I, like many people, have a father. After a long time of not really caring about the whole thing he’s expressed an interest in philosophy this Christmas season. Now, as we know a lot of philosophy is rather confused and I don’t see any big reasons for him to start thinking truth is irrelevant or other silly things. I don’t think the man is considering reading anything particularly long or in-depth.
So, I’m asking for book recommendations for short-ish introductions to philosophy that don’t get it all wrong. Solid, fundamental knowledge about how we know what we know, why we can know it and so on. The whole less wrong thing really. I think i’ll also send him a copy of epistomology 101 for beginners.
All ideas are welcome even if it’s not 100% the right book.
I like this series; it’s fun, well-designed pop-social science surveys. Of course, this type of survey has a big historical element; you may not like that but I think it’s fun to read.
I like the idea of directing him to the Less Wrong sequences as he would probably benefit more from that. It’s available in pdf and other print-suitable forms here so you could print it out and put it in a fancy binder or something:
I, like many people, have a father. After a long time of not really caring about the whole thing he’s expressed an interest in philosophy this Christmas season. Now, as we know a lot of philosophy is rather confused and I don’t see any big reasons for him to start thinking truth is irrelevant or other silly things. I don’t think the man is considering reading anything particularly long or in-depth.
So, I’m asking for book recommendations for short-ish introductions to philosophy that don’t get it all wrong. Solid, fundamental knowledge about how we know what we know, why we can know it and so on. The whole less wrong thing really. I think i’ll also send him a copy of epistomology 101 for beginners.
All ideas are welcome even if it’s not 100% the right book.
Not a book but: http://sqapo.com/
Thank you, this is awesome!
And it can be printed, if someone insists on a book form.
Try The Philosophy Book
I like this series; it’s fun, well-designed pop-social science surveys. Of course, this type of survey has a big historical element; you may not like that but I think it’s fun to read.
I haven’t read this book myself, but I’ve read other books in this series and would recommend them:
http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Short-Introduction-Edward-Craig/dp/0192854216/
I like the idea of directing him to the Less Wrong sequences as he would probably benefit more from that. It’s available in pdf and other print-suitable forms here so you could print it out and put it in a fancy binder or something:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/37v/sequences_in_alternative_formats/