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This is a hard question and don't really have any answers. I studied philosophy in college and we talked about all kinds of controversial issues (abortion, affi

This is a hard question and don't really have any answers. I studied philosophy in college and we talked about all kinds of controversial issues (abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, etc.) My theory is that most engineers just aren't mentally equipped with the tools required to make sound social judgments, e.g. being well-read in ethics or social theory, so debates or a friendly clash of ideas often end up being fruitless and awkward. This is an interesting observation. A lot of flamewars could be as simple as that. If one were inclined to equip themselves, what would you do? It's very rare to have the opportunity to attend a philosophy class, and a lot of philosophy students tend to take it much too seriously. It's serious topics, but almost everyone who studies philosophy ends up feeling elevated over those who don't. This is remarkably ineffective when trying to persuade people to your way of thinking. So I'm interested in what to study for my own purposes, and then try to integrate those concepts into my day to day life. What would you recommend?

dvt 9y ago
I went into my Philosophy major wanting to study mostly logic and math. But I actually fell in love with ethics, a topic I had never been interested in before. I think most of these social issues find their roots in ethics, so if you're interested in that this would be my suggestion: start off with Plato's Republic[1], move on to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics[2] and then Christian philosophers (Aquinas[3], for example) and then (my favorite) John Stewart Mill. I often suggest his On Liberty[4] on HN. It's one of the absolute best primers to modern social ethics around. I don't think Kant is particularly useful (or interesting), but many would disagree, so your mileage may vary. As far as the "modern" era, I suggest reading G.E. Moore[4], Elizabeth Anscombe[5], Phillipa Foot[6], etc.) Anscombe's Modern Moral Philosophy[7] is one of my favorite essays ever. Apart from that, it's important to read Supreme Court cases and decisions (especially important ones: Bakke v. UC Regents, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, etc, etc.) But most importantly (and what we were vehemently taught), is to always practice the Principle of Charity[8]. Some of these books and essays are very hard to parse, but there is a lot of material online that will help figure out their meaning. [1] http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html [2] http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html [3] http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-moral/ http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-moral/ [4] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm [5] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moore/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moore/ [6] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anscombe/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anscombe/ [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Foot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Foot [8] http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/mleldrid/cmt/mmp.html http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/mleldrid/cmt/mmp.html [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

dvt 9y ago

I went into my Philosophy major wanting to study mostly logic and math. But I actually fell in love with ethics, a topic I had never been interested in before. I think most of these social issues find their roots in ethics, so if you're interested in that this would be my suggestion: start off with Plato's Republic[1], move on to Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics[2] and then Christian philosophers (Aquinas[3], for example) and then (my favorite) John Stewart Mill. I often suggest his On Liberty[4] on HN. It's one of the absolute best primers to modern social ethics around. I don't think Kant is particularly useful (or interesting), but many would disagree, so your mileage may vary. As far as the "modern" era, I suggest reading G.E. Moore[4], Elizabeth Anscombe[5], Phillipa Foot[6], etc.) Anscombe's Modern Moral Philosophy[7] is one of my favorite essays ever. Apart from that, it's important to read Supreme Court cases and decisions (especially important ones: Bakke v. UC Regents, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, etc, etc.) But most importantly (and what we were vehemently taught), is to always practice the Principle of Charity[8]. Some of these books and essays are very hard to parse, but there is a lot of material online that will help figure out their meaning. [1] http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html [2] http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html [3] http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-moral/ http://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-moral/ [4] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34901/34901-h/34901-h.htm [5] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moore/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moore/ [6] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anscombe/ https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/anscombe/ [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Foot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Foot [8] http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/mleldrid/cmt/mmp.html http://www.philosophy.uncc.edu/mleldrid/cmt/mmp.html [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity