Alan Watts
A whimsical introduction to transcending the Ego.
Category: Erudition
Influential reading
Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung
Arthur Schopenhauer
[The World as Will and Representation]
Schopenhauer’s major work. An astonishingly lucid, and satisfyingly self-consistent, integration of Western and Eastern thought.
On the Principle of Sufficient Reason
Arthur Schopenhauer
An excellent and under-appreciated treatise on the possible sources of knowledge.
UpaniÅŸads
The Road to Reality
Roger Penrose
An ambitious attempt at bringing the reader to the forefront of current understanding of the physical world. Committing.
Primates and Philosophers
Frans de WaalBy arguing that humans have many moral elements in common with primates, de Waal attacks what he calls ‘vernier theory’ – the theory that ‘morality’ is a superficial shell surrounding an essentially selfish human core.
Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics
Immanuel Kant
A tough but immeasurably satisfying read. Very worthwhile for anyone considering delving into the Critique of Pure Reason.
Some Problems of Philosophy
William James
Another easy-going introduction to the major philosophical quagmires.
The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
A wonderfully relaxed introduction to some (the?) major philosophical quagmires.
On Pragmatism
William James