Book recommendation

**Chrs** · May 29th 2010, 04:17 PM

Philo recommended I start a recommendation thread.. heh.

For books in any of these areas:
Philosophy (Epistemology or Ontology is interesting. Or philosophy of religion)
Computer Science
Anything religiony (More of the arguments for/against than religion)
Fiction: Fantasy is my favourite.

Erm... Or anything else you think I might like

**One Bad Pig** · May 29th 2010, 07:23 PM

Why Religion Matters by Huston Smith
Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton
J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth by Bradley J. Birzer
The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Popular Culture and Philosophy) by Gregory Bassham
Show Me God By Fred Heeren

fantasy:

The Black Company (first in a series of the same title) by Glen Cook
anything by David Gemmell
Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Prince of Shadow by Curt Benjamin (first of a trilogy)

I could provide many more recommendations for fantasy.

**Chrs** · May 29th 2010, 07:29 PM

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy! Nice. I have [i]Final Fantasy and Philosophy[i] already, so that should be good.

Thanks a lot, OBP

Also, isn't chesterton's work out of copyright?

**One Bad Pig** · May 29th 2010, 07:35 PM

I'm not sure, actually. You Brits probably have slightly different copyright laws.

**Philosophickle** · May 29th 2010, 07:57 PM

Here are some that I plan to read in the next year or so:

Hobbes and the Law of Nature

Cognitive Systems and the Extended Mind

Selves: An Essay in Revisionary Metaphysics

**Rational Gaze** · May 29th 2010, 08:43 PM

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

The Obernewtyn Chronicles series by Isobelle Carmody.

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Unbeliever, The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Unbeliever and The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson.

The Fall of Mahkinoc by Frank Wacholtz.The main character is a cyborg with a split personality, (one personality is male, the other female) who was framed for murder.

If you have the time, you can also download a game called The Way (split into six episodes) which, coincidentally, was made by his brother, Luke Wacholtz. Greatest independant RPG ever made, made using RPG Maker 2000, lolol. I would try to explain the plot, but it is so mind blowing that it cannot properly be conveyed in the English language.

**Manwë Súlimo** · May 29th 2010, 11:31 PM

Honor, Patronage, Kinship, & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture by David A. deSilva - Should be required reading for theist and non-theist who want to actually know what they're talking about.

**Stevo** · June 19th 2010, 05:56 AM

One of my to reads: Warranted Christian Belief - Alvin Plantinga - Epistemology - free too.

Fantasy:

Bakker - Prince of Nothing series
GRRM - A Song of Ice and Fire series

Both are brilliant.

**Philosophickle** · June 19th 2010, 10:53 AM

Originally posted by Stevo

GRRM - A Song of Ice and Fire series

I was a little disappointed in the last book in the series. If he doesn't release the next book soon I think I'm going to ragequit Martin.

**TolkienFan** · June 19th 2010, 11:46 AM

Originally posted by Chrs181818

Philo recommended I start a recommendation thread.. heh.

For books in any of these areas:
Philosophy (Epistemology or Ontology is interesting. Or philosophy of religion)

I might as well go ahead and recommend New Testament and the People of God by N.T. Wright here as Part II in that volume involves a great mix of philosophy as he discusses the structure of worldviews. Also, you might find God and the Philosophers edited by Thomas V. Morris to be interesting as it has twenty essays from twenty philosophers (including the likes of Peter van Inwagen, William J. Wainwright, C. Stephen Layman, Marilyn McCord Adams, Brian Leftow, George I. Mavrodes and Eleonore Stump) giving brief reasons for why they believe.

Anything religiony (More of the arguments for/against than religion)

The entire Christian Origins and the Question of God series by N.T. Wright, which is currently three books: New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God and Resurrection of the Son of God. Also, his Surprised by Hope is a good popular work. As Manwe said earlier, Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity by David deSilva is also a good one. Anything by the Context Group (people such as Bruce Malina, Richard Rohrbaugh, John Pilch, Jerome Neyrey and others you can find via Google) is good. Admittedly, those besides the Wright books don't fit your parenthetical, but they are important nonetheless.

Fiction: Fantasy is my favourite.

I imagine you've read Tolkien's five most popular works already, but I recommend re-reading them at least once a year until you expire. I would also recommend Children of Hurin and the following:

The Book of Lost Tales Parts 1 and 2
Unfinished Tales
The Tolkien Reader (which includes his "On Fairy-Stories" essay

Erm... Or anything else you think I might like

Well, if you're more interested in Tolkien's background, read Humphrey Carpenter's J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien compiled and edited by Christopher Tolkien and Humphrey Carpenter.

**Philosophickle** · June 19th 2010, 11:49 AM

Originally posted by TolkienFan

Also, you might find God and the Philosophers edited by Thomas V. Morris to be interesting as it has twenty essays from twenty philosophers (including the likes of Peter van Inwagen, William J. Wainwright, C. Stephen Layman, Marilyn McCord Adams, Brian Leftow, George I. Mavrodes and Eleonore Stump) giving brief reasons for why they believe.

I took a picture of Mavrodes once:

**Stevo** · June 19th 2010, 12:12 PM

Originally posted by Philosophickle

I was a little disappointed in the last book in the series. If he doesn't release the next book soon I think I'm going to ragequit Martin.

Its been a long wait, but hopefully it will be worth it. Please check out Prince of Nothing if you can.

I think I may of read a previous post by yourself but, who/or what got you into Philosophy and what are you going to do with it in future?

**NeilUnreal** · June 19th 2010, 12:37 PM

The Art of Computer Programming (vols 1-3, vol 4 in progress)
by Donald Knuth

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
by Donald Knuth
(Knuth, a Christian, discusses various matters of religion and art.)

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
by Abelson and Sussman.
Official online edition here.

The Timless Way of Building
Design Patterns
The Nature of Order (vols 1-4)
An architect, computer scientist, and philosopher explores the nature of building and being.

How Buildings Learn
by Stewart Brand

5000 Ways Idina Menzel is Better than Kerry Ellis
by NeilUnreal

-Neil

**Chrs** · June 19th 2010, 01:23 PM

5000 Ways Idina Menzel is Better than Kerry Ellis

Heresy.

**Philosophickle** · June 19th 2010, 01:37 PM

Originally posted by Stevo

who/or what got you into Philosophy and what are you going to do with it in future?

I got into philosophy by working in a library and getting bored. Fortunately for me, the desk was at the beginning of the stacks, which in modern categorization puts philosophy books at the beginning. I sat next to them, and the rest is history. I plan to continue teaching philosophy, though I wouldn't mind writing the occasional piece.