Philosophy books?

I've decided I'm going to educate myself in Western philosophy, starting with Plato's "The Republic".

Can /book/ recommend any other great works? Books that are enjoyable to read as well as intellectually stimulating?

Nietzsche

Richard Dawkins - The god delusion. Pompous ass, but funny as hell, and some good points.

Arthur Schopenhauer's work and his philosophy of Nihilism is always worth a read.

Is there actually something you guys can recommend as a primer before diving into any work with a big name on it?

I'd really like to get into this topic too but I suspect starting directly with Plato, Nietzsche etc. might be a little difficult without any prior knowledge.

Read some introductory books first!

>>6
Lieeek what...?

>>7
Any one will do, really.  All you need from the intro books are the general "tools" and reasonings of philsophy which are:

Logic
Epistemology
Ethics
Metaphysics
Aesthetics

and how they apply to:

Political Philosophy
Philsophy of Science
Analytic Philosophy
Psychology
Philosophy of History
Empiricism
Theism
Idealism
Pragmatism
and so on...


"Philosophy for Beginners" by Osborne(?) is a kind of a comic book for tourists of the subject focusing on major thinkers and their influence on the Western canon.  The summaries are well written even if they are leaving out some important-but-esoteric details.   If there's someone mentioned who sounds interesting, look up what their primary works are and maybe their critics.

The best thing I can advise is don't get too caught up in the history and biographies - look for interesting ideas and have fun testing them.

>>1
You can try "A History of Western Philosophy" from Bertrand Russell.

It gives you a good overview from the beginnings up to the 20th century. But most important, it is written in a very enjoyable and not-boring way which really is worth a lot.

It is >800 pages, but of course there is no need to read all sequential from the first to the last page. Just pick the chapters you like the most, start with them and ignore the rest for the beginning.

>>7
Sophie's World. I kid you not, really.

>>10

Seconded.  While it technically is classified under fiction the story is basically just a framework for conveying various summaries of famous philosophers and their respective philosophies).

>>10
>>11
Just ordered it, thanks.

How about existentialism?

>>13

 For literary explorations, Sartre's Nausea or Camus' The Outsider.

 For a drier and more systematic approach, get your hands on a collected edition of Sartre's essays.

don't bother with all the fucking greek and roman and renaissance philosophers. that shit is so fucking boring and you don't need it. read stuff like kahlil gibran instead

>>15
I think a facepalm is in order.