I've been reading Debate and Discussion at SA a lot, and since I started reading a lot at work (I don't have a lot to do during the winter) and later at work I developed the habit of reading books, something I really haven't done a lot since I was younger. Recently I got interested in philosophy, although I've always been interested in philosophy, just not to the degree I am now.

Especially the 20th century philosophers like Nietzsche and Sartre and their like are people who catch my interest, but I realized that while I can dig up names and get a vague grasp of what they stand for through Wikipedia, I've never actually read a book by Nietzsche or any other philosopher, and I'd like to. I've gathered that a good entry book for Sartre would be "Existentialism is a Humanism" and I have a grasp of Nietzsche's books, but I think I'd be much better off asking people who have actually read them and can make recommendations. (Note that I'm only using Sartre and Nietzsche as examples as they're the ones that spring to mind; I'm interested in virtually all kinds of philosophy)

So I headed over to the local library's website and found that Nietzsche had, indeed, written a lot of books. Far too many for me to read all of them within even a year. Discussing actual philosophers and not "ok this is what i think COMMUNISM HELL YEAH fuck corporate amerikkka" with my immediate circle of friends and associates is well, unfortunately, a ridiculous idea, so I turn to you. I'm looking for philosophers that have made a major impact or are even credited for (co)creating lines of thinking. I don't even know where to start for picking out good books of Nietzsche or Sartre beyond "Existentialism is a Humanism" and that's only because it was in Wikipedia.

Again, Sartre and Nietzsche are examples and I'm looking for all kinds of philosophical writings that you've found interesting or have made an impact on your way of thinking. The idea is that I want to expand my horizons. They don't necessarily have to be available in Denmark as long as I it's possible for me to get ahold of a copy in some way, I'm willing to pay for it no problem.

How about Ayn Rand? If you want that nice, fuck Communism vibe.
Anthem's good, but not much of a read. Atlas Shrugged is a huge book, but very good. I still need to read the Fountainhead, which is another of her novels. If you want just straight philosophy, I'd go for We The Living, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, the Romantic Manifesto... But the novels give you the philosophy and a good story, so I'd reccomend those first

As much as I like "books with a point" it's not really what I'm looking for here. I'm mainly thinking about books that would be considered the better works of reknowned philosophers - as an example again, Nietzsche, if only because he's the one that springs most readily to mind. =\

Then check out her books like We the living, The Virtue of Selfishness, Philosophy: Who Needs It, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and The Romantic Manifesto. They're all full of philosophy essays by her, with a few with Alan Greenspan and Nathaniel Branden, who share similar philosophies.

You can get a feel of her philosophy here

Kinanik fucked around with this message on 01-11-2005 at 07:16 PM.

Nietzsche is definitely an impressive philosopher. It's been a while since I've read him, but I'll put up which books have stuck with me.

In general, Nietzsche is a suprisingly entertaining read. He has a lot more passion and emotion than you find in almost any other philosophy books. He's the only philosopher who has literally had me breaking out in laughter and reading segments to other people to see their reaction. A few of his more scathing attacks on conventional ideas of morality will either have you praising him as a genius, or toassing the book aside in anger, but are garunteed to create a reaction.

I think a good place to start is "Beyond Good and Evil", where he deconstructs conventional christian ideology. It's one of his earlier books, but a good one. It's also a fairly conventional philosophy book, which is a good way to get a grounding for my absolute favorite: "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is absolutely beautiful in execution and ideology, but unlike "Beyond Good an Evil", you may want a book on Neitzsche or Zarathustra in particular to accompany it. The enire thing is composed almost as a metaphor, a parody of sorts of conventional religious doctrine, verse and all, which displays his ideas. This makes it one hell of a read, but also sometimes difficult to interpret; it doesn't always come out and say everything directly. It very, very worth the effort, though.

As for what to avoid: *don't* read "Will to Power". In my opinion, it lacks a lot of his trademark flair. That's probably because it was assembled from his notes by his wife after he went crazy from syphilis.

As for translations... in general, I really liked Walter Kaufmann, he's really very impressive. He translated most of the versions I ended up reading. I'm not sure if he's the translation of Zarathustra that I read (it was for a class, and I can't find the book now) but I have faith that he would have done a good job.

Hope that helps. Enjoy.

Beyond Good and Evil, The Gay Science, Thus Spake Zarathustra, and The Antichrist are Nietzsche's best works in my opinion. Aside from that I agree with Charlesm, except I'm not sure about Will to Power.

Ayn Rand on the other hand is of little worth.

I'm gonna read through an eBook of Beyond Good and Evil, then later pick Thus Spake Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil up at the library (for a second read through). After that, I don't know.

Thanks for the advice. Can you recommend any 20th century or ancient philosophers that have made an impact on modern society? I'm largely disinterested in "dead" philosophies that really have no importance in modern life unless the books themselves are highly entertaining, but I'd be more than interested to pick up some stuff that has at least made an effect on or inspired other philosophers.

Again, thanks.