James
 |
The Ongoing Reader
2007/10/18 14:58
|
Karma: 4
|
Junior Philosopher |
|
Talk here about a book you've read. If this thread becomes successful, we should end up with a nice catalogue of philosophy!
I shall commence...
Sartre's Nausea is an odd book. It is that rarest of things - a philosophical novel which actually feels like a major work of philosophy rather than a story with a few ethical dilemmas. It tells the story of one Antoine Roquentin, a historian afflicted by the eponymous queasiness. A main thrust of this book is his relationship with an unnamed aquaintance, who provides a debating partner and interesting counterpoint to the existential positions that Roquentin gradually adopts and upholds.
As a work of philosophy it is engaging and stimulating, and an excellent introduction to Sartre's work. As a work of literature, however, it is flawed. The first 80 pages of this 250 page book bored me to tears. However, I found the other two thirds to be very gripping indeed. Never before have I encountered such a pleasure disparity in a book. Overall Nausea is highly recommended, provided you are patient with it. |
|
Log in to post messages and access additional forums.
|
Dave J
|
Re:The Ongoing Reader
2007/11/20 13:25
|
Karma: 3
|
Junior Philosopher |
|
Weeeeeell, I'm currently reading (not quite finished but I'm nearly there) Ideology: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton. Extremely interesting book and exactly what I've been looking for as a good historical introduction to radical philosophy.
Eagleton sets out to show the relevance of the concept of ideology through an account of its use in the work of a plethora of thinkers, from early Enlightenment philosophy through to contemporary post-Marxism. His aim is to reinvigorate discussion of ideology, contra those postmodernist and post-structuralist theorists who have proclaimed the notion obsolete. Such thinkers have argued that all discourse, beliefs, interests, sociopolitical goals etc. are ideological, and as such that the notion cancels out; if everything is ideological, then the distinction between ideology and ? is vacuous, and the notion ceases to play an important role in our theorising.
Eagleton's book is a fascinating genealogy of ideology, and raises important issues concerning both purely philosophical issues of the relation between thought, language and reality, and the interaction between these issues and social and political thought. I found such an approach a refreshing change from the normal temper of analytic discussions of such issues, and would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in topics as disparate as Marxism, epistemology, philosophy of language, sociology, discourse theory, the history of political thought and perhaps even ideology...
A thoroughly enjoyable read. |
|
Log in to post messages and access additional forums.
|
Dan J. Brigham
|
Re:The Ongoing Reader
2008/11/13 09:15
|
Karma: 3
|
Junior Philosopher |
|
I recently came across a series of books called "The Great Philosophers" edited by Ray Monk. (Monk studied at York and graduated with a First, you may be interested to know.) I think the driving idea behind the series is to present short, accesible yet philosophically sound introductions to some great philosophers. From the two I have read, I realise that's not many, they'e really good and well worth a read. They combine philosophy, biogrpahy and anecdote in a really good way. Not too heavy going but not too superficial, they're perfect to dive into and tear through in the space of a couple of hours.
(The ISBN for the Russell one is: 0-75380-190-6) |
|
Log in to post messages and access additional forums.
|
Community Forums 
