Philosophy Book Recommendations?
Update: More discussion here.
Not the technical books in which philosophy takes place, I mean, but books about philosophy, it's history, politics and impact.
So Russell's History of Western Philosophy qualifies since it's a book about the influence of philosophy on culture over the history of the West. I'd recommend that, for sure.
But what I'm really after is a book that discusses the impact of philosophy on politics, technology, and other more concrete features of modern life. I remember someone once suggesting that the invention of the computer was aided by logic (which makes sense, given the standard and/or/if:then operators in both). Or, to give another example, utilitarianism is sometimes credited with the prison reform movement.
Someone must have written a book cataloguing the impact of philosophy in this respect? Does anyone know of such a book, or other good books in the vein I'm thinking of?
Turing
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread -- I'd like to see such a book too. (It'd be funny if it opens with Marx's quote about how philosophy merely describes the world, and "the point is to change it.")
"I remember someone once suggesting that the invention of the computer was aided by logic"
I believe the connection is even stronger; Turing invented the very notion of computational devices ('Turing machines') for the purpose of proving abstract claims in the philosophy of logic/mathematics.
The Sociology of Philosophies
Randall Collins's The Sociology of Philosophies does some of what you are looking for, especially in Chapters 10-14 (and is, in any case, a book everyone in philosophy should read).
Many thanks for the
Many thanks for the recommendation, I'll pick up a copy. I just looked at the contents page on Amazon, it looks good.
Alex
It is indeed. There are some
It is indeed. There are some missteps, but that's inevitable in a book of this size and scope. The chapters I mentioned above deal mostly with the relation between philosophy and the education system, but do discuss in places some aspects of the relationship between philosophy and mathematics and between philosophy and science.
Jared wrote to me: "Had
Jared wrote to me:
"Had trouble with the blog comment form; it wouldn't accept my homepage. Here are some book recommendations in response to your blog post [...]
A History of Philosophy, Frederick Copleston, S.J.
There are four (maybe five) volumes, comprised of excerpts from major works from the history of philosophy. Each is preceded with very good introductions providing historical and philosophical context. This is my favorite of the genre--you can page through it on a rainy day and not feel obliged to study it too carefully (unless, of course, you need to!)
Another book I enjoyed very much in high school is Godel, Escher, and Bach by Douglass Hofstader. It has a very good overview of early intersection between analytic philosophy (esp. Turing), mid-20th century physics, and computing. Probably out of date, and doesn't touch much philosophy after the "linguistic turn."
For Continental Philosophy, I recommend Andrew Bowie's From Romanticism to Critical Theory and any of Robert Pippin's books on Modernism (esp. Idealism as Modernism and/or Modernism as a Philosophical Problem. Both Bowie and Pippin cover the impact of primarily Kant and Hegel on European philosophy, and culminate in a discussions of Adorno and Heidegger. They lightly dismiss (some, but not all) 19th and 20th century French philosophy along the way, and give refreshingly sober readings of Nietzsche.
And if you'd like to read on how modern life and art can illuminate philosophy, I'm fond of Stanely Cavell's work. Cities of Words and Philosophy the Day after Tomorrow are the most fun of his. Themes Out of School isn't quite concrete, but it nicely touches on philosophical implications of American culture.
Hope this list is helpful to you.
-Jared Sportive Thoughts"