Reddit mentions: The best philosopher biographies

I'm very happy that I was able to help :)

And yes, a lot of people will blame everything around them for the misery of themselves. This seems to be the easy way out, but you must ask yourself what good it does in the end. There are things which are outside of your control. What people might do to you, say to you, and so on. However no matter what harsh things you go through in life it is ultimately you that decide how to respond to them. You decide what to do with it. It is as Epictetus once said:

> "Man is affected not by events, but by the view he takes of them."

Usually I do not actually like to talk openly about the philosophy I follow, for the simple reason that I just try to live by it. Use actions, not words. Also for many people it might seem that you try to push something on to them. However I felt in this case I was justified to give an explanation of what exactly helped me :-)

Anyways, if you are interested in the principles I explained, then what you seek is reading on Stoicism. The book that has especially helped me is this one:
Stoicism and the art of happiness

It has eye-opening/life-changing wisdoms and perspectives on everything that has to do with you. How to deal with emotions, what they are, and what is essential to life a good life. Another interesting fact is that many of the mental exercises and perspectives the stoics used is now today amongst some of the most scientifically well-documented practices used by cognitive behavioural therapy (also with a quick google search, you will find that even the founder of CBT was inspired by the stoic teachings), which deals with practically all kinds of mental sufferings you can imagine.

It's a practical book on the life philosophy of Stoicism, and it is written by a credible psychotherapist who also takes interest in the study of Stoicism (hence the book!). It's not academic in any way, it's meant to be easily approachable and easy to implement into your life. Here's a quick breakdown of it all:

Stoicism is a life philosophy that was founded by the ancient greeks around 301 BCE. It's not a religion, or any kind of weird cult. It is a collection of principles that is meant to guide you towards happiness (in greek context meaning something more along the lines of inner well-being and tranquility).

I would suggest you read the book :-) Maybe you will come to pick up on everything stoicism has to offer, maybe you will only pick up whatever principles and wisdoms that you think are right, or maybe you won't find much agreement with it at all, all which is fine. However I think you will find some wisdoms you will definitely find to your liking, as you sound intrigued by the principles. The important thing is that no matter what, it will most certainly set you out on your way to think more about yourself and how to control your life and achieve your own understanding of well-being.

If Stoicism comes to your liking (start with the above book first, though), I could recommend books by some of the most famous ancient Stoics through time. I will leave some here for future reference for you:

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius - This is one of the most famous stoic texts.

Enchiridion - Epictetus

Dialogues and Essays - Seneca

These books read as manuals, not to be read in one sitting. They are huge collections of letters, essays and short passages from these excellent people about everything that has to do with achieving inner well-being, and how to view the world around you. They are remarkable ancient works, and it is truly inspiring and motivating to open them and just read a few of the lines from time to time.

As with anything, it's a learning process to change mindset. But it slowly comes when you study it. You learn the wisdoms and principles they had, you think about them and if they make sense, you apply them and live them, revisit them and so on, until they really become a part of you. It is truly worth the time though, and I think you see that too from what I could understand in your reply.

Best of luck to you! If you have any questions feel free to PM me as well, I'd be happy to help.

>Just to clarify for myself - you are talking about those books that explain the core concept of the book before the actual book begins, right?

Yes, definitely. It's even better if each section of the book gets a mini-introduction, given how complex the whole book will be, but that'd be hard to find - sometimes there are commentaries, but not always. Both of those books look great, too! But I would definitely do some background research on the internet to see which Nietzsche secondary sources are best/most recommended by the professionals; check the recommendations in the SEP article, for instance.

>Do you think I should only get one of them and then as a second book a book by Nietzsche with that introduction by someone else that explain the core idea briefly?

The Nietzsche Reader has big chunks of each of Nietzsche's main books in it, so you wouldn't necessarily need to buy the books again (unless you were really keen on reading every line). I haven't read the other one but it looks great too. However I don't think it has primary material; it looks like a new philosopher's take on Nietzsche, one reacting to Heidegger's old interpretation. I personally prefer The Nietzsche Reader as a book to first introduce you to Nietzsche, since it has short expositions followed by primary material, and then you could move onto the revisionist interpretation one - but again that's only 'cause I used the Nietzsche Reader myself so it might just be bias lol.
Even better, you might be able to find a simpler introduction, one that sticks to the main ideas, depending on how much philosophical knowledge you already have.

At the end of the day, my advice is definitely to find a good (relatively simple) intro book if you haven't read Nietzsche before - that is essential. (Without a companion reader, reading Nietzsche is like reading Kant, Husserl, Heidegger, or Wittgenstein, in other words the hardest and most technical and/or obscure writers, so background is essential). Then I would pick specific primary texts based on what you find you like.

EDIT: I found [this one] (http://www.amazon.ca/Nietzsche-A-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0192854143) online. Also, I think Walter Kaufmann was one of the biggest Nietzsche scholars so you could check out his work. And depending on your budget, you might just want to read the SEP article; that is a fantastic intro to Nietzsche's work from what I can see.

For reliable sources:

High Magic's Aid by Gerald Gardner

Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland

1: Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner: Into the Witch Cult by Philip Heselton

Lid off the Cauldron by Patrica Crowther

The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton

Foundations of Practical Magic: An Introduction to Qabalistic, Magical and Meditative Techniques by Israel Regardie

A Witches' Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar

Witchcraft for Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente

Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig

Magical Power For Beginners: How to Raise & Send Energy for Spells That Work by Deborah Lipp

Fifty Years Of Wicca by Frederic Lamond

For essential materials,

-An athame

-A wand

-A pentacle

-A chalice

-Incense and censer

> Would I be considered a true Wiccan if I hid it from those around me?

Yes, you would be considered a "true Wiccan." Most Wiccans since the inception of Wicca kept secret the fact they were witches. It's only in very recent times that people are so forward about the fact that they're witches. I myself keep it pretty well hidden. Only those in my coven and my closest loved ones know that I'm Wiccan.

>When choosing a patron/matron do you pick from literally any gods/goddesses?

