Please recommend me some philosophy books based on what I've read so far

December 5, 2017 9:08 AM

So I've read a few philosophy books but have run out of ideas as to what to read next. So far I've read Darryl Reanney: The death of forever, music of the mind, after death (and more continued inside).

So I've read a few philosophy books but have run out of ideas as to what to read next. So far I've read Darryl Reanney: The death of forever, music of the mind, after death. I've also read 'the art of happiness' by the Dalai lama. I really enjoyed these books. Other books include '50 philosophy ideas you need to know', a John Lokke book that I can't remember the name of and a book about Gaia. I guess a running trend in the philosophy books I enjoy reading lend themselves to ideas about an afterlife and also the biological understandings of the brain and human nature.

posted by sockpim to Religion & Philosophy (2 answers total)

If you don't mind going to a somewhat darker place with your interest in biological understandings of the brain, sentience, and afterlife, you may enjoy The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life by Jeff McMahan. It appears book copies are not cheap, but there's some sort of digital copy that's $7 on Amazon, or you can find it used somewhere. A must for any budding ethicist's reading list.
posted by juniperesque at 9:23 AM on December 5, 2017

Todd May's "Death", Susan Wolf's "Meaning in Life and Why it Matters", and John Gray's "The Soul of the Marionette" are, taken together, a pretty nice primer on death and the afterlife, meaningfulness, and free will. Those sounds like the sorts of questions you're interested in. If you want to go deeper into some of these questions, Samuel Scheffler's "Death and the Afterlife" is an unusual and provocative read. Also, Robert Sapolsky's "Behave" is one of the best books on 'human nature' written recently, albeit not by a philosopher.
posted by informavore at 11:50 AM on December 5, 2017