jew who survived the concentrations camps. I read it in college, possibly for one of the philosophy classes I took then, possibly on my own because of said classes.

Or, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Sounds like a great kid, willing to expand his mind. Good for him.

[junker]

9. oddly enough, and perfect for a computer geek (know of what I speak)

By buckminster fuller

try ebay first or then the BFI institute

anyway

critical path

and then
synergetics (best damn philosophy book in the world going from life to math and everything in between and get 20 years reading out of a single volume)

and then the grunch of giants

[Cronus Protagonist]

10. WARNING - These books will blow his mind

Ernest Becker - The Denial of Death
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684832402/Brainworm

Ernest Becker - Escape from Evil
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0029024501/Brainworm

Pierre Tielhard de Chardin - The Phenomenon of Man
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006090495X/Brainworm

I think these three books should be read more frequently than the bible and understood by all mankind. I can't give them high enough praise to convey their significance.

[onebigbadwulf]

11. The anti-christ

[kcwayne]

12. I loved this one, and I am a computer geek

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
by Douglas Hofstadter

From Amazon.com

Topics Covered: J.S. Bach, M.C. Escher, Kurt Gödel: biographical information and work, artificial intelligence (AI) history and theories, strange loops and tangled hierarchies, formal and informal systems, number theory, form in mathematics, figure and ground, consistency, completeness, Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, recursive structures, theories of meaning, propositional calculus, typographical number theory, Zen and mathematics, levels of description and computers; theory of mind: neurons, minds and thoughts; undecidability; self-reference and self-representation; Turing test for machine intelligence.

The reason I liked this book is that it covered a great deal about the creative mind processes, using the mathematician Godel, the artist Escher, and the canons of Bach to talk about why certain concepts have meaning, and the relativity/subjectivity of meaning.

Hofstadter was (maybe still is?) a professor of Computer Science at Indiana University when he wrote this. It was a best seller 20 years ago...

While the book is not classical philosophy in the since of reading the works of Aristotle, it tackles the many of the same topics that Aristotle did, without seeming so naive, given 2000 years of scientific advancement that have occurred since Aristotle tried to explain the nature of the universe, and the various "ethers" that the planets move through....

enjoy.

[Whitacre D_WI]

14. the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

[SiobhanClancy]

15. John Locke's Two Treatises on Government

His views of the natural rights of man helped inspire the (First)American Revolution.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

16. Yes. Have him read The Holy Bible.

Lots of great stuff in there!

(Now waiting for the flamefest...)

[Astarho]

18. The Simpsons and Philosophy

It uses the various characters from the show to introduce various schools of philosophy. The chapter about Lisa and American anti-intellectualism is one of my favorites.

[Superfly]

19. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

or anything by Edward Abbey

[drb]

22. I Second those two...

..and add "The Road Less Traveled" by Scott Peck.

[saline]

20. similarities

I'm currently pursuing a degree in computer science and political science. I'll likely be getting my "sequence" (kind of like a minor) in philosophy. I'm currently enrolled in a class called social and political philosophy so I may be able to help.

I always found my biggest problem with philosophy was that many authors build off of or criticise the work of other authors. This made understanding the works difficult without first reading the building blocks. In my class I finally found what those building blocks (in large part) were. I would highly recommend Plato's Republic. It's a very different kind of philosophy written as a series of dialogues which makes it very approachable in some ways.

After that, writers that inspired each other and ultimately inspired our founding fathers are good (Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke Two Treatise on Government, Rouseau Social Contract). At this point you start to get into the philosophy written by our founders like Jefferson and Madison etc.

More contemporary authors we're reading include Berlin, Rawls (A Theory of Justice), Okin (Gender, Justice and the Family is I think the name), Sandel and others who escape me at the moment.

You'll probably like writers who espouse the philisophical school of thought of liberalism. This school is kind of like the uncle of what we mean by liberalism in our political sense.

As a side note, I personally didn't like Kant although he was and still is very influential. I always found Kant to be an extreamly thick read, good for falling asleep. However, he's strong on the logic which might appeal to a comp sci kid.