The concept of a patron/matron deity is relatively new to Wicca. Originally, the Goddess worshiped by the Witches was the Lunar Goddess of Fertility - often called Diana, Aradia, Hekate, Isis, the Queen of Elphame, etc. The original God worshiped by the Witches was the Horned God of Death and Resurrection - often called Pan, Cernunnos, Janicot, etc. However, in recent times, Wiccans (myself included) have begun working with all types of Pagan deities. So in short, yes, you can pick any god or goddess you feel a connection with.

> Can you celebrate the Wiccan holidays and still celebrate things like Christmas?

Yes, most Wiccans still celebrate cultural holidays such as Christmas.

Well, I can tell you the one that I read, but it's considerably beefy and also pretty expensive.
Kant - Amazon

I would also recommend Ray Monk's biography of Wittgenstein, widely considered to be a fantastic literary achievement.

Annie Cohen Solal's biography of Sartre is also pretty outstanding.

Love, Life, Goethe by John Armstrong is also a fantastic read. Goethe wasn't exactly a philosopher in the traditional sense, but his life was unusually interesting from a philosophical perspective, and this biography is spectacular. One of my favourite books ever.

I should add that Jung's writing is notoriously challenging to interpret, even for those with PhDs in psychology. If you're not familiar with reading philosophy, then you'll probably struggle a bit with Jung. Jung was my introduction to dense philosophical reading, and it was definitely challenging to decipher, requiring multiple reads to "fully" understand. Almost every sentence is packed with meaning, and it can take years of reflection to fully understand what he’s trying to say. I felt like I understood him completely the first time through, but realized that there was so much more to his work after subsequent examinations.

I was 15 or so when I discovered him, and at the time I thought his ideas where flawless. 11 years later, I’ve uncovered some questionable aspects of his theories (particularly pertaining to archetypes), but I still think he’s absolutely brilliant, perhaps the Einstein of psychology.

Depending on what we discover about the universe in the coming years, his theories will either prove to be a century ahead of his time, or to be pseudoscientific nonsense. The collective unconscious and synchronicity have profound implications about the nature of consciousness and the universe. Jung is controversial because many of his theories are rooted in deeply spiritual concepts.

Before you dive into his original writings, I recommend doing some research on his key concepts first. There are several primers on Jungian psychology that are far more accessible than his direct work. I recommend this one: https://www.amazon.com/Primer-Jungian-Psychology-Calvin-Hall/dp/0452011868/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=primer+jungian+psychology&qid=1562269705&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Here's a few Jungian concepts worth checking out. Keep in mind that Jung's work has been interpreted in several different ways, so these descriptions are just my own interpretations, and are not necessarily correct. I'd recommend checking out with the wiki for each concept as a starting point, and then reading his autobiography.

1. The Anima and Animus (of course) - the feminine and masculine dimensions of the human psyche (respectively) occurrent in every person.
   
2. The Collective Unconscious - the shared, unconscious, psychological framework of humanity. Can be interpreted genetically or in a more spiritual way.
   
3. Synchronicity - definitely one of Jung's most controversial ideas, but also one of his most interesting. Essentially it's "meaningful coincidence"
   
4. Typology - Jung's theory of personality, which is the basis of the Myers-Briggs personality test. Includes the concepts of introversion and extroversion, which Jung originated.
   
5. The Shadow - this is the dark, animalistic side of the human psyche present in all of us. It's our base, mostly unconscious animalistic tendencies, and the source of all "evil". According to Jung, we all have the capacity to do horrible things, and controlling those impulses requires a recognition and awareness of one's shadow. In order to fight your inner demons, you must first be aware of them.
   
6. Individuation - one could say this is Jung's concept of "enlightenment". It refers to the process of becoming fully aware of your unconscious, and integrating it into your personality.
   
7. Archetypes - this concept is interwoven with the Shadow, Anima, Animus, and the collective unconscious. I interpret it as shared psychological constructs and dispositions. I think Jung takes the idea of archetypes too far, but I still believe that it has merit when considered moderately.
   
   As for original works, I started with his autobiography "Memories, Dreams, Reflections". I think it's an excellent introduction to his mind.

/u/tuckermalc and /u/pizzzahero both have great comments. I'll add a bit. Go to /r/stoicism, read [William Irvine's book] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195374614?keywords=william%20irvine&qid=1456992251&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1), then read [Epictetus's Enchiridion] (http://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456992275&sr=8-1&keywords=enchiridion). follow their guidelines. Also check out /r/theXeffect. The most important thing is controlling your habits. If you're in the habit of eating healthy, getting enough sleep, going to the gym, etc. then you're set.

Now for stuff that's harder to do. Go see a therapist. Or a psychiatrist. Try to find a [therapist who can do EMDR] (http://www.emdr.com/find-a-clinician/) with you, it's a very effective technique (I saw a clinician who uses EMDR for two years, and it changed my life-- and, importantly, it's supported by strong scientific evidence, it's not quackery stuff like homeopathy or acupuncture). If you decide to go to a psychiatrist, tell them you don't want SSRIs. Look at other drugs: Wellbutrin, tricyclics, SNRIs, etc (check out selegiline in patch form, called EMSAM, as well). Seriously, go see a professional and talk to them. I have no doubt that you're wrestling with mental illness. I have been there. For me, it just felt normal. I didn't understand that other people didn't feel like I did...so it took me a long time to go get help. But it's so important to just start working through these things and getting support. That's really the most important thing you can do. It will make your life so much better. If you aren't able to get to a therapist, do Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on yourself! [This is a brilliant program] (https://moodgym.anu.edu.au) that's widely respected. Do it over and over. Also read [Feeling Good by David Burns] (http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456992639&sr=8-1&keywords=feeling+good+david+burns). It's a book on CBT, and can help you get started. There are lots of other resources out there, but you have to begin by realizing that something is wrong.

