[Gurdur]

Some good introductory books on philosophy (depending on what really rocks your world, so look through these carefully), the more general first:

The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener, by Martin Gardner.
This one is NOT deep, nor comprehensive, but it is great fun, and very well worth reading, and quite cheap.

Philosophy: An Introduction to the Art of Wondering, by James L. Christian.
I have never read this one, but the reviews of it are good, and it seems OK to me, and it's cheap.

The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, new edition, by Ted Honderich (editor).
Not cheap, but very good.

Philosophy : A Guide Through the Subject, by A.C. Grayling.
Not at all cheap, and big and thick, but reasonably good.


Quiddities: An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary, by W. V. Quine.
Short, muchly simple, and good fun, and very cheap.

The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom.
This is not about philosophy so much, as about the effects and need for philosophy, and is dated and sometimes wrong, but seriously wellworth reading, and quite cheap.


Then onto more specialised areas within philosophy:

The View From Nowhere, by Thomas Nagel.
This book talks about knotty problems in ethics from the viewpoint of logic, and it is a lot deeper than it looks. But it's very cheap and good.


The Collapse of the Fact/Value Dichotomy and Other Essays, by Hilary Putnam.
Be warned, Putnam is very wrong in the book, but he is great value. Anyone at all who writes on philosophy in any kind of prescriptive way (instead of a descriptive way) is wrong, but they're all usually worth reading and thinking about. Philosophy is, after all, the art of daring things and getting them wrong in the process, but getting them wrong productively.

Thinking About Logic: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Logic, by Stephen Read.
Not cheap, but very good.

Paradigms Lost, by John Casti.
Roughly about philosophy of science in an applied manner; very interesting indeed (and cheap).

Paradigms Regained, by John Casti.
A sequel to his Paradigms Lost; he gets some things wrong, but then, we all do. Cheap!

Defenders of the Truth: The Sociobiology Debate, by Ullica Segerstrale.
A truly excellent description and history of the sociobiology and evolutionary psychology debates within science, and extremely wellworth reading. The underlying competetive philosophies are well-described.

Labyrinths of Reason : Paradox, Puzzles and the Frailty of Knowledge, by William Poundstone.
Extremely wellworth reading, and quite cheap.

A Logical Journey : From Gödel To Philosophy, by Hao Wang.
Not cheap, but very, very wellworth reading.

Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues, by Martin Curd and J. A. Cover (editors).
This is one of the two very best texts on the philosophy of science that I know of, and it is quite expensive and thick, but very very very worth it.

The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy, by Stanley Cavell.
I haven't read this one myself yet, but apparently it's quite good.

The Philosophical Diseases of Medicine and Their Cure: Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Vol. 1, by Josef Seifert.
Very expensive and specialised.

The Pea and the Sun: A Mathematical Paradox, by Leonard M. Wapner.
Very specialised, and while not expensive, not cheap either. But mildly mindblowing.

And, if you don't mind fiction, and you're not snobbish and you are willing to learn, the following are actually very deep and very very good indeed:

Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett.

The Science Of DiscWorld 1, and The Science Of DiscWorld 2, and The Science Of DiscWorld 3, all by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen.
These mix in explanations of science and philosophy along with fiction and musing, and are much deeper than you might think. This year, I had the huge pleasure of interviewing Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart. They are both great blokes, excellent scientists, and really fun people; and Terry Pratchett is huge value.

I'll do Amazon tags and more stuff when I feel energetic.

[Pyrogenesis]

One of the first nonfiction books I ever read was Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. While now I've moved far, far away from the sort of philosophy Russell represents, I still think this is one majorly excellent book on this subject-matter.

My current view of philosophy as discipline is neatly captured in the first few pages of the Introduction to Richard Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, which you can read online. These are some of the wisest words on the subject of philosophy that I know of.

[Gurdur]

Many thanks, Pyrogenesis, and more such recommendations would be gratefully appreciated.

[Don Alhambra]

I second the Science of Discworld books - they are unutterably excellent.

[Naiya]

I have one that's even more basic...South Park and Philosophy.

It sounds like it would be complete crap, but it's sort of fun to use cartoon characters as examples for philosophical arguments. It's one of those really great airport books because it keeps you interested for a long time.

[B.H.]

by Ted Honderich

Anything edited or written by Ted Honderich is probably pretty good.

[atheist of peace]

Physics and Philosophy.

[Crowfeather]

I'm not too strong in philosophy, but one book I still read after getting it years ago is "Striking Thoughts, Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living"

I think some people here might like it. Bruce was an atheist, as far as he diddn't believe in a god.

Not too difficult to understand if you're new to philosophy, like myself, but still powerful in it's words and messages.

Mods, my apologies if this is in the wrong place.

[alicat]

I've read that Crowfeather- it is good a collection of quotations, he had some very interesting philosophy, along martial arts lines, but also of general interest- Book of 5 Rings, Funikoshi's book My Way of Life, Art of War.

Taoist (more philosophical than religious)- Tao Te Ching, Chuang-Tzu, Hua Hu Ching

I like Marcus Aurelius and the Stoics too.

[atheist of peace]

ART OF WAR <3 is my al ltime favorite book. My favorit philsophy. My favorit reality shift. I have studied that book. Read it 100+ times. I love the art of war.

and I like the Tao Te Ching but I liked the Tao of Poo better.

[Fizzle]

Ye gods! I really need a job. Those books look mighty interesting.