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What book do you carry with you everywhere?

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What book changed your life? apart from Scripture here and preferably of a philosophical spiritual theme. Dosen't need to be, as long a sit says something to everyone.
What book work or peice got you 'into' philosophy in the first place?
What book have you never read but know you have to? So we could go through it together perhaps.
What do you think is integral reading for every each member of this our human race?
Anyone want to set up a reading of anything?
No great tomes please.

@sometime sun,

dash it, anyone want to do something with the Bhagavad-Gita here?

@sometime sun,

When I was majoring in history and delving into Victorian Studies, I took an Introduction to Philosophy course in which I read (among others) Nietzsche's Geneology of Morals; that course and that book changed my major and untimately my life.

@sometime sun,

Yeah, Geneology of Morals was flabbergasting to me. Probably the most influential work of philosophy to me is The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus.

But I find literature to be more useful a source of philosophical ideas, because it combines philosophy with life. To this end, towering at the top of my list, are a group of works that include Hamlet, Brothers Karamazov, Notes from Underground, Ulysses (James Joyce), Moby Dick, One Hundred Years of Solitude (Garcia Marquez), The Sea of Fertility (Mishima), Gravity's Rainbow (Pynchon), Death and the Dervish (Selimovic), and the list can go on and on...

@sometime sun,

In philosophy, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations has perhaps influence me more than any one book. But writings by other philosophical authors have influence me greatly too. Writings by, G.E. Moore, by J. L. Austin, and by Bertrand Russell, and by the American founder of Pragmatism, C. S. Peirce. Descartes has greatly influenced me in a different way. Descartes made the most interesting mistakes in philosophy, from which I learned more than reading most other philosopher's truths.

@sometime sun,

Well I bought a Kindle so I can easily carry several.
Crime and Punishment changed my view of human nature and of the relationship between reason and emotion, profoundly influential at the time.

@prothero,

Never read his Genealogy of Morals, but Kaufmann's translation of Zarathustra was brilliant. After looking through a few other translations, and discussing them with a German speaking friend of mine who has read it in the original, I can't imagine a better translation being found. Which makes all the difference.

Like Aedes, I find literature to be as important of a source for philosophy as the scholarly treatises. Dostoevsky is always wonderful, as well as Camus, and selected Shakespeare. Also, Hesse, Kerouac, and Thoreau have been influential for me. Hemingway is another great source.

And let's not forget poetry! Ginsberg, Whitman, ee cummings, Plath, and so many more.

@sometime sun,

At the moment I'm having to carry certain books around with me for my University course, many of which are deeply interesting. But I would place Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations as being the most influential book on my outlook towards Philosophy. Numerous other books have also exerted a great influence over me and I'm indebted to many great thinkers.

@prothero,

prothero;98932 wrote:

Well I bought a Kindle so I can easily carry several.
Crime and Punishment changed my view of human nature and of the relationship between reason and emotion, profoundly influential at the time.

Yes. I just got a Kindle too. How did I ever do without it? It is great.

@kennethamy,

kennethamy;99004 wrote:

Yes. I just got a Kindle too. How did I ever do without it? It is great.

I'm derailing the thread a bit, too, but... I was also thinking of getting a Kindle.

You guys really like it that much? Does it strain the eyes at all?

@Zetherin,

Zetherin;99005 wrote:

I'm derailing the thread a bit, too, but... I was also thinking of getting a Kindle.

You guys really like it that much? Does it strain the eyes at all?

Not at all. On the contrary, it is easy to read. Best thing since sliced whole wheat bread. But I hear that Barnes and Noble is about to come out with a rival E-Book reader, and it is pretty good too. And somewhat cheaper. Sorry about the derail (I say as I derail more).

@sometime sun,

Very easy to read, very easy to hold, much easier than a book, great for reading lying down or in bed. If you read very unusual things they may not come in kindle format. If you read anything on the NYT bestseller fiction, non fiction etc it is probably availabe and cheaper than the hard copy format. You can also put HTML or PDF downloads from the web on the kindle, and mp3 files or word documents. If you read a lot and or travel, I highly recommend it.

@Zetherin,

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

What book changed your life?

I would have to say that the book that changed my life is (drum roll)

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

What book work or peice got you 'into' philosophy in the first place?

The book that got me into philosophy in the first place Plato's Complete Works. I was majoring in biology my first year of university and by chance, I took a class called "Sophists and higher education" which reviewed Gorgias, etc. The material was very fascinating and I instantly took it. But I just remember the atmosphere and the intellectual level of the people in that class (who where there because they wanted to be) and knew I wanted to be there, which was more than I could have said for a lot of my other classes.

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

What book have you never read but know you have to?

Ronald Dworkin's Laws Empire

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

What do you think is integral reading for every each member of this our human race?

Honestly, religious texts should be integral reading to every human on the planet to read. And not just the Bible alone or the Koran alone, but all of them (or at least good summarizations). Religious literature is the foundations of our intellectual history and the cornerstone of all societies (even societies without religion).

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

No great tomes please

sometime sun;98615 wrote:

Anyone want to set up a reading of anything?.