Finally, I'll talk about college. Don't try to go to fricking Harvard or MIT. You won't get in, and those aren't even the right schools for you. There are many excellent schools out there that aren't the super super famous Ivies. Look at reputable state schools, like UMich, UMinnesota, the UC system, etc. get ["Colleges that Change Lives"] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143122304?keywords=colleges%20that%20change%20lives&qid=1456992746&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1), the [Fiske Guide to Colleges] (http://www.amazon.com/Fiske-Guide-Colleges-2016-Edward/dp/1402260660/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456992768&sr=8-1&keywords=fiske+guide), and [Debt-Free U] (http://www.amazon.com/Debt-Free-Outstanding-Education-Scholarships-Mooching/dp/1591842980/ref=pd_sim_14_15?ie=UTF8&dpID=515MwKBIpzL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=1VC3C23RJP6ZMXGG5QBA). One thing I realized after college was that I would've been happy at any of the school I looked at. People are fed such a line of BS about school, like you have to go to the top Ivies or something. No way. Find a good place at which you can function, learn as much as possible, and have a good social life. Like another person said, also look at going to a community college for a year and then transferring-- my relative did this and ended up at Harvard for grad school in the end.

Think of a baby and how they have object permanency. When you walk out of the room you are no longer in the baby's frame of existence. Well you as a human being never really lose this frame phenomenon psychologically. As you grow older it just grows larger. Every piece of knowledge, every place you've traveled, very technique, person, thing, entity you've ever meet or learn expands your frame of existence.

However your frame of existence is totally dynamic every second. Like right now you're reading TRP, your frame is concentrated to the screen. You're not thinking about that fly sitting on your wall, or what color is the shoes you are or what your dad is doing right now. But the mere fact that I said these things means they are now inside your frame because you're thinking about them. Your frame is dynamically changing every second and it has since the day you were born. Random thoughts are coming in and out of your head, events are happening all around you, in your house, on your street, in your city, your state government, people are moving and things are happen every second but somehow your mind knows what to focus on at any given moment, totally autonomously.

As far as artificial intelligence goes, computers always try to calculate every possible parameter they are giving to solve a problem. The classic example of Frame Problem is place a sentient AI bomb defusing robot in a room and tell it to defuse the bomb before it goes off. Well, that robot will sit there till infinite trying to calculate every possible outcome and it's probability of happening. It will figure the likelihood of touching it one way, will it explode? What if the walls change colors, probability of explosion? What's the probability of the wall changing color? What if it backs up an inch, what's the probability? It will try to calculate everything it can unless programmed otherwise.

From the moment a human is born it can dynamically adjust their frame and egocentricity. This is one of the reasons we have consciousness and we do it totally subconsciously. There are deeply rooted networks in the brain that tell you what you need to be focusing on at any given moment. Cortisol levels connect to fear and danger. Oxytocin will make you focus on those you care about. Dopamine will make you more or less erratic(ADD). And there a million other things that all control and change your frame at any given moment. And that's not even getting into were thoughts generate in the mind or how memory recall and memory reassociation works. Have you ever thought about were your thoughts come from? Go through the day and start paying attention to why the hell you just though what you did? Do your thoughts just come out of thin air or was their a trigger or cascade effect to bring you to where you are right now?

This is a... confusing and hard problem to recreate with AI. The Frame problem was discovered in 1969 and it still hasn't been solved.

If you're interested in this stuff I highly recommend watching Jordan B Peterson in the link above. He's a Pychologist who has pretty much spend his entire life trying to figure this out. He ever wrote a very extensive book on it called "Maps of Meaning: The Architeture of Belief". That book he also teaches as a class in the university of Toronto and you can access all his lectures on youtube. He posts every one of them for the semester. I even believe you can get the syllabus and worksheet stuff on his website.

What's interesting is you'll start to see The Frame Problem explained in many different ways, by different people and at different time periods. I'm a big fan of studying every genius that's ever lived. Inventors, physicists, chemists, etc. Einstein, Van braun, Richard Feynman, Tyson, Hawkings, etc. and pretty much every hyper intelligent individual will tell you that you are and always will be an idiot. What they are referring to is you can never know everything. No matter how large of a frame you grow, no matter how much information, experiences or things you can possibly attain physically or mentally, there will always be more you don't know or haven't experienced. This is an extremely useful thing to realize, one it humbles you and people like humility and two, your options are now limitless. If you become curious about something, you can imagine how deep that rabbit hole could possibly go, but you won't truly know till you start exploring.

Another example in history and probably one of the first times the frame idea was written down was Epictetus and Stoicism. The first line of Enchiridion which is the stoic handbook and condensed version of Epictetus: Discourses writings, says,
>
> "There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs."

Epictetus was a student of Crate and Crate was a Student of Socrates. This was probably the first time the Frame Problem was idealized in writing. Or at least the first one to be preserved till today. In fact stoicism pretty much entirely revolves around learning your frame and controlling what you can. Any time you spend on things outside your control is considered time wasted, which you can never get back. So it's half learning frame and half improving time efficiency.

Self improvement is in a way is an active expansion of your frame, even if the subconscious mechanisms that drive it you didn't think about till I just explained it to you.

I feel the best way to go about this is to gain a general sense of the outline of history, which isn't nearly so difficult as it may seem as first once you realize that the "history" that mainly gets talked about is only about 3000 years. Learn some sign posts for that span, and then from there you can fit anything new you learn into the general outline you've gained. A couple good books for gaining those signposts are:

A History of the World in 6 Glasses. A phenomenal starting book. Gives very, very broad strokes on the entirety of human development, from pre-history when we first made beer inside hollowed tree trunks (it predates pottery), all the way to the dawn of the global economy with the perpetual success of Coca-Cola.

Roots of the Western Tradition An incredibly short (265 pages!) overview of Ancient Mesopotamia up to the decline of the Roman Empire written in very accessible language. Phenomenal text.

The Story of Philosophy. A bit more dense than the other's, but a tour de force breakdown of the history of Western thought.

Obviously the above is very Western centric, I wish I could recommend similar books that cover Asian history, but sadly I can't think of any (though hopefully others will point some out in the comments). Still though, once you gain the signposts I talked about, learning Asian history will still be easier as you can slot things into the apporpriate time period. Like "Oh, the first Chinese Empire (Qin Dynasty) rose up in the same era as Rome was rising as a power and fighting it's wars against Carthage". Or, "Oh, the Mongols took power in Asia just about right after the Crusades."

