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Ask HN: Do you read philosophy?

13 points by mrkgnao 11y ago

I wonder how HN readers "nourish their minds", so to speak. Philosophy is something that I know almost nothing about, and am really curious to dip into.

mathattack 11y ago
I wish I had read more as a college student. This podcast has helped me catch up. Makes my commute tolerable too. http://www.philosophizethis.org/ http://www.philosophizethis.org/ Start at episode 1 and work your way up. It improves a lot around podcast 12 or 13 as the speaker finds his stride.
Tomte 11y ago
Will Durant's Story of Philosophy is a great start! Bertrand Russell has also written a highly regarded introduction, though I haven't read it.
- lucozade 11y ago
  Russell's History of Western Philosophy is good. It's by no means an easy read but I thought it was very good at getting across the philosophical ideas as well as their development over time. Ironically it put me off of philosophy somewhat. I left it with the impression that a worryingly large number of philosophical questions were either tautological or just very clever word play.
chmielewski 11y ago
You ought to. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem
selmat 11y ago
Good brief introduction is youtube channel School of Life: https://www.youtube.com/user/schooloflifechannel https://www.youtube.com/user/schooloflifechannel Some of social philosophy essays I have read recently are: Konrad Paul Liessmann - theory of ignorance: the errors of the knowledge society (original: Theorie der Unbildung: die Irrtümer der Wissensgesellschaft, 2006 ) Elias Canetti - Crowds and Power (original: Masse und Macht, 1960) Georg Simmel - Philosophy of Money (original: Philosophie des Geldes, 1900) edit: formatting
kleer001 11y ago
My little library runs towards atheists, cognitive scientists, and eastern philosophy. I also prefer practical application (yoga, meditation, self-improvement, etc) and less academic (discussing, critiquing, history of, etc). Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Douglas Hofstadter, Marvin Minsky, Tsai Chih Chung, Alan Watts. Pick up anything by any of these guys and you'll be off to the races.
mbrock 11y ago
Lately I've been going through Dreyfus's book about Heidegger's Being and Time, called Being-in-the-world, and I've found it majorly inspiring and wonderful. Now I rave about Heidegger to anybody who will listen, more or less coherently. Dreyfus has made important and influential critiques of "cognitivist" AI grounded in Heideggerian arguments... which can be a fascinating angle to approach existentialism for computer scientists. I gladly recommend bringing a book of philosophy while travelling. You get new impressions to somehow apply ideas to, which gives a new depth to the travels and the book... plus you might form some interesting associations. I read this Dreyfus Heidegger book a lot during a stay in rural Thailand, and I had lots of time to reflect... And, for example, part of the book is about this background of cultural habits that we rely on daily, and that only manifests consciously when it turns unfamiliar—like when in a foreign culture. So that was fun to think about. Yeah, a relaxing vacation mixed with the mental stimulation of good philosophy—add a cup of coffee and that's heaven...
ThomPete 11y ago
If you like to ponder about things in general, getting into philosophy learning some of the thinking that's been going on If you are a person who like to do things instead of just reading about them, philosophy will offer you a whole new way of thinking about what you do. I have always tried to strike the balance between thinking and doing. I.e. reflect on what I am doing. Each to their own of course, but I can't recommend philosophy enough as long as you are able to apply it to some extent.
lukeHeuer 11y ago
Over the years Stoicism has grown on me. I can't recommend it enough for business and engineering types as it addresses a lot of the negative side effects of tending to overthink things. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a great straight-forward read and seems to be considered the gold standard on the subject.
meric 11y ago
Tao Te Ching. A verse on how to rule. Rule a nation with justice. Wage war with surprise moves. Become master of the universe without striving. How do I know that this is so? Because of this! The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The sharper men's weapons, The more trouble in the land. The more ingenious and clever men are, The more strange things happen. The more rules and regulations, The more thieves and robbers. Therefore the sage says: I take no action and people are reformed. I enjoy peace and people become honest. I do nothing and people become rich. I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.

