Philosophy...

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Does anyone else thoroughly enjoy anything that has to do with philosophy?

I have been on this kick for a long time, I absolutely love it, but I got into an Ethics class recently and have become moreso absorbed.

I like to think that in many ways we are much so philosophers-always questioning things, wondering what exactly drives people, and seeking answers for everything. We aren't too biased either for the most part, because we don't have social "obligations" or pre-set beliefs as to why things happen the way that they do. At least, that is how I think of it. What are your thoughts?

I'm philosophy student,by the way...

Although I'm more interested in Onthology and Metaphysics,then in Ethics.
My personal favorite is German Classical Philosophy (German Idealism),and Neo-Platonism.

Very nice. I'm not sure about Ethics yet, as we have just started. Our teacher required us to get all of the actual books rather than using the textbook, lol. So I'm currently reading Plato. Next is Machiavelli, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, then Foucault. It's going to be a lot of reading this semester, luckily my interest is fairly high.

I was astounded when people in our class said that Socrates was just an annoying pompous ass because he only asked questions... and that pretty much reflected that I think most of the rest of our class is very sheep-like, and they don't ask... therefore they are annoyed with people who DO question things. I, on the other hand, absolutely love the whole process to figuring things out, and find it amazingly brilliant.

Now, of course I have not read the others yet, but I'm sure they will all be equally as interesting, if not more. I'm probably going to be taking more philosophy later on.

I was kind of dumbstruck when we walked into class on the first day. One of the first things our teacher said was if we want to analyze things, go into psychiatry because that is not what philosophy is about. It is about finding the good, true, and beautiful. But see, there is a hangup for me. Isn't questioning things and finding flaws in theories and such in order to find the good and true answer analyzing? You have to knock out the bad stuff in order to find the good, therefore you are finding the bad as well, and how it does not pertain to what you are looking for... but you are still finding it. I'm not sure exactly what he meant in all honesty. Maybe someone could explain better, lol.

My humble advice is to start to read the philosophy books from earliest works to modern ones.

This is the 'small' list of classics:

1."Republic"-by Plato(original name is 'Politeia' which means 'State',not 'Republic')
2."Parmenides" by Plato
3."Timaeus" by Plato
4."Phaedrus" by Plato
5."Metaphysics" by Aristotle (especially book A).
6."Organon" by Aristotle
7."Enneads" by Plotinus
8."Elements" by Euclides (it useful to understand philosophy of mathematics).
9."De Ente Et Essentia" by Thomas Aquinas
10."De Ente Et Uno" by Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola
11."Meditations" by Rene Descartes
12."Ethics" by Baruch Spinoza
13."Monadology" by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz
14."A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge" by George Berkeley
15."Enquiry concerning Human Understanding " by David Hume
16."Critique of Pure Reason " by Immanuel Kant
17."Critique of Judgment " by Immanuel Kant
18."The Science of Knowledge" by Johann Gottlieb Fichte
19."System Of Transcendental Idealism" by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
20."Phenomenology of Spirit" by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
21."Science of Logic " by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
22."Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences " by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
23."The World as Will and Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer
24."Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche
25."Beyond Good and Evil" by Friedrich Nietzsche
26."Twilight of the Idols" by Friedrich Nietzsche
27."Being and Time" by Martin Heidegger

Hmmm, I may have to get some of those soon since I am very interested, then I can read them in order on my own time. I'm interested to see why the teacher ordered these this way as it is, lol-or maybe that's all the college will bring in or something, I don't know. Thank you very much for the list I will have to start on those once this semester is over for sure, that way I don't get things mixed up for class, lol. I only listed the people-these are the actual books we are reading however:

The Republic-Plato
The Prince-Machiavelli
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals-Hume
The Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals-Kant (I hear this one is a real bear, lol)
The Genealogy of Morals-Nietzsche
Fear and Trembling-Kierkegaard
Discourse on Thinking-Heidegger
Discipline and Punish-Foucault

I feel bad for the people who are just taking this class simply because it is required.

edit: okay, this is bad-your list was like, hand flappy worthy to me, lol. I'm excited to have a good idea of what to read once this class is over...

Philosophy is one of my favorite subjects. I've taken two classes and read some of the ideas of Descartes, Hume, Kant, Berkeley, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche.

I'm particularly fascinated by Kant's philosophy. Many are quick to discount his theories on the basis of non-Euclidean geometry, but we must remember that Kant was concerned with the idea of knowledge independent of experience, of which he merely thought Euclidean geometry was an example. At any rate, it exists as a mathematical idea. The Critique of Pure Reason is difficult reading but it definitely doesn't strike me as nonsense.

im a student of philosophy, too.

but, slightly opposed to witt, i prefer epistemology over ontology, and manage to like nietzsche, schopenhauer and husserl without feeling schizo. german idealism isnt my most favorite topic... but it certainly doesnt make me want to head/desk as much as empirism.

I wish I could read Nietzsche without feeling that way. Then again, a lot of what he says is all there, on the pages, as real as the light of day.

These programs are very ambitious, they would take a life.
I have read much of Nietzsche, but I would advise "Beyond Good and Evil", Of Heidegger "Holzwege" (Paths leading nowhere). Of Plato the Symposium.
Unfortunately there is nothing left of Diogenes, but something can be conjured up from secondary sources. And I think in harmony with Cynicism, Lao Tze (the Tao). Here there are at least two works. Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu. (Avoid any effort, don't do anything, don't domesticate nature).

I took quite a bit of philosophy in college. I like Ethics a lot but became engrossed in Existentialism. My favorite is Kierkegaard.

i am an anthropology student (we reference foucault and bourdieu frequently as well as dabbling in phenomenoloy), but i am taking a class this semester on the philpsophy of consciousness - i think it is going to be really interesting

I've been jonesing for a formal logic class, but my school doesn't always offer it. . .

I think philosophy is essential; however, I'm frustrated by the degree to which it is an elitist field, as I think it's something everyone really should have access to at higher levels than they currently do.

I think the lack of accessibility may be due to schools no longer requiring students to read original sources. I dated an ethics teacher [/snicker]. He was removed from the "intro to logic" class because he didn't assign the locally published textbook. He was discouraged from using the "classics" because students found them too hard and "irrelevant". However, one needs a basis on which to decide just what is relevant.