As a little bonus, they may not be accurate but historical movies can still help pin down those first signposts of your history outline. Here's a little list.

This is a very good video introduction to Stoicism.

The main ancient Stoic books that have survived are Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Epictetus's Discourses and Enchiridion, which is basically a summary of the Discourses, and Seneca's Letters to Lucilius and Essays. All these editions are relatively new translations and, in Seneca's case, abridged, but they will give you an idea of what Stoicism is about. I suggest you first read the Enchiridion (it is no longer than 40 pages) and then the Meditations (around 150-200 pages), and then dig deeper if you get interested.

There are other ancient sources, and quite a lot of modern work is being done currently, but those are the ones I suggest you begin with.

Then there are very active modern Stoic communities, like /r/Stoicism, the Facebook group, and NewStoa, with its College of Stoic Philosophers, that lets you take a very good four month long course by email.

The great thing about Stoicism as a way of life is that it has neither the blind dogmatism of organized religion nor the ardent skepticism of atheism. It puts the soul back in the universe, in a way, and, on the personal level, empowers you to take responsibility for your actions and to take it easy with what you cannot control.

No More Mr Nice Guy was the book I was referring to - hopefully other commenters can offer more examples.

I've been reading A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy & Enchiridion by Epicurus for some easy-to-digest MGTOW philosophy which has crossed nicely into the mainstream. For fiction I'd hugely recommend Whatever by Michel Houellebecq & Lights Out in Wonderland by DBC Pierre (one of my all-time favourites.)

To be fair, Bukowski can be read to help with the "Don't Give A Fuck" attitude that can help build your confidence. He tends to see women without the rose-tinted glasses, to put it delicately. He's written lots of poetry but his novels are the best. Bluebird is one of my favourite poems by him. Post Office is one of his great novels.

That's all I can think of for now.

Start with the 'Phenomenology of Spirit', skip the preface as it was written last, and dive into the introduction. Having a good grasp of Kant and his Critiques will help immensely, as would a general introduction to German Idealism.

In terms of secondary literature, sometimes a break is needed from technical arguments, but if you still want to learn about philosophy, then reading biographies can be helpful, it was to me... Terry Pinkard wrote a good biography of Hegel. Manfred Kuehn wrote a very good biography of [Kant.] (https://www.amazon.com/Kant-Biography-Manfred-Kuehn/dp/0521497043/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kant+a+biography&qid=1556548533&s=gateway&sr=8-1)

In terms of secondary literature on the Phenomenology specifically, Robert Stern's The Routledge Guidebook to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and Kenneth Westphal's Hegel's Epistemology: A Philosophical Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit are very helpful.

Happy reading!

Will Durant's "The Story of Philosophy". I'm reading it now and I wish it was the first book I read. At 400 pages it definitely skips some major parts of history but it's written in a way that's very entertaining. It reads like a novel and makes the material accessible instead of getting bogged down with technicals like Anthony Kenny's history.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0671739166/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A really great way to get "the flavour" of philosophy as they like to say.

I'm sorry that I forgot to recommend some of Derrida's works.

I would first recommend watching the documentary Derrida. Then dive into the books below.

Derrida wrote many books but these are the ones best tackled as first and/or second readings:

• Derrida, Writing and Difference.
  
  
• Derrida, Of Grammatology.
  
  You can start reading some introductions before diving into Derrida, which I found to be very beneficial:
  
  
• Derrida For Beginners
  
  
• Deconstruction for Beginners
  
  I hope you enjoy it, Derrida redefined much of what we used to consider as Philosophy!

Try the ice cube trick if the anxiety ever hits and you have a drink handy. I just hold an ice cube in my left hand until it melts. Can still shake hands and everything but the ice cube seems to force my heart to slow down a bit. My best guess is that it triggers the Mammalian Diving Reflex and turns off whatever is derailing.

That trick came from a Viet Nam Vet, has been a huge help as time has gone on.

As for things sticking around, now that I'm well into my 40's the flashbacks and nightmares seem to have slowed to almost nothing - though they can still get triggered by trauma anniversary and other surprises. I have one trauma around a car accident so anytime the brakes squeal behind me I get to have a fun day.

Totally agree that basic Meditation is necessary to get through, can't see it ever being accepted in the public school system here in the US though - hell some places refuse to teach Evolution.

I also think that Philosophy has helped me cope some - Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius have been incredibly helpful reading to sort of adjust the way I see the world these days. I highly recommend the two following books:

http://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595
http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Thrift-Editions-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/048629823X

Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy is an excellent overview of philosophy. While it is limited to a small selection of the most notable philosophers, each chapter is dedicated to providing a very readable summary of the ideas of one philosopher. I sincerely believe the best way to get into philosophy is to get a very general "historical map" of the big ideas. Once you have that, it becomes much more rewarding to pick a philosopher of interest and study them in greater detail.

These might be a little dry, but...

• Thinking, Fast and Slow had a pretty big impact. It helped me acknowledge some of the thought patterns and logical fallacies I was making. It had a very conversational tone, and I enjoyed the wittiness of it.
  
  
• Zeno and the Tortoise: How to Think Like a Philosopher was another big one. This armed me with some great ways to approach the world. It gave me some "mental tools" to use in certain situations to better understand the world around me. It's organized into many different short stories, so it's easy to digest a little bit at a time.

My advice is to dabble in the tradition for a little bit before you consider majoring in it. You have probably taken Physics, History, Math, Economics, etc, in High School and understand what sort of thing you'd be studying if you take any of these subjects as a major. This is not the case for philosophy. To decide whether you want to major in Philosophy, I think you need to do two things. First, you might want to dabble in the philosophical tradition as broadly as possible. You can do this by going through a book that deals with the history of the movement. I wish Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy was my introduction to the history of philosophy. Durant gives his own arguments for why philosophy is a worthwhile thing to study, but also gives a really nice, readable, and informative history of some of the greatest philosophers of all time. The second way to dabble in the field is by taking one philosopher central to the cannon and really get into him. (Hopefully, it wont always be a "him" :). Its not easy to decide which philosopher to read first. In any case, it will be massively difficult to get through whatever book you decide to read, since philosophy books are unlike any other book you were taught in high school. Personally, if i were you, I'd read Durant's work first, and choose whatever philosopher you enjoyed reading about most in that book, and then find the most important book that author has written. If you have trouble deciding that, of course feel free to ask us!

