Suggested Philosphical Reading

Well I've never delved into philosphy much and I'm looking for recommendations.

To narrow it down, here's a bit of what I believe.

I tried to find a political belief for a long time. I crossed the political spectrum, exploring the popular and unpopular ideas of how to run a government and I noticed soething. I read different accounts in books of the exat same events. Communists recall the Russian Revolution as a popular movement by the workers towards socialism. Conservatives remember it as a coup by intellectuals. And so-on. You know the old proverb "history is written by the victors" or whatever.

So I concluded that nothing is right. No matter what you believe, there will be milllions of people who disagree because of their beliefs. What applies to politics also applies to morals. We are flawed people and thus our political and moral constructs are flawed. They are founded on subjective grounds and thus could not possibly be absolutely right everywhere. Pretending your ideas of right and wrong are above anyone else's is just plain arrogance IMO. There is no right or wrong when it comes to morals.

So those are my crude thoughts on the matter. Why I want to refine them by reading up on any philosopher who might have shared similar ideas so I can find what school of thought I fall into.

Some people have suggested Nietzsche to me already, though.

Pretending your ideas of right and wrong are above anyone else's is just plain arrogance IMO.

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill might be helpful.

Also: Every person everywhere should read Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn.

Classical Enlightenment philosophers like Locke or Descarte, especially, might have something for you.

Ugh, I tried reading Mills' Utilitarianism... Got through half before I realized it was a bunch of crap.

On Liberty is all about freedom of speech. And Relativism. And our library system doesn't have a copy of Utilitarianism.

Originally posted by Luminatus
Well I've never delved into philosphy much and I'm looking for recommendations.

To narrow it down, here's a bit of what I believe.

I tried to find a political belief for a long time. I crossed the political spectrum, exploring the popular and unpopular ideas of how to run a government and I noticed soething. I read different accounts in books of the exat same events. Communists recall the Russian Revolution as a popular movement by the workers towards socialism. Conservatives remember it as a coup by intellectuals. And so-on. You know the old proverb "history is written by the victors" or whatever.

So I concluded that nothing is right. No matter what you believe, there will be milllions of people who disagree because of their beliefs. What applies to politics also applies to morals. We are flawed people and thus our political and moral constructs are flawed. They are founded on subjective grounds and thus could not possibly be absolutely right everywhere. Pretending your ideas of right and wrong are above anyone else's is just plain arrogance IMO. There is no right or wrong when it comes to morals.

So those are my crude thoughts on the matter. Why I want to refine them by reading up on any philosopher who might have shared similar ideas so I can find what school of thought I fall into.

Some people have suggested Nietzsche to me already, though.

try forgetting the narrowminded dual partizan political philosophies of america, theres much more out there.

if your looking for a political history lecture for the last 100 years or so. read as much of noam chomsky as you can.

personally, id recommend,

"power, a new social analysis" and "history of western philosophy" both by bertrand russel. "roads to freedom" is another good book by him.

The essay "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau

Utilitarianism By JSM is good stuff if a bit wonkey. Not a doable political system or personal philosophy, but if you are reading philosophy to find the meaning of life you are doing it wrong.

It seems to me that you are interested in both Political Theory and Moral philosophy, so I'm gonna give you some readings in both of those, you might not agree with what the authors say, but they are good reads.

Mind, Language and Society- John Searle
This is a good place to start because he is modern, very clear and not too dense.

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals- Immanual Kant.
-I really enjoy Kant but he is incredibly dense. He has a concept of morality very different than yours, based upon a priori concepts, (things that transcend people and have always existed.)

Second Treatise of Government -John Locke.
The American governmental system is pretty much what Locke outlined in this work, worth checking out.

On the Social Contract-Rousseau
Same vein as Locke, and a contemporary of his, but slightly different work. Rousseau inspired most of the French political system, its good stuff.

Leviathan-Hobbes.
Written in direct opposition of Locke's treatise his concept of the state of nature as a state of war is interesting, if not practical. Longer than all the other ones put together its essentially a justification of Kingships.

Hope it helps!

Originally posted by Luminatus
[B]
So I concluded that nothing is right. No matter what you believe, there will be milllions of people who disagree because of their beliefs.

Can I propose that this is a rather poor conclusion to draw from the fact that everyone sees things differently...

"The Ego and its own" by Max Stirner should set you strait.

Depends on the type of Philosophy you're looking to read.

Nietzsche has always been interesting for me. His concepts of nihilism, will to power, ubermensch and eternal recurrence should be fascinating reads.