13 points by mrkgnao 11y ago

I wonder how HN readers "nourish their minds", so to speak. Philosophy is something that I know almost nothing about, and am really curious to dip into.

mathattack 11y ago

I wish I had read more as a college student. This podcast has helped me catch up. Makes my commute tolerable too. http://www.philosophizethis.org/ http://www.philosophizethis.org/ Start at episode 1 and work your way up. It improves a lot around podcast 12 or 13 as the speaker finds his stride.

Tomte 11y ago

Will Durant's Story of Philosophy is a great start! Bertrand Russell has also written a highly regarded introduction, though I haven't read it.

lucozade 11y ago
Russell's History of Western Philosophy is good. It's by no means an easy read but I thought it was very good at getting across the philosophical ideas as well as their development over time. Ironically it put me off of philosophy somewhat. I left it with the impression that a worryingly large number of philosophical questions were either tautological or just very clever word play.

chmielewski 11y ago

You ought to. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem

selmat 11y ago

Good brief introduction is youtube channel School of Life: https://www.youtube.com/user/schooloflifechannel https://www.youtube.com/user/schooloflifechannel Some of social philosophy essays I have read recently are: Konrad Paul Liessmann - theory of ignorance: the errors of the knowledge society (original: Theorie der Unbildung: die Irrtümer der Wissensgesellschaft, 2006 ) Elias Canetti - Crowds and Power (original: Masse und Macht, 1960) Georg Simmel - Philosophy of Money (original: Philosophie des Geldes, 1900) edit: formatting

kleer001 11y ago

My little library runs towards atheists, cognitive scientists, and eastern philosophy. I also prefer practical application (yoga, meditation, self-improvement, etc) and less academic (discussing, critiquing, history of, etc). Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Douglas Hofstadter, Marvin Minsky, Tsai Chih Chung, Alan Watts. Pick up anything by any of these guys and you'll be off to the races.

mbrock 11y ago

Lately I've been going through Dreyfus's book about Heidegger's Being and Time, called Being-in-the-world, and I've found it majorly inspiring and wonderful. Now I rave about Heidegger to anybody who will listen, more or less coherently. Dreyfus has made important and influential critiques of "cognitivist" AI grounded in Heideggerian arguments... which can be a fascinating angle to approach existentialism for computer scientists. I gladly recommend bringing a book of philosophy while travelling. You get new impressions to somehow apply ideas to, which gives a new depth to the travels and the book... plus you might form some interesting associations. I read this Dreyfus Heidegger book a lot during a stay in rural Thailand, and I had lots of time to reflect... And, for example, part of the book is about this background of cultural habits that we rely on daily, and that only manifests consciously when it turns unfamiliar—like when in a foreign culture. So that was fun to think about. Yeah, a relaxing vacation mixed with the mental stimulation of good philosophy—add a cup of coffee and that's heaven...

ThomPete 11y ago

If you like to ponder about things in general, getting into philosophy learning some of the thinking that's been going on If you are a person who like to do things instead of just reading about them, philosophy will offer you a whole new way of thinking about what you do. I have always tried to strike the balance between thinking and doing. I.e. reflect on what I am doing. Each to their own of course, but I can't recommend philosophy enough as long as you are able to apply it to some extent.

lukeHeuer 11y ago

Over the years Stoicism has grown on me. I can't recommend it enough for business and engineering types as it addresses a lot of the negative side effects of tending to overthink things. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is a great straight-forward read and seems to be considered the gold standard on the subject.

meric 11y ago

Tao Te Ching. A verse on how to rule. Rule a nation with justice. Wage war with surprise moves. Become master of the universe without striving. How do I know that this is so? Because of this! The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The sharper men's weapons, The more trouble in the land. The more ingenious and clever men are, The more strange things happen. The more rules and regulations, The more thieves and robbers. Therefore the sage says: I take no action and people are reformed. I enjoy peace and people become honest. I do nothing and people become rich. I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.