Good Luck.

[bif]

21. Thanks all for the excellent recommendations

Lots to go on here. Keep 'em coming!

[JVS]

23. This one is a good book for the crapper

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer
by William Irwin (Editor), Mark T. Conard (Editor), Aeon J. Skoble (Editor)

You can get it at amazon or at a college book store

[mitchum]

24. "The Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

all he will ever need

[GumboYaYa]

25. It really depends on where he is in his study of philosophy.

Some of the "history of philosophy" books would be good if he is new to the study. If he has read the standards like Plato, Aristotle, DesCartes, Hegel, Kant, Mill, Hume etc. some of the more contemporary philospohers would be good.

Personally "Being and Time" by Heidegger had a profound influence on me, but it is not the first philosophy book someone should read.

If he is a mathematics/computer oriented person you may want consider one of the many books on fractals and chaos theory.

[bif]

27. Hey Gumbo

How've ya been? What's new in the world of music? Did ya get a chance to listen to the stuff I sent you?

[GumboYaYa]

30. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to

Baaba Maal right now. It is very good.

We have been active in our musical pursuits. I saw Robert Randoph three weeks ago. Simply phenomenal. We went to Robert Earl Keen last Friday and I'm going to see Yonder Mountain String BAnd this Friday. Unfortunately, I missed Toots Thielmans in town last week. St. Louis has had some great music lately.

Heard anything good lately?

[bif]

31. Lot's of different stuff

As far as ambient: The Dining Rooms, Hooverphonic and Olive. Blues: Derek Trucks (he's transcribed a bunch of Coltrane including his sax solos which is pretty impressive) and Robert Randolph too. Jazz: my local station has been playing some great re-released early Oscar Peterson and Nat Cole. And Eric Alexander's latest disc is outstanding--I'm going to have to pick it up.

Saw Richard Davis play with a local group last weekend. What an incredible bass player. I think he lives in Europe these days and plays everything from classical to jazz. The group did some Monk which is always a treat to hear live (just like Mingus is).

[GumboYaYa]

33. They have been playing Oscar Peterson

a bunch here as well.

Do you have Robert Randolph's CDs? I have both "Live at Wetlands" and the new studio CD. I'll burn either for you if you need it.

[bif]

34. Always worries me...

When this one DJ plays a lot of a certain artist--usually means he/she just died. I'm sorry I missed Oscar who was in town about a month ago. But it was sold out way in advance.

I've got the Randolph--thanks for the offer!

[GumboYaYa]

35. I try to never skip older jazz greats when they play in town,

b/c I skipped seeing both Dizzy and Miles the week before each of them died. I'm worried that I cursed them by skipping their shows. :)

[RichardRay]

28. 'Being and Time' not first philosophy book...

...excuse me while I try to get myself back to upright, If I ever need an example of 'understatement' as a concept I'll remember that one :-).

[SnowGoose]

29. Ralph Waldo Emerson

While I'm right there with many of the suggestions already offered: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maint.; Godel, Escher, Bach, etc., I'd suggest the collected essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Here's what I like about 'em: they are well written (kinda goes without saying) and draw the reader in, they are very positive without being saccharine or cloying, you can go back to them many times in life and appreciate something new in them. Oh, they are not hostile to a belief in the divine, although they are certainly not religious.

Any volume by RWE is one you'll never regret seeing on your shelf.

[Character Assassin]

32. "The Way of Zen", by Alan Watts. Marcus Aurelius "Meditations"

The Watts book set me on a path at the age of 19 from which I have not turned.

That and perhaps "The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boetius, anything by Lao Tzu and/or Chuang Tzu.

[Lorien]

36. "Zen flesh, Zen bones"

and "Zen and the art of archery" (predates "motorcycle maintainance")

[absyntheNsugar]

37. "Beyond Good and Evil"

by Freidrich Nietchze. Say what you will about the man - this book will make you re-evaluate the way you think.