The Great Books

[plato85]

If you're interested in philosophy you should be reading the 'Great Books', or the 'Western Canon'. These books are described as 'the great conversation'. The Idea is since Homer there has been a continuous philosophical discussion down the generations. Each book in the Western canon keeps this conversation going, and it comments on the previous books.

There are many different lists of what is in the Western Canon. Some lists put more emphasis philosophy written in theory form, some lists put more emphasis on philosophy written in novel form.

This link below is to a set of 500 books which are the most important philosophy books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World

Some of the books are more interesting and more important than others.  Some are really easy to read, some are quite dry and hard to read. Some I disagree with so much that it fills me with fury. Some of these books are so damn good that I'd prefer to be in their company than anyone else. But every book is rewarding because you understand the world in a new way, you can see how different people think, and you can see where all of our political differences stem from.

If you prefer to read fiction then Harvard Classics have a similar set which you should be able to pick up quite cheap.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics

In the old days when only the elite went to university, in the days when a higher education meant a general education rather than a specialised vocational education, this is what they studied.

The goal of many people is to read all of these books in 10 years. I've been complimenting my reading with audio books so I can get through books while I'm driving or walking the dog. A lot of these audio books are up on Audible and Naxos Spoken Word Library.

[_LiveFree_]

A continuous conversation down the generations.....yet here we STILL are as a species. In my humble yet vitriolic opinion, it hasn't accomplished dick.

Now that's hyperbolic but not by much. What use is a "great conversation" unless we can have it with those closest to us?  That is not hyperbolic at all.

 

[mgggb]

On 5/13/2017 at 9:09 PM, plato85 said:

If you're interested in philosophy you should be reading the 'Great Books', or the 'Western Canon'. These books are described as 'the great conversation'. The Idea is since Homer there has been a continuous philosophical discussion down the generations. Each book in the Western canon keeps this conversation going, and it comments on the previous books.

There are many different lists of what is in the Western Canon. Some lists put more emphasis philosophy written in theory form, some lists put more emphasis on philosophy written in novel form.

This link below is to a set of 500 books which are the most important philosophy books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World

Some of the books are more interesting and more important than others.  Some are really easy to read, some are quite dry and hard to read. Some I disagree with so much that it fills me with fury. Some of these books are so damn good that I'd prefer to be in their company than anyone else. But every book is rewarding because you understand the world in a new way, you can see how different people think, and you can see where all of our political differences stem from.

If you prefer to read fiction then Harvard Classics have a similar set which you should be able to pick up quite cheap.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics

In the old days when only the elite went to university, in the days when a higher education meant a general education rather than a specialised vocational education, this is what they studied.

The goal of many people is to read all of these books in 10 years. I've been complimenting my reading with audio books so I can get through books while I'm driving or walking the dog. A lot of these audio books are up on Audible and Naxos Spoken Word Library.

It does seem like a good reading list but I'm not sure if all of those old scientific works are really nessisary since most of them have been supplanted or overturned. Also I'm not sure why basically all of Shakespeare is listed but Orwell, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky only have one work a piece. And no Bible? I'm not a Christian but come on, it probably the most influential text ever written. 

 

I've read say maybe a 10th, and by the looks of it, it does offer a solid base for understanding the history of western thought, but I wouldn't read it in its entirety just for its own sake because it's a massive time investment and there are many good works not included in favor of some that appear less significant. 

 

Edit: I missed the second link, it seems much more well rounded. 

[plato85]

11 hours ago, mgggb said:

It does seem like a good reading list but I'm not sure if all of those old scientific works are really nessisary since most of them have been supplanted or overturned. Also I'm not sure why basically all of Shakespeare is listed but Orwell, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky only have one work a piece. And no Bible? I'm not a Christian but come on, it probably the most influential text ever written. 