That's an awesome idea, what do you have in mind?

Zetherin;99005 wrote:

I'm derailing the thread a bit, too, but... I was also thinking of getting a Kindle.

You guys really like it that much? Does it strain the eyes at all?

On the note of e-readers, you may want to wait on purchasing a kindle because Barnes and Noble is coming out with an e-reader called "nook" which is supposed to blow kindle out of the water. Looks great... I'm thinking about getting that one myself.

Barnes & Noble's Dual-Screen Nook: $260, Eats the Kindle's Lunch - Barnes & noble nook - Gizmodo

@VideCorSpoon,

VideCorSpoon;
Well as you mentioned him, some Plato would be good work, not sure on what i haven't read, that as i mentioned, needs to be.
Not the Sophist as it has the affect that one knows the early education of the mind, mind training if you will, has persoanlly not been as well put together as this works form exposition, that of the trainer in systematic thought.
And i found i was lacking (if not running in the rear) in what avenuse of the mind the piece opened, a bit like the Clifford the big red Dog opening those pathways of mind preparation as you will.
I would say that all Plato should be read as first story tales so as to prepare the mind, it embues and exudes in early development.
The Sophist is a perfect early learning tool i think.
Byways and highways of the mind that work.
Dont you wish you had read religiously Sophist as a child. At least.

So if you would like to choose, not one of the larger, but something that will be short ish (if not indepth) for more participant accessiblity.
I will come tomorrow with a short list as should you and then we can agree, but to make it some fun, you will have the deciding choice, unless anyone else wants to get in on the action and select A Platonic verse.

But the polls have not yet closed if anyone has a better idea.

Litterature is always the best source of philosophy for engaging in a good story, good prose and gooder experience. Helps you to live the philosophy instead of just reading about it.
Who said reading wasn't experience? But who could say imagination engaged is not the very substance of what experience and lifes works are come from, done?
Our experience is based on from our imagination? And aproximation of reality. We learn to read through our imagination.

I dont know what a Kindle is.

@sometime sun,

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

Well as you mentioned him, some Plato would be good work, not sure on what i haven't read, that as i mentioned, needs to be. Not the Sophist as it has the affect that one knows the early education of the mind, mind training if you will, has persoanlly not been as well put together as this works form exposition, that of the trainer in systematic thought. And i found i was lacking (if not running in the rear) in what avenuse of the mind the piece opened, a bit like the Clifford the big red Dog opening those pathways of mind preparation as you will.

By mind training, I suppose you are talking about the art of rhetoric. It definitely has its uses as a tool for systematic process and such, as well as using that as a basis for more substantial knowledge to come. However, outstanding ancients (Plato and Aristotle among them) were very much set against extolling the grandeurs of sophistry.

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

I would say that all Plato should be read as first story tales so as to prepare the mind, it embues and exudes in early development. The Sophist is a perfect early learning tool i think. Byways and highways of the mind that work.

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

Dont you wish you had read religiously Sophist as a child. At least.

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

So if you would like to choose, not one of the larger, but something that will be short ish (if not indepth) for more participant accessiblity. I will come tomorrow with a short list as should you and then we can agree, but to make it some fun, you will have the deciding choice, unless anyone else wants to get in on the action and select A Platonic verse. But the polls have not yet closed if anyone has a better idea.

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

Who said reading wasn't experience?

Not me.

sometime sun;99326 wrote:

I dont know what a Kindle is.

Kindle is short for Amazon Kindle. It is an electronic reader which is basically a hand-held digital book.

@sometime sun,

My wife got a kindle a few weeks ago and she can't put it down. Loves it. The screen really looks like a printed page, probably because it's not backlit.

Good thing the baby hasn't figured out what it is yet, he loves anything electronic that has buttons.

@Aedes,

I hope i didn't extol the virtues or debts of the Sophist as a 'career', rhetoric is a teaching in action as much as disavowing the same action.
Devils advocate is no more than the devils and an advocate.
Did i get that right?
Nevermind.

My list is/was Crito, Critias, Ion and And Euthyphro,
we will go with the closest.

EUTHYPHRO. I will start it tomorrow and on first inspection will open a thread in relevant area, or just keep in in general, so as to let everyone know Plato is easy if not taken as seriously as Plato, Not a God, just a man, brilliant and easily approachable. It is free on the web so no excuses.

Things are usually only as hard if not more so by what we expect them to be.
So dont expect anything and you will never find hardship?

@sometime sun,

I always have the Bible with me when I'm travelling. I'm trying to read the whole thing, but I'm still only in the book of Job.

@sometime sun,

Babe Ruth Story. Mel Ott story. A few Archie and Jughead comic books. Arkansas fishing guidebook.

@sometime sun,

Well, the book that changed my live was the Republic by Plato. It is not so much what it says, but how it goes about what it says that was important to me.

Now, I never leave home without my Selected Works of Nietzsche book that contains some key translations of major works by Walter Kaufmann. It contains Birth of Tragedy, Genealogy of Morals, Beyond Good and Evil, Ecce Homo, some selected aphorisms, and I think the Case of Wagner as well.

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