philosophy 101?

[Gatsby]

Now that I read quite a bit of dostovesky I'm interested in furthering my knowledge of philosophy (which right now is very limited). Can anyone give me a few authors or books to check out to begin my adventure!

I've been looking into Ayn Rand and her book "Atlas Shrugged", but I haven't picked it up or anything.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. And if someone has already made another thread similar to this I'll delete it.

[Suvorov]

I recently read Kirkegaarde's "Sickness Unto Death" and "Fear and Trembling". Both he and Dostoyevsky have been termed to be Christian existentialists.

[Radio Saturday]

If you want a good, broad introduction to philosophy, I recommend reading "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder. It's subtitled "A Novel About the History of Philosophy," and that's really what it is -- both a gripping novel and an engaging history of philosophy. I've read it several times, and I like to go back and read the relevant sections before I read the authors themselves (i.e. Kierkegaard, Plato etc.) just because the summaries of their philosophies are so good and so comprehensible.  

[underworld men]

I recently read Kirkegaarde's "Sickness Unto Death" and "Fear and Trembling". Both he and Dostoyevsky have been termed to be Christian existentialists.

Hey before MikeK gets me. These two books are absolutely divine...Might I suggest Unscientific postscript.

[axon]

Suvorov's suggestions are fine, but maybe not right for you
at this time. Sophie's World is good as well (I read it several
months ago) but it depends on your age. I can see that book
being read by teens who would want to step outside of
the norm. I personally found it rather boring, but maybe it
would be a different story have I read it 7-8 years ago.

At first I would recommend buying an introduction to
philosophy type of book. When I took my first philo course
I read Introduction to Philosophy edited by Perry and Bratman.
It covers a multitude of classical readings from Plato to Descartes
to Kant.

A book like that would be a great start and an overview
of philosophy. The one I read was lacking in modern philosophy,
but I'm sure you can find something that mates classical and
modern together. After reading such a book - which would
probably take you a few months (mine is almost a 1000
pages and it is not you everyday reading) you can then
pick and chose between the philosophers you would like to
read more about. It is an excellent way to tackle philosophy.

If you prefer novels however and are at a right age, Sophie's
World is a good choice...also look into "Ishmael" by daniel quinn.

Enjoy.