Good Philosophy to Read?

[eternalgirlfriend1]

I had a horrible philosophy professor and I discovered from some other professors that she is reportedly the worst one in the department.  What philosophers should I read to help me fully appreciate Dostoevsky?  I know Nietzsche was inspired by him.  Any other suggestions?

[axon]

Kierkegaard; we covered this in other threads, so in short: his ideas were quite similar to Dostoevsky's - they've never met or read eachother's works, yet they covered many of the same themes: standing above an abyss, testing god, etc etc.

[underworld men]

I had a horrible philosophy professor and I discovered from some other professors that she is reportedly the worst one in the department.  What philosophers should I read to help me fully appreciate Dostoevsky?  I know Nietzsche was inspired by him.  Any other suggestions?

Dostoevsky is part of a russian tradition. If you really want to go beyond kinda where Dostoevsky left off. I would say
Solzhenitsyn. And as before Mikhail Epstein and the Losskys.
http://www.emory.edu/INTELNET/rus_philosophy_home.html
http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/ReportEssay/SocialIssues/Religion%5CThe_Philosophical_Investigations_of_Ayn_Rand-32341.htm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0823623408/qid%3D937137423/026-7950687-3398001
http://www.schmemann.org/byhim/lossky.html

[underworld men]

Oh just to give you absolute -ness.
Plato (oh how I love Socrates).
Plontius The 9s (shame on the matrix movies for screwing the source).
Soloviev (the real life Aloysha and Dimitry)
http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000049/index.html
And the best of the best
pseudo dionysus be careful about the translation.
If you see the word "persons" used to describe the god it is a Roman Catholic one and will confuse and bore the hell out of you and no matter what skip the stupid occult ones they are very unfunny jokes.

[danka_m]

Two words-Nikolay Berdyaev

[underworld men]

Kierkegaard; we covered this in other threads, so in short: his ideas were quite similar to Dostoevsky's - they've never met or read eachother's works, yet they covered many of the same themes: standing above an abyss, testing god, etc etc.

Yes Soren but he really messed up with apophatic theology. He should never have attacked St John Climacus. I mean its bad enough that the sqwabboolah is ripping off the ladder of divine ascent but jeeze -Kierkegaard too

Anyhow... Soren is still the hunchback with the most..I know its like a meme but its still funny.

[nektarios]

Two words-Nikolay Berdyaev

Which books of Nikolai Berdyaev have you read my friend?

He is my favoutite!!!

[Worm]

Schopenhauer is nice..
Nietzsche is a drag ..
Seneca is super ..
Shakespeare is okay ..
Tolstoy is alright ..
Dostoevsky is better than Tolstoy ..
The common religions are also good ..

Nikolai Berdyaev is on my to-do list.

Eternalgirlfriend, about which philosophers does your philosophy professor from hell teach you?


If there's someone out there who feels like they've discoverd an explosive diamond of a philosopher ... feel free to post the name(s).

[An Idiot]

It's been mentioned already, but Solzhenitsyn went through much the same things that FMD did and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch is very similar to The Dead House.

[lerik]

I would personally suggest NOT to read

Nietzsche
Freud
Marx
Lenin
Darwin

But I would suggest reading

Plato
Socrates
Aristotle(basically all the Greeks)
Seneca
Kant

I havent had the chance to read whole works of these philosophers but from what I read they sound really interesting(or awful-the first column)

[Canerican]

Kierkegaard; we covered this in other threads, so in short: his ideas were quite similar to Dostoevsky's - they've never met or read eachother's works, yet they covered many of the same themes: standing above an abyss, testing god, etc etc.

I read that standing above an abyss thing in C&P, what part was it in. It was a very interesting philosophy, but C&P was my first book by D that I read, so I need to revisit it. And could you go in depth into the abyss theory?

Thanks,

Jeff

[Canerican]

I would personally suggest NOT to read

Nietzsche
Freud
Marx
Lenin
Darwin

But I would suggest reading

Plato
Socrates
Aristotle(basically all the Greeks)
Seneca
Kant

I havent had the chance to read whole works of these philosophers but from what I read they sound really interesting(or awful-the first column)

I really enjoy Nietchze, Freud and Marx... I enjoy Socrates' method of questioning, but I find it get redundant, and boring quickly. Also these books are philosophy in their most concentrated form, so they are very hard (in my opinion). The seem very "thin".

[underworld men]

So are they difficult or are they thin?

[underworld men]

I would personally suggest NOT to read

Nietzsche
Freud
Marx
Lenin
Darwin

But I would suggest reading

Plato
Socrates
Aristotle(basically all the Greeks)
Seneca
Kant

I havent had the chance to read whole works of these philosophers but from what I read they sound really interesting(or awful-the first column)

I think you are on the money..

You must of course realize that what your culture has imparted to you about the greeks is missing from the west.

There are cultural axioms that the west does not have to fall on when they approach Socates/Plato.

In the west science and religion where not from the age of philosophy on-ward separated.

If you need a clear example read the ultra cool Kepler.

Where as in the east gnosiology was followed.

http://www.romanity.org/mir/me01en.htm

I can not OVEREMPHIZE this enough.

Lerik people in the west DO NOT EXPERIENCE GOD AT ALL.

The gnosis/theoria is missing let alone theosis. I am not kidding or joking about this. This is why gnosticism/New Age is so popular in the west. People have no inner relationship with the god like they do in orthodoxy.

I can not tell how it was to go to church AND ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE GOD.

It scared the living hell out of me!

I thought I was going crazy when I started attending liturgy.
It was like the beautiful passages from the Brothers Karamozov only in my face! I had no idea that christianity was true. That communion with god was FOR ALL PEOPLE.

I became orthodox because (more then any one reason) Dostoevsky. He is forever now my hero as are the greeks and the slavs. I can not tell you how grateful I am.

You have to understand that this is missing from the protestant and roman catholic churches within the laymen.

[Canerican]

So are they difficult or are they thin?

I would actually say that they are both. The are difficult to understand (the philosophies) and thin (the plot). But that is generally indicative of of Greeks...