Christopher Smith writes: "Deconstruction [Derrida's philosophy] has often been misunderstood to refer to an aggressive and destructive analytical method to be imposed on a text from the outside. Derrida explicitly denies this. Rather, he asserts that deconstruction is something that happens from within a text or system as a result of its internal tensions and contradictions. The goal of this “auto-deconstruction,” moreover, is only destructive insofar as it seeks to clear ground for renewal and development. It is not the systems and the structures themselves that Derrida opposes, but their dogmatism and inflexibility. I suggest you read Derrida for Beginners, it looks like a comic book but the series is written by competent academics. And read Christopher Smith's In Defense of a "Christian" Pluralism. I am pretty confident Smith's application of deconstruction to religion will make sense to somebody unfamiliar with the philosophy, and help illuminate it. Feel free to PM me if you have questions, mate.

Study philosophy! Seriously, just get a big ol' book on the history of philosophy like this one and wade your way through it. A good amount of political thought is based on philosophy, so understanding it is essential to truly understanding politics. You'll find yourself pondering the great questions like "What is the value of equality? Is it compatible with freedom? Is government necessary? Is there a such thing as a Just War? Are morals relative?", and your answers to these questions will determine where you lie politically. (I haven't actually read the book I linked to, but I've heard it's good and I don't want to recommend you that $100 textbook I read.)

Now, when you wade into the terrifying mess that is contemporary politics, you should learn and keep in mind all of the logical fallacies, because you'll hear lots of them. There isn't really any place to "get started" with this, just look around for sources of unbiased information. Never trust the mainstream media, don't trust fringe activists either. Of course they're both right from time to time, but you're better off doing in depth research on any position. If your like me, that means you'll be ambivalent about most issues simply because you don't have the time to learn about them. That's okay, sometimes it's best to just say "I don't know".

If you're looking for a broad overview or a history of western philosophy, I wholeheartedly recommend Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee. Magee's ability to extract the diamond heart of a philosophical work and explain it clearly (many times even clearer than the original writer) is unmatched by anyone, in my opinion. His books Confessions of a Philosopher and The Great Philosophers are also brilliant overview-type books, but Story of Philosophy is the most recent, the most comprehensive (although not the deepest), and it's full of images, so I would recommend that you start there.

According to Brian Leiter.... (Plenty of different suggestions in the comments.)

More reddit posts dealing with this:

http://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/21hh5l/friedrich_nietzsches_book_which_books_and_in_what/

http://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/22ftpk/in_what_order_to_read_nietzsche/

http://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/1hnbx7/which_one_of_nietzsches_books_should_i_read_first/

http://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/comments/m6hsa/what_nietzsche_book_should_i_read_first/

http://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/21hh5l/friedrich_nietzsches_book_which_books_and_in_what/

And similar: http://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/comments/krvhh/i_want_to_read_one_book_by_nietzsche_what_do_you/

Personally, I'm reading Julian Young's biography (Yes, it's worth it) of the man, and reading his works chronologically as I go along. Young writes about all his works, and many of the unpublished ones, and reading about what happened in his life at the time of writing really brings something more into the text when I read it. I've also read his Selected Letters alongside, which lets me get a feel for how he was as a person. His writings typically come off as polemical (and they're meant to be), but his letters show that he was more than some fire-spewing dragon. That goes for both his prose, and his general attitude. So far, I've read along chronologically with his Early Notebooks as well, but I'm still torn about whether that has been worth it, or "overkill"... Anyway, I can recommend this approach, although it takes time :)

If I didn't have the biography to guide me, I'd probably start with Genealogy of Morals or Beyond Good and Evil, and pan out from there.

Don't stress over things you can't change. I know that's kinda a cliche, and much easier said than done, but it's absolutely true. Maybe read the the Enchiridion? It's a pretty quick read and a good introduction to stoicism, helped me in some ways.

Obviously some things are harder being gay, but it doesn't mean you can't still live a good life.

Read something on the history of philosophy, then something about each field, just to understand the basics of it(epistemology, ethics, morals, antropology, methaphysics, logic, aesthetics)



Start with the Greeks (Plato, Socrates and Aristotle) then move up to the scholastic(Thomas Aquine, Saint Augustine) then westerners(Kant, Hobbes, Rousseau, Descartes, Popper, Wittgenstein, Russel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer) then read about politics.

​

Start by watching videos about the history of Philosophy, what philosophy is and then move to Greek philosophy then to individual philosophers, so that you can understand the context of their ideas. Then, as you get more interested, you can pick up a book of your interest. If you go directly into the book, you might feel overwhelmed and lost.

​

If you are looking for something like a "philosophy for life" I would recommend reading reading Meditations by the Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius, if you want something that will shatter your world but its hard to digest read Nietzsche. Both are very redpilled. If you want to pursue higher knowledge, or simply high culture, follow the what I wrote above.

​

These are great men, and we have inhereted their legacy, please take this seriously.

​

https://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Philosophy-Opinions-Philosophers/dp/0671739166

The first two books that come to mind are The Story of Philosophy by William Durant, and A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. I've never read the Russell book personally, but I've heard great things about it (plus, its got a great cover).

You might try an intellectual biography to start with Nietzche, like Hollingdale or Kaufmann, which can help in taking the place of an instructor as a guide.

I know less about Hobbes, and I know you said you want to stop watching YouTube videos, but I really loved Quentin Skinner's Genealogy of the State in which Hobbes features prominently. Using a service like YTmp3.cc can make it a bit less laborious, since you can then listen while doing other stuff.

