Thank you!

Oh thanks ❤️

😬😬😬

Thank you so much! I'll add it to my philosophy notes!

"What Does It All Mean?" by Thomas Nagel is very good too

Suggest something for Bergson and Karl Popper, please.

"As a philosophy major, I recommend:" Clearly you skipped the lectures on logical fallacies.

Agreed, his dialogues are quite accessible and predate much of the technical jargon

Yeah! Plato is the best to start, such a enjoyable reading.

Much better than all the books above.

@Anam Dar I would recommend a shorter work first, like the symposium. It’s only about 20 pages so you can finish it in a day. It’s one of the most sublime works, on the perennial topic: love. Context is helpful, but ultimately secondary when reading Plato. His thought is timeless. Most footnotes in any edition you read should be enough. The republic is considered the real masterpiece, so you can definitely read that if you’d like. Just be prepared to revisit it many times. :)

@Anam Dar The Republic, in my opinion, offers a comprehensive work on Plato's thought, and yes, it is meant to be read many times. The Last Days of Socrates is also a good place to start. I agree that Symposium is as well.

Extremely good recommendation, Agree 100 percent. thanks

It's unbelievable how a single guy can write a History of Philosophy of this dimension.

@@lucasrinaldi9909 Right? Such a massive project. I'm guessing not having the internet was probably allowed for a bit more free time ;)

@@lucasrinaldi9909 Well...not to be pedantic, but he didn't *technically* do it all by his lonesome. Still impressive.

Copleston’s good on Kant, but not on Hegel. Read Charles Taylor’s book on Hegel instead.

Sorry not sorry. 😂

Thank you so much!

But you are interested in philosophy that can be taken seriously, the guy presenting this video is interested in something else.

@@martinbennett2228 Fair point. Was just offering up my own recommendations for beginners. The one presenting the video is giving us his "must" list on the Continental tradition, which is fine..

@@rizalinojuliano3702 You have some decent suggestions and a couple I do not know (the Penrose and Confucius). I am less tolerant of the so called Continental tradition and of the opinion that whilst it is OK (sort of) to be a solipsist, it is something best kept to oneself.

@@martinbennett2228 Thank you. I am, myself, not that familiar with the Continental school. When I encountered it in grad school, I struggled with the language and what I felt was its lack of clarity. I only meant that it was ok for the videos author to share his list. I'll take a look a few of the books. .

I just finished it today. What a wonderful book

Gracias.

...NOOOOO! I cannot believe that anybody would recommend that book!... But of course the commenter defines himself: TROP MEDIOCRE...

Oh yeah, that will teach me how to live in the 21st century with Climate horror upcoming and Nuclear War. Thanks, I will check out what he thought.

Badiou is one of the most important thinkers of our time! I attended a workshop hosted by my University on his work and now I can't stop reading him. If you interested in his work, start with his seminars on Nicolas Malebranche titled: Theological Figures, Being 2. It sets up the foundation for you to tackle books like: Being and Event, Logic of Worlds and Immanence of Truths (his famous trilogy).

Warren Ward completely flipped that idea of “isolated geniuses” on its head. Definitely worth checking out!

Start with the stranger

Ban me sooner rather than later please

Hope they help. My reading. Good luck

I actually never winded up reading it. I started with the pre-Socratics, then onto Socrates and Plato and Aristotle

