Can you recommend any good philosophy texts?

The most revered description of the basic topics, in simple, short chapters that include what most philosophers have said or written, is the Syntopicon.

The Syntopicon is volumes II and III of the Great Books of the Western World, available in every library. There are 103 topics. The chapters are about 8-12 pages each.

Angel; Animal; Aristocracy; Art; Astronomy; Beauty; Being; Cause; Chance; Change; Citizen; Constitution; Courage; Custom and Convention; Definition; Democracy; Desire; Dialectic; Duty; Education; Element; Emotion; Eternity; Evolution; Experience; Family; Fate; Form; God; Good and Evil; Government; Habit; Happiness; History; Honor; Hypothesis; Idea; Immortality; Induction; Infinity; Judgment; Justice; Knowledge; Labor; Language; Law; Liberty; Life and Death; Logic; Love; Man; Mathematics; Matter; Mechanics; Medicine; Memory and Imagination; Metaphysics; Mind; Monarchy; Nature; Necessity and Contingency; Oligarchy; One and Many; Opinion; Opposition; Philosophy; Physics; Pleasure and Pain; Poetry; Principle; Progress; Prophecy; Prudence; Punishment; Quality; Quantity; Reasoning; Relation; Religion; Revolution; Rhetoric; Same and Other; Science; Sense; Sign and Symbol; Sin; Slavery; Soul; Space; State; Temperance; Theology; Time; Truth; Tyranny; Universal and Particular; Virtue and Vice; War and Peace; Wealth; Will; Wisdom; World

The Syntopicon is Volumes II and III of a 60 volume set of books in maximum libraries. you are able to examine what pastimes you by utilising topic--102 of the most written-about topics in philosophy. each and each financial disaster is fullyyt about 12 pages lengthy, and on the top of each financial disaster are a lot of references so that you'll locate an author on that topic that pastimes you. Angel; Animal; Aristocracy; artwork; Astronomy; elegance; Being; reason; probability; substitute; Citizen; structure; braveness; custom and convention; Definition; Democracy; want; Dialectic; duty; preparation; ingredient; Emotion; Eternity; Evolution; adventure; relatives; destiny; sort; God; solid and Evil; authorities; habit; Happiness; heritage; Honor; hypothesis; concept; Immortality; Induction; Infinity; Judgment; Justice; information; demanding artwork; Language; regulation; Liberty; existence and absence of life; good judgment; Love; guy; arithmetic; count number; Mechanics; drugs; memory and mind's eye; Metaphysics; ideas; Monarchy; Nature; Necessity and Contingency; Oligarchy; One and many; Opinion; competition; Philosophy; Physics; excitement and discomfort; Poetry; concept; progression; Prophecy; Prudence; Punishment; high quality; volume; Reasoning; Relation; faith; Revolution; Rhetoric; similar and different; technological knowledge; experience; signal and image; Sin; Slavery; Soul; area; State; Temperance; Theology; Time; actuality; Tyranny; prevalent and certain; distinctive feature and Vice; warfare and Peace; Wealth; Will; knowledge; international in case you do not bounce accurate into the water with those and get moist by utilising reading short chapters on the biggest matters in philosophy, then you definately examine a particular e book and study certain issues (mutually with "What are the moral ramifications of smoking pot?" or "What are Plato's metaphysical recommendations"? before you even understand what 'metaphysics' is. Then, you forget contained in the 2d e book you've chosen to ascertain what change into reported contained in the first e book, and maximum of it received't make experience besides until eventually you've a lot of recommendations less than your belt. as an party in case you follow up "existence of Pi" with "Sophie's international", then with "The Stranger" by utilising Camus, you are able to also see similarities, yet you received't see the linkages, and the position those got here from. you'll study the 'links' by utilising reading the Syntopicon.

Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Philosophy is always a good place to start. There is also a four-volume Encyclopedia of Philosophy that is quite long but a good place to go for specific and detailed information.

Read Albert Camus if you're into existentialism or Franz Kafka.

there are only two kinds any way,. the ones that look like someone wrote them and the one that looks like someone is supposed to read them., i mean if any one can understand philosophy any one can write philosophy so is that what philiosophy is realy about anyway