Yeah it seems to me a serious work. As a description says this is "the antithesis of the first biographies of the philosopher, all biased". Janz was actually a passionate researcher, he got into philology to follow N. writings, he also helped an exhumation of his musical works and wrote 3 huge biographical volumes despite there was already a huge biography from Richard Blunck at the time. I didn't know they haven't translated it in English, perhaps the epistolary can be useful as well, as Janz's work makes large use of it.

If you're starting off fresh with Russell, try A.C. Grayling's very short introduction in the Oxford series. Grayling is a philosopher in his own right, and this series is very helpful. Beyond this, I honestly couldn't be of much assistance, as I myself haven't read Russell. However, this should give you the gist of his thought and some direction on where to begin reading him. Best of luck!

If you’re interested in the evolution of Nietzsche’s ideas on truth over the course of his writings I would highly recommend this book. As for his intellectual development generally—as in his break with Wagner and Schopenhauer, and the influence of materialism and Reé etc—I would recommend you try a biography such as this one.

I would recommend an introductory book. Personally, I suggest Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. But if you really want to understand it, you're going to have to get in the habit of reading slowly and rereading until you really understand it. And have a dictionary and look up of all of the words you don't know.

If you finish the book, I guarantee your entire perspective on life will be completely different. Not necessarily for the better, as some people learn more than they bargain for. But if you finish and really want to learn more, I can give you other good introductions.

Derrida:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtLMNcpgYEs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvAwoUvXNzU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8SSilNSXw

I'd urge you to actively avoid any other videos attempting to explain him.

Books: This is extremely simple, clear, and accurate, which is very high praise when it comes to Derrida. Also look up "Deconstruction in a Nutshell", and his interview with Julia Kristeva in "Positions". This is really good and in-depth but difficult. For something by Derrida himself, everyone starts with "Structure Sign & Play". "Différance", "The Ends of Man" and "Signature Event Context" are also good, albeit difficult, as is all of his work.

For Foucault I find Stanford, Wikipedia, pretty much any lectures on youtube about him, PartiallyExaminedLife, to be fine before you jump straight into Discipline and Punish. It's difficult though. Or you could get The Foucault Reader by Paul Rabinow which collects a lot of his writings from various works as well as interviews, the latter obviously being a lot more accessible.

You can get a copy of the enchiridion pretty cheap too. I think I paid $3.50.

https://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595

I've REALLY gotten a lot out of the Cynthia King Translation of Musonius Rufus, though. Got it from inter-library loan for free. Thin book. Great read.

An amazing book. If further interested, check out The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant (http://www.amazon.in/The-Story-Philosophy-Will-Durant/dp/0671739166?tag=googinhydr18418-21&tag=googinkenshoo-21&ascsubtag=3523b828-ee86-4fd9-9419-9f38cbc5e481). Another brilliant book which goes in more depth.

Shaun Gallagher's Phenomenology is a great introduction, and covers a lot of the areas and distinctions made by philosophers.

Dan Zahavi's Husserl's Phenomenology is actually pretty decent. He considers other positions and how they relate to the O.G. of phenomenology. Plus, Zahavi is a freakishly clear writer.

Edit/PS: "Introductions to Heidegger" are often hard to recommend, but with your political philosophy bent, I'd suggest Irene McMullin's Time and the Shared World: Heidegger on Social Relations. I can't wholeheartedly recommend the book, as I have yet to read it, but reviews speak highly of it.

And, as far as I'm aware, Richard Polt's Heidegger: An Introduction is a core book in its comprehensive overview of Heidegger's works.

Hello goirish2200.

As someone who is obsessed with Lacan and Derrida I highly recommend that you do not read their works directly. Why? Because they are extremely heavy for someone like you, who is not exposed to the literary terminologies/theory.(I also personally find it absurd that people here are recommending you to read excerpts of Lacan/Derrida's work).

You will, I can guarantee, find yourself frustrated with their works and waste your time trying to decipher their writing.

Where to start then?

For Derrida there are two friendly books that you should check out before even considering reading his works:

Introducing Derrida by Jeff Collins and Derrida For Beginners by Jim Powell

As you read those two books constantly refer to this book when you encounter words that you do not understand:A Derrida Dictionary by Niall Lucy

Some hardcore Derrida fans will criticize me for linking you this book since any kind of Dictionary defining Derrida's terms will be controversial(for example, every time someone uses the word "deconstruction" everyone's eye brows raise up because there is technically no definition to what deconstruction is).

After reading these two books then maybe you can tackle The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Derrida

This will be plenty of reading for you to do on Derrida.

"Introducing Lacan" and "Lacan for Beginners" are also books that you should check out. "The Cambridge Introduction to Lacan" should be the next book you tackle after it or How to Read Lacan by Zizek and Critchley

Remember my friend, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a godly resource that you should always refer to.

Also, don't be scared of Wikipedia; you should go there first. If you have no idea who Saussure is, then read up on him before even reading Derrida.

Have fun! :]

Might I suggest Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy. It's like Russell's History of Phi, but not as popular. I ate that book up as a new undergrad student and I enjoy keeping it by my bedside. I never read it anymore, but I feel good knowing it's at an arm's length.

I loooves me some Paine! Him and Jefferson are the two most interesting U.S. historical figures to me.

If you possess some understanding of society in the U.S. at the time of Paine, go with Eric Foner's book. It's not necessarily a direct biography, but more of a detailing as to how Paine was regarded during and shortly after his life, and how his ideas fit in with society then.

There's Nelson's book which is excellent, and certainly more a detailing of the man's life and thoughts.

Then you have Hitchens's bio of Paine, which is relatively brief to the other two, but Hitchens is one of my favourite authors and he always packs quite the punch-per-sentence ratio. This one leans far more toward how Paine's legacy has been tremendously impactful on thought, politics and political philosophy in the U.S. particularly but sadly overlooked in recognition thereof.

There are more and it's up to you of course, but if I had to choose one to begin with it would be Nelson's.

(Zeno and the Tortise: How to think like a philosopher](http://www.amazon.com/Zeno-Tortoise-Think-Like-Philosopher/dp/0802139175)

This is a pretty good introduction to some of what he calls the "tools" in a philosopher's "toolbox".