First, if you’re interested in what contemporary philosophy can do, here’s two short books that are really fun and easy to read: Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman, and Mythologies, by Roland Barthes. Postman analyzes TV culture and how it’s basically rotting our brains and ruining our politics, and he uses many contemporary ideas to do so. He’s also very compelling and accessible to read. Barthes, especially that first short chapter on wrestling, looks at lots of pop culture and tries to figure out how we deceive ourselves in problematic and yet beautiful ways. These two books can show you how philosophy can deal with contemporary problems, which is an important reason to read philosophy in my opinion. These other recommendations below are very relevant to contemporary problems and philosophy, but are not as much ABOUT current culture as they are about rethinking traditional society and trying to change it. They are all reasonably accessible to read (no Hegel, Heidegger, Adorno, Lacan, or Derrida here), but I’d recommend reading them in the order below. Nietzsche is probably the hardest, but reading it slowly and with a good dictionary on hand will get you through. Most of these are easily accessible for free on the internet. 1. Montaigne, Essays: Don’t read this entire collection. Just pick a few who’s titles pop out at you and you’ll get an idea of what I mean by “essay.” 2. Kant, What is Enlightenment? Absolutely foundational and a super short essay, and the root of a lot of “free speech” ideas today. 3. The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This doesn’t need any introduction or justification. Doesn’t take long to read either. 4. Mass/Group Psychology and The Analysis of the Ego, Sigmund Freud. Freud was quite easy to read, and this short book or long essay makes a very influential case for irrationality in public behavior. 5. The Public and Its Problems, John Dewey. Dewey is mostly known for his views on education. He is a much better philosopher than an educator IMO, but he’s always been easy to read. This book shows the clear overlaps between contemporary philosophy and politics. Less than 200 pages I believe. 6. On Truth and Lies in a Non-Moral Sense, Friedrich Nietzsche. This is probably the hardest text on this list, but it’s very short (about 10 pages) and he influences basically everyone in continental philosophy from the 20th century to today. He’s often very right and very wrong, but never boring. 7. The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes. Super short and influential, here is where literature overlaps a lot with contemporary thought. 8. The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt. Trained by the most influential (and among the most difficult to read) philosopher in the 20th century, Martin Heidegger, Arendt is wildly more accessible than her teacher. She’s also just brilliant when it comes to thinking about how contemporary society makes us less human. Her bigger book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, is probably the best and most influential book on the subject (and, ya know, fascism). 9. What is an Author? Michel Foucault. Short essay in dialogue with Barthes. Many are afraid to jump into Foucault since he’s very important and intimidating. But if you’ve read the stuff before this, congratulations, you’re ready. His larger books, like Discipline and Punish, are considered “classics” for lack of a better term. The single most cited person in the humanities and social sciences right here for about the last 30 years. 10. The Government of Self and Others, 1st and 2nd lectures, Michel Foucault. This is from Foucault’s lectures, so it’s easier to read than his books. It’s directly in dialogue with Kant and specifically defines what Foucault thinks critical/modern theory is in contrast with analytic and traditional philosophy.

Agreed on primary vs. secondary texts, and that's a good list you provided, actually suitable for beginners -- though I wouldn't have included Freud. One recommendation I might make is Benjamin's famous essay on reproduction: despite having some denser sections and tempting the reader with an overly simple interpretation, it is overall relatively reader-friendly. (In any case, I can't imagine it being more difficult than Barthes.)

@@huugosorsselsson4122 I think Mythologies is more accessible than Benjamin’s essay (though a good pick nonetheless), but reading difficulty is dependent on people’s background to a large extent. Yeah, I included Freud because either people in critical theory outright steal from him (Lacan, Althusser, Derrida, etc) or they react against him (Foucault especially). He’s also influenced quite a bit by Nietzsche. That plus his transparent writing style makes him essential for a list like this.

The only reason to recommend Deleuze and Guattari for beginners is because a) you haven't read Deleuze and Guattari, b) you have, but forgot its contents, c) you don't know what 'beginner' means, d) you're showing off. The most charitable interpretation here is b, the second most charitable is c. And yet I suspect d.

​@@huugosorsselsson4122 nothing but "facts" fam. Plus, your Adorno quote 🔥

@@huugosorsselsson4122 Have you looked at his content? He isn't showing of having read Deleuze ... He's showing of just knowing his name

I wrote a list in my comment with accessible, short, primarily text recommendations, and a little explanation for each text. I think that’s what this video should have done.

I first read Beyond Good & Evil and then immediately read Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Also, if your interested, look into philosophers who were influenced by Nietzsche. Examples are Camus, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, even Jung

DOES GOD EXIST , by Dr. Hans Kung.

Start be reading daybreak and then the genealogy of morals daybreak is the best Intro into neitchzses views of ethics and morality.

@@hhsdhhsss1522 Alright thanks

It's possible to do but there's a lot of background work that would be beneficial

Uppp

I know what to get for Christmas now. 👌🏻

Hey David! Nice to hear from you again! Send me an email and let’s chat. :)