Nominate books to be a philosophy book of the month

If you want to read more on the myth (yup) of the noble savage, I recommend 'The Third Chimpanzee' by Jared Diamond. But depending on how good and comprehensive Pinker's book is, some of it might be redundant..

If you have any questions regarding certain issues, just start a new thread and ask. I haven't read the book yet, but I have read a lot of similar books and I love sociobiology.

Thanks . I will add it to my own personal book list. It's already quite long . I remember taking a sociobiology class years ago, but the focus was on animal behavior. I recall asking what sort of studies had been done to determine genetic influences on human behavior. I don't remember the content of the vague response, but reading Pinker has brought to mind the smile with which it was delivered. I tried to look the professor up and ask some questions, but he is no longer living.

One question that has come to mind is really more of an anthropological/logistics question. It does not change the validity of Pinker's argument against the myth of the noble savage, but deals with the vagueness of the argument that some might use, poorly, to dismiss his point. He has a graph (p. 57) based on data taken from other sources comparing percentage of male death rates caused by warfare in order to illustrate that hunter/gatherer societies are not as peaceful as the myth suggests (according to the graph, the deaths are far higher for hunter/gather societies than the data he includes for US and Europe in the 20th century). However, he does not give the time period he is including for the hunter/gather societies, which could influence the numbers if it encompasses a small time period that contained an unusual historical event for a particular group, nor does he acknowledge (I think, I should re-read, though, to be sure) that modern medicine not accessible to hunter/gatherers could improve the survival of fighters in US and European modern battles. I do not at all argue his point that hunter/gatherer societies are just as violent as any societies that have existed. [I remember meeting a Navajo (Dine) elder some years ago that told me (translated by his grandson) that he got very tired of white people romanticizing his culture into one-dimension and not recognizing Native American were just as human and multi-faceted and flawed as any other group of human.] I just wonder if there's a better way to present the evidence or if I am not reading it correctly. I am in the process of trying to locate Pinker's original source for the graph.

It really is a fun book .

If the data is statistically significant, as it should be if it's published, then the 'chance events' even out. That means enough hunter gatherer societies would have been analysed so the odds of the graph being distorted are reasonably low. Furthermore, in a short period of time, the graph may as well be too low if the period was comparatively peaceful.

Regarding modern medcine, that's of course true it did save a lot of lives. On the other hand, hunter gatherers don't have machine guns or atomic bombs to kill each other, so it kinda evens out. I think the technology is deliberately omitted, the death rates speak for themselves.

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this site and this is my first post.. And with that being said if anyone could help me in anyway with the site and how it works that would be great..

As for my book recommendation where does one begin? I have so many books flying threw my brain begging to be chosen.. lol.. Well, I have to chose My Ismael By Daniel Quinn as it is truly one of my favorites. However, My favorite author is Thact Nicht Hanh anything you read of his is sure to inspire and enlighten you.

Thanks

Is this still a going concern? If so, where might I find the current list of books for discussion? Also, if the book club is still in existence, I would like to recommend The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, by Antonio Damasio. While I've not yet read it, I have read some of his other writings, and I find him highly accessible and probably one of the clearest voices in contemporary cognitive science. Also, it's a bit hefty at 335 pages plus endnotes (hardback edition), but he's not a difficult read, and quite engrossing.

Recently, self-published author, Ego Diabolus, released updated edition of “The Baphomet Codex.” For those of you interested in metaphysical philosophy, left-hand path, Satanism, Baphomet, the Fourth Way, and more, it is worth checking out!

Apsara Kamalli

[Scott]

The August book of the month will be Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? by Michael J. Sandel.

BookCloseOuts has marked this down 68% and it is selling like crazy. I want to see what all the fuss is about.

I think no philosophy book are more interesting than public domain classic philosophical works, which have changed the flow or history and by reading them, we can see what happened why.

I'm not a philosopher by profession, so I've not read Aristotle's Ethics & Politics
(these are originally one work),
so I'm going to read that soon. I think this is the most important philosophical book to read until I write my Ethics & Politics (of course, with another title ).

I'm sorry that Aristotle supported slavery; maybe if he could write his Ethics & Politics better, Christianity would not be so widespread now. By the way, I think feudalism was an inventition after Aristotle's Ethics & Politics.

So if you are interested in philosophical books, I suggest Project Gutenberg where you may find some classics.

If we did Aristotle, I would rather read Wheelwright's Aristotle, because this would give us a better bases for all other discussions, including discussions of God. Aristotle's Natural Sciences builds upon Pythagoras and Democritus and others. He gives clear form to the logic used for arguments. For darn sure, we stand to learn much about our world from Aristotle than from any German philosopher. This seems quite paradoxical to me, given the German fascination with technology.

Fekarp's suggestion that Aristotle invented feudalism, is most exciting and should be taken up in a different forum, which I shall begin. It goes with discussion of Scholasticism, and how the church changed its position on the classics, from rejecting them to using them to support the church's authority.

I nominate for December, 2011

Lisa Randall - Knocking on Heaven's Door. Especially the second half of it on scientific method and reason.

Here is a link to it and to 23 customer reviews:
[url]http://www.amazon.com/Knocking-Heavens-Door-Scientific-Illuminate/dp/006172372X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318142619&sr=8-1]amazon.com/Knocking-Heavens-Door-Scient ... amp;sr=8-1[/url]

I nominate:

The Faith of a Heretic by Walter Kaufmann

Critique of Religion and Philosophy by Walter Kaufmann

Neurophilosophy of Free Will by Henrik Walter

The Enigma of Capital by David Harvey

The Ticklish Subject by Slavoj Zizek

I am hereby nominating the following book: ‘MAXIMS OF DELPHI AND QUOTATIONS OF THE SEVEN SAGES OF ANCIENT GREECE’. (ISBN: 978-1-4507-5833-8).
66 Pages, English only. Cost: $4.50. Publisher: John Kyriazoglou (July, 2011).
(U.S. $12.00.- Printed Book, U.S. $7.00.- E-Book)

Summary: This book provides an insight into the ancient Greek world of Delphi and the Seven Sages (about 600 B.C.), before the advent of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc. The purpose of this book is to provide the ethical maxims and quotations (in English only) of the seven sages (Solon, Thales, Chilon, etc.) of ancient Greece (about 600 B.C.) on all aspects of life, in a simple, quick and easy-to use guide, to support all people in their efforts to improve their life at all levels.
Contents: Introduction to the Ancient Greek Maxims, The Maxims of the Oracle of Delphi, The Quotations of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece, Appendix A: A Sample of Delphic Statements, Notes, Bibliography, Short Biography of the Author and Other Works of the Author.

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder

[Scott]

I have compiled the above nomination with a few of my own into the topic to vote for the January book. I have also created the topic to discuss the December book of the month, The Enigma of Capital.

Please continue to use this topic to post nominations for the philosophy book of the month.

I nominate two books:

On Certainty- by Ludwig Wittgenstein

Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison- by Michel Foucault