 

I've read say maybe a 10th, and by the looks of it, it does offer a solid base for understanding the history of western thought, but I wouldn't read it in its entirety just for its own sake because it's a massive time investment and there are many good works not included in favor of some that appear less significant. 

 

Edit: I missed the second link, it seems much more well rounded. 

Yeah it's not a perfect list. They addressed most of your issues in the introductory book. They put together the list in a committee of professors at a university. There were a lot of disagreements but everyone agreed most of the books in the set are important. Leaving out the Bible was a fierce debate but they went with the assumption that everyone already has one, maybe they did back then? They said that the science books they chose are good reads that describe the process they went through to come up with their ideas, and they remind you that anyone can be a scientist and you don't have to go through higher education. I don't understand the cult of Shakespeare, and they do need more Dostoyevski and Tolstoy. Orwells 1984 only came out in 1948 and this set was published in 1956. Everything except Freud would have been out of copyright in this set.

 

12 hours ago, _LiveFree_ said:

A continuous conversation down the generations.....yet here we STILL are as a species. In my humble yet vitriolic opinion, it hasn't accomplished dick.

Now that's hyperbolic but not by much. What use is a "great conversation" unless we can have it with those closest to us?  That is not hyperbolic at all.

 

Years ago before TV we had a reading culture. People did relate to each-other through these books the way people relate through movies these days. And people felt more connected with their ancestors and their history. The great books are our Western Heritage. forgetting these books is letting Western culture die. When we discuss the ideas of the books of the past we keep those ideas alive and we can build on them. 

Apart from just a discussion amongst people we know, this is a conversation among writers, continually referring to each-other and their ideas. Discussing what they agree and disagree with, so that philosophy can continue. Philosophy is a conflict between competing ideas. It's this conflict that is the conversation.

[plato85]

 

   On 5/16/2017 at 1:11 AM,  mgggbsaid: 

It does seem like a good reading list but I'm not sure if all of those old scientific works are really nessisary since most of them have been supplanted or overturned. Also I'm not sure why basically all of Shakespeare is listed but Orwell, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky only have one work a piece. And no Bible? I'm not a Christian but come on, it probably the most influential text ever written. 

 

I've read say maybe a 10th, and by the looks of it, it does offer a solid base for understanding the history of western thought, but I wouldn't read it in its entirety just for its own sake because it's a massive time investment and there are many good works not included in favor of some that appear less significant. 

 

Edit: I missed the second link, it seems much more well rounded. 

Yeah it's not a perfect list. They addressed most of your issues in the introductory book. They put together the list in a committee of professors at a university. There were a lot of disagreements but everyone agreed most of the books in the set are important. Leaving out the Bible was a fierce debate but they went with the assumption that everyone already has one, maybe they did back then? They said that the science books they chose are good reads that describe the process they went through to come up with their ideas, and they remind you that anyone can be a scientist and you don't have to go through higher education. I don't understand the cult of Shakespeare, and they do need more Dostoyevski and Tolstoy. Orwells 1984 only came out in 1948 and this set was published in 1956. Everything except Freud would have been out of copyright in this set.

 

   On 5/16/2017 at 0:25 AM, _LiveFree_ said: 

A continuous conversation down the generations.....yet here we STILL are as a species. In my humble yet vitriolic opinion, it hasn't accomplished dick.

Now that's hyperbolic but not by much. What use is a "great conversation" unless we can have it with those closest to us?  That is not hyperbolic at all.

 

Years ago before TV we had a reading culture. People did relate to each-other through these books the way people relate through movies these days. And people felt more connected with their ancestors and their history. The great books are our Western Heritage. forgetting these books is letting Western culture die. When we discuss the ideas of the books of the past we keep those ideas alive and we can build on them. 

Apart from just a discussion amongst people we know, this is a conversation among writers, continually referring to each-other and their ideas. Discussing what they agree and disagree with, so that philosophy can continue. Philosophy is a conflict between competing ideas. It's this conflict that is the conversation.