I have a degree in psychology. I like Jung a lot, but unfortunately he can be hard to understand for people who have no foundation in early psychology to build from. His ideas also tend to attract nutty-bars who take his stuff into strange directions that I don't think he would have ever approved of. I recommend the book A Primer of Jungian Psychology for people interested in learning about his ideas without getting lost in the depth he offers.

Well, if you are into the Meditations, you must read:

The Enchiridion by Epictetus as it is probably the best book on the philosophy of stoicism out there. It is quite short and cheap and will worth a read:

https://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1541592548&sr=8-5&keywords=enchiridion&dpID=515YhLgKREL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

The Philosopher's Toolkit and The Story of Philosophy both seem like great places to start.

Will Durant's book is so much better than Russell's. Durant is not as biased regarding philosophers he agrees or disagrees with. And he's simply a much better writer, IMO.

https://www.amazon.com/Story-Philosophy-Opinions-Greatest-Philosophers/dp/0671739166

Durant combined with Kenny is probably the best route.

I'd really recommend "Buddha" by Osamu Tezuk. It's a great intro to one of the forefathers of the genre, and chock full of the myths and history of that period in time.

Here are some books I like on general life advice:

The Way of the Superior Man

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The Enchiridion - how a Roman slave overcame disability and used philosophy to survive harsh times, it's a short but challenging read

Thomas Paine's last words are pretty cool. From Thomas Paine's Rights of Man:

"Dying in ulcerated agony, he was imposed upon by two Presbyterian ministers who pushed past his housekeeper and urged him to avoid damnation by accepting Jesus Christ. 'Let me have non of your Popish stuff. Get Away with you, good morning, good morning.' The same demand was made of him as his eyes were closing. 'Do you wish to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God?' He answered quite distinctly: 'I have no wish to believe on that subject." Thus he expired with his reason..."

I would read Plato's Republic. I don't like Plato, but it's really foundational for western philosophy. Then read Aristotle. This is also a great book.

Alan's entire philosophy was to be experienced - not just understood. In the koan, if you want to call it that, both people 'understand' something 'mystical' about reality, neither can experience it. So they get a physical whap across the head. They experience something real, and are freed from their intellectualism.

Read portions of what's available in the 'look inside" segment of his autobiography : https://www.amazon.com/My-Own-Way-Autobiography/dp/1577315847

Alan Watts' autobiography is In My Own Way. However, it is within The Joyous Cosmology that he details his psychedelic experiences(s), if I recall correctly.

Aldous Huxley details his psychedelic experience(s) in The Doors of Perception.

Edit: Timothy Leary's autobiography is Flashbacks.

Here are amazon links for:

• Will Durant - The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
  
• Gunnar Skirbekk, Nils Gilje - A History of Western Thought: From Ancient Greece to the Twentieth Century

Heidegger is tough, even for people who aren't beginners with regard to philosophy in general. For myself, I had a strong background in Aristotle before reading selections of Heidegger's early lectures on Aristotle, which helped me see where Heidegger was coming from with regard to 'being qua being.'

However, though I haven't read it, there's a book, Heidegger: An Introduction that looks promising.

There is also a terrific new biography by Julian Young, a scholar of 19th and 20th century German philosophy, which I have yet to finish but will now dramatically recommend: Friedrich Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography.

One book that is popular to help understand Nietzsche is Walter Kaufmann's Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. It usually comes up on this subreddit when people look for secondary texts on Nietzsche.

One dis-recommendation I would make is Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Tanner. The Oxford University Press "A Very Short Introduction" series is usually excellent, but I was not impressed with this particular title. It was the first book on Nietzsche that I read and frankly I found it pretty useless.

You did great. I’m buying the Dover Thrift edition though. Only $3.

You could try the Oxford Companion to Philosophy.
Frederick Copleston wrote a fantastic history of philosophy in 11 volumes.
Anthony Kenny has done a somewhat more concise history.
Brian Magee has done it in one volume

Will Durant is also a good bet and a segue into history.

Read a People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and/or Lies my History Teacher told Me.

Guns, Germs, and Steel is also good.

Read some theology. Not many people do. Try Rowan Williams. I'd recommend his Resurrection, but he's also written a book on Dostoevsky.

Read Dostoevsky. Crime and Punishment. Notes from the Underground. Brothers Karamazov. Take your pick.

Might check out Edward Said's Orientalism. Maybe some Foucault.

Learn about economics. Naked Economics is a good start. Hazlitt's Economics in one lesson is also popular.

Buddha by Osamu Tezuka, in 8 volumes. Although it's manga, the storytelling is sophisticated, not watered down for children.

I can't remember who it was (and a very long time ago too) that wrote that Nietzsche's praise of the Jews was really intended to be a read as a warning that they shouldn't be casually dismissed, that they truly are a force to be reckoned with, something to that extent. Not like I agree with that sentiment, but it certainly left my head spinning when I came upon it at the time. "Bizarre, sneaky, grim, but well-argued", I thought. I found it while digging up material myself for a paper I wrote during my undergrad days years ago. It very-well may have been a National Socialist scholar who interpreted Nietzsche that way. Alfred Baeumler, maybe? I came across so many different voices arguing in a ton of varying directions doing that paper, so it's hard to remember. Sorry.

Check this book out, along with this one. The letters are full of a lot of clear examples in which he himself denounces any endorsement of anti-semitism, but the former book can help you balance the scales a bit and go into the ways his work was handled by National Socialists and proto-fascists.

Mail is so important to missionaries. It's terribly depressing when you don't have anything because everyone makes a huge deal about it.

I would send him candy or cookies. If you know what he likes, all the better. If it's homemade, that's super cool. There's something about homemade cookies that is just so comforting.

It's hard to say exactly what to write since I don't know him or his situation. He may possibly be dealing with guilt over "unresolved sins" and he's likely very sad at being put in an isolation camp and shut off from his family and friends. It's super hard, and it can continue for several months as he goes into the mission field.

