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manguy
I am considering majoring in philosophy for pure interest. I own a few philosophy books, but I am looking for book recommendations that will sort of give me an idea of the material and the difficulty of studying philosophy. For instance, someone recommended that I pick up 'Being and Nothingness', which is at the more difficult side of philosophy.
I'm planning on going to the bookstore today, so any suggestions?
Answer
I would advise against reading Being and Nothingness at the beginner stage. He is dense, and presupposes knowledge of Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Kant, which in turn presupposes knowledge of Aristotle and Plato.
My suggestion: Get a good overview of the history of philosophy and its problems, then start reading Plato and Aristotle. Reading and understanding Aristotle is something even advanced academical philosophers struggle with, but it really pays off. Aristotle is philosophical strength training.
Suggested reading:
These books introduces a lot of the problems essential to contemporary english/american philosophy:
Thomas Nagel - What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy
Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy
These are good introductions to the history of philosophy:
Will Durant - The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
Anthony Kenny - A New History of Western Philosophy
This is a good, but slightly more advanced introduction to the philosophical tradition in which Sartre belong (the continental european one):
Andrew Cutrofello - Continental Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction
And at last, some essential philosophical works that should keep you busy:
*Plato - The Republic
*Aristotle - the Organon (several works, consult wikipedia for a list), Metaphysics, and the Nicomachean Ethics (complement with Cristopher Shields' "Aristotle" for guidance)
*René Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy
*Immanuel Kant - Critique of Pure Reason (difficult but very important, Sebastian Gardner's "Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason" could serve as a guide)
*Ludwig Wittgenstein - Philosophical Investigations
*Martin Heidegger - Being and Time
Make sure you read philosophical works several times. No one comprehends everything the first time, nor the second. Complement any philosophical work that you read with scholarly articles, books, etc. But don't rely on them too much, try to think and reason for yourself first.
I would advise against reading Being and Nothingness at the beginner stage. He is dense, and presupposes knowledge of Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Kant, which in turn presupposes knowledge of Aristotle and Plato.
My suggestion: Get a good overview of the history of philosophy and its problems, then start reading Plato and Aristotle. Reading and understanding Aristotle is something even advanced academical philosophers struggle with, but it really pays off. Aristotle is philosophical strength training.
Suggested reading:
These books introduces a lot of the problems essential to contemporary english/american philosophy:
Thomas Nagel - What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy
Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy
These are good introductions to the history of philosophy:
Will Durant - The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
Anthony Kenny - A New History of Western Philosophy
This is a good, but slightly more advanced introduction to the philosophical tradition in which Sartre belong (the continental european one):
Andrew Cutrofello - Continental Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction
And at last, some essential philosophical works that should keep you busy:
*Plato - The Republic
*Aristotle - the Organon (several works, consult wikipedia for a list), Metaphysics, and the Nicomachean Ethics (complement with Cristopher Shields' "Aristotle" for guidance)
*René Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy
*Immanuel Kant - Critique of Pure Reason (difficult but very important, Sebastian Gardner's "Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason" could serve as a guide)
*Ludwig Wittgenstein - Philosophical Investigations
*Martin Heidegger - Being and Time
Make sure you read philosophical works several times. No one comprehends everything the first time, nor the second. Complement any philosophical work that you read with scholarly articles, books, etc. But don't rely on them too much, try to think and reason for yourself first.
What is being a theoretical physicist like?
einstein.c
I am fourteen years old, and yes, I want to be a theoretical physicist; I have since I was eight years old and read the book E=mc^2: A Biography on the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene, along with his book Cosmic Strings, and also Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku.
Who can I work for, what college degrees should I obtain, what are the best colleges/universities for studying theoretical physics, and what is the job like? In addition, what books do you recommend that I read other than those listed above. Danke schon to everyone.
Postscript: I know that the titles should be italicized, but either I have forgotten hypertext markup language, or I remembered it correctly and this program does not accept it.
Answer
Theoretical physicists have PhD's in physics. You'll probably want to double-major in math and physics in college, and then go to grad school for physics.
Great colleges for theoretical physics and theoretical astrophysics are Cal Tech, MIT, Harvard, University of Chicago, the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and University of Toronto. Probably a few others as well, but these are the main ones.
Theoretical physicists usually do research, but sometimes teach as well. It pays between $60,000 and $120,000ish. You can work at a college or university, or at a national lab, like Los Alamos National Lab, Oak Ridge, Brookhaven, Max Planck, etc.
You've got a good start on the books. I also recommend 'The Universe in a Nutshell', 'The First Three Minutes', and 'Road to Reality', although that last one is probably still pretty advanced. Good luck!
Theoretical physicists have PhD's in physics. You'll probably want to double-major in math and physics in college, and then go to grad school for physics.
Great colleges for theoretical physics and theoretical astrophysics are Cal Tech, MIT, Harvard, University of Chicago, the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and University of Toronto. Probably a few others as well, but these are the main ones.
Theoretical physicists usually do research, but sometimes teach as well. It pays between $60,000 and $120,000ish. You can work at a college or university, or at a national lab, like Los Alamos National Lab, Oak Ridge, Brookhaven, Max Planck, etc.
You've got a good start on the books. I also recommend 'The Universe in a Nutshell', 'The First Three Minutes', and 'Road to Reality', although that last one is probably still pretty advanced. Good luck!
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