If it were me, I would send my brother in law a copy of Epictetus' Enchiridion (I know it's not an "approved" book but worth the try). Or I would alternatively just quote extensively from it, copy & paste into a letter to get around the rules. You can copy from the Gutenberg Project.

Manfred Kuehn's is pretty good.

Buddha and Christ not going off and having weird adventures? I think Christopher Moore and Osamu Tezuka would like a word with you.

The standard work on the subject is Ron Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon. If you want biographies of Gardner and 2 and Valiente, Philip Heselton has written them. Someone needs to write a history of the Eclectic Wiccan movement since the mid-1980's, but I don't know of one.

A Primer of Jungian Psychology is what they taught in my history of psychology course about 10 years back. I still remember the title because it was actually a really interesting read

This one is very thorough, well-researched, and nicely written: http://www.amazon.com/Kant-Biography-Manfred-Kuehn/dp/0521524067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416197387&sr=8-1&keywords=kant+biography

I am reading Epictetus' Enchiridion right now and I suggest buying it. $2 on Amazon.

Enchiridion: http://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595

Art of Living: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Living-Classical-Happiness-Effectiveness/dp/0061286052

That AoL book doesn't have the most amazing reviews, but I think it is the only version. Does anyone know of another/better version?

Holy crap... I bought the book for $2.95 (new and from Amazon) last fall.

You can see here that it was less than $4 for months last year. Wow.

I'd suggest anybody wait for it to drop below ten bucks before grabbing it, the price fluctuates quite a bit.

This helps: Heidegger: An Introduction

A lot of Bertrand Russell's books are accessible, as long as you're willing to put up with some of his personal biases. There are arguably a lot of misinterpretations of individual philosophers in his book "A History of Western Philosophy," for example, but it can still give you a good general overview that's also very accessible. I've also heard nothing but good things about The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. I haven't read it, but I've read other books by him and they're all very accessible.

>I'm less qualified than others to recommend a biographical source on Kant

There's a well-regarded biography of Kant by Manfred Kuehn.

I have the "Dover Thrift Edition" (Amazon link) which uses the public domain George Long translation, I would recommend it highly.

It's even more surprising when you learn that Grayling himself wrote a short book on Russell a few years ago. I guess nothing made an impression?

Will Durant's 'The Story of Philosophy' is what got me excited about the subject when i was a young man.

Note that Hägglund's work on Derrida has been controversial, drawing criticism from Derrida-scholars such as John Caputo. If you want someone whose take on Derrida has been agreed with by pretty much everyone with a stake (including – with some qualifications – JD himself), take a look at Geoffrey Bennington's contribution to Jacques Derrida.

If you're unfamiliar with Benjamin get Reflections, both A Berlin Childhood and One-Way Street are easy entrances into his eclectic work. I would suggest you read something like Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life first or alongside his writings or else much will be missed, and also because biography is crucial for grasping the (anti-systematic) vicissitudes of Benjamin's life/thought.

I've always seen Kuehn's recommended.

60/M/British
No previous religious affiliation.
Practicing wicca for 35 years.
Introduced by my gf who joined a coven - I followed her in.
Coven Wicca offers me the opportunity to express my reverence for nature in a group context.
For me, Wicca is a religious means of expressing a reverence for nature.
My reverence for nature infuses my daily life. Wicca is semi-formalised way of expressing that. But the reverence comes first - Wicca is simply a mechanism.
For history, read Witchfather - two volumes.
Note that for some Wiccans for whom reverence for nature is the key driver, Wicca is not seen as supernatural.

This is the short summary I read to get acquainted with Jungian psychology at large. There's a few different ones out there. It's super enriching.

For type specifically, there's no substitute for "Psychological Types". I recommend chapters 2, 10, and any relevant definitions from chapter 11. I also recommend getting the revised translation, since it's a much easier read (the one available online is an older edition), but that costs $$$ :(

I want to say it's from Osamu Tezuka.

Maybe this series?

https://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Vol-Kapilavastu-Osamu-Tezuka/dp/193223456X

Heres my suggestion:

Write down the three things you want to change the most.

Write down how you will change them

Read this little book to help guide you through the process, a process which your brain will undoubtedly try to make difficult for you.

It's from Fragments of Epictetus, to be specific it's this copy. And no, as I mentioned in the description the translators added a * which supported my initial understanding.

Buddha - the graphic novels

Relevant.

Here is the first one.

• The Study of Philosophy, by Will Durant

Derrida for Beginners is a comic book. But it blew my itty-bitty little mind.

You can start with this.
https://www.amazon.com/Primer-Jungian-Psychology-Calvin-Hall/dp/0452011868/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1550253128&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Kant-Biography-Manfred-Kuehn/dp/0521524067

Not about PM, but this was a great read for me when I first started exploring philosophy: https://www.amazon.com/Story-Philosophy-Opinions-Greatest-Philosophers/dp/0671739166/.

I have this to guide me:

http://www.amazon.com/Heidegger-An-Introduction-Richard-Polt/dp/0801485649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344274506&sr=8-1&keywords=introduction+to+heidegger

Buddha vol.1-8

>_>

I assume that you meant this book, The Story of Philosophy?

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Philosopher-Personal-Philosophy-Paperbacks/dp/0375750363

Confessions of a philosopher by Bryan Magee.

Not sure if it's for kids though.

First, I thought Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hadot had few insights and was dull and hard to understand. I do not recommend it.

I highly recommend The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a book about stoicism and how it relates to psychology. I read this book twice it was so good. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Cognitive-Behavioural-Therapy-Psychotherapy/dp/1855757567/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1371647936&sr=8-15&keywords=stoicism

Also, you have to read the Enchiridion by Epictetus. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Enchiridion-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Epictetus/dp/0486433595/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371648137&sr=1-1&keywords=enchiridion+epictetus

Witchfather: : A Life of Gerald Gardner, Volume 1--Into the Witch Cult https://www.amazon.com/dp/1870450809/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hdzXAbYY4XB6G

Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner, Vol 2: From Witch Cult to Wicca https://www.amazon.com/dp/1870450795/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_YezXAbBF4FSV6