Ecce homo
In late 1888, only weeks before his final collapse into madness, Nietzsche (1844-1900) set out to compose his autobiography, and Ecce Homo remains one of the most intriguing yet bizarre examples of the genre ever written. In this extraordinary work Nietzsche traces his life, work and development as a philosopher, examines the heroes he has identified with, struggled against and then overcome - Schopenhauer, Wagner, Socrates, Christ - and predicts the cataclysmic impact of his 'forthcoming revelation of all values'. Both self-celebrating and self-mocking, penetrating and strange, Ecce Homo gives the final, definitive expression to Nietzsche's main beliefs and is in every way his last testament.
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- Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. My parents had a Vic-20 and I'd learned to write some BASIC by reading the books that came with it (which conveniently failed to mention that programming was supposed to be hard or was something some adults did as a job). But it wasn't until I read Microserfs, specifically the Wired Magazine excerpt of it, that I knew computers and creating software would definitely, without a doubt, be the driving force of the rest of my entire life. I haven't regretted it for a moment.
Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche. I picked it up knowing nothing but Nietzsche was the progenitor of the saying 'that which does not kill you makes you stronger' (which is a radically misunderstood saying that is supposed to sound naive and stupid). Then I read the chapter titles. "Why I Am So Wise", "Why I Am So Clever", "Why I Write Such Great Books". I had to read it. It sounded ludicrous from the table of contents alone. And so it was. I later found out that he wrote the book while in the end stages of syphillis, mostly insane. It did, however, clue me in to a whole different kind of thinking by introducing me to philosophy and how problems could be tackled that can't be addressed through more analytical means. Plus, it is full of a great many laughs simply due to the absurdity. The only thing I can recall actually making sense and being true was a bit about how to be most like ones parents is the greatest disgrace because it indicates that humanity has stagnated and not advanced for your generation at least.
And though I don't care for it now, Ayn Rand's works, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, had great impact on me at the time I read them. I went on to read all of Rand's non-fiction philosophical writings as well. It was thanks to her that when I attended college, I majored not just in Computer Science, but also in Philosophy. And I credit that education with granting me a tremendous amount of insight and philosophical confidence. Today I would vigorously disagree with many of Rand's shortsighted conclusions, and even with her physically incorrect epistemology, but she did have a grand idea after all, to derive all of philosophy from first principles. Shame she started with the wrong principles and A is indeed often not A but a superposition of A and B. Beyond that, the modern Objectivist community seems to lack a great deal of the intellectual mettle that I think she herself had, and they seem incapable of letting go of the seemingly helpful flawed evidence of the past and embracing the more sound modern evidence of the benefits and evolutionary advantage of empathy and such. I could go on for hours about how Rand actually DID account for things like charity and supported them, but it's a nuanced discussion and not for a thread like this.
Also, the hardest book to read I have ever read, Comprehensive Mathematics For Computer Scientists. It derives mathematics from set theory on up. It is written like a single books-long (there are multiple volumes) academic paper and if you're not accustomed to reading such information-dense material, it might well be impenetrable. It took me days per page to fully comprehend, often with breaks in between. But it gave me interesting perspectives on at least functional programming and infinity and how to prove things.
- Yes, before science made the digestive process and it's effects on the human spirit entirely clear to us, people actually thought their personal experience and sensitivity to particular substances were relevant! Imagine that!
/sarcasm
Nietzsche's Ecce Homo has similarly interesting musings on the subject of diet and exercise.
- It is with joy that I answer your question. And if I may be allowed to answer it philosophically. The books you find incredibly interesting may be the books the validate your worldview. There are many of these. The book you find eye-opening may be the books that open the door into the world of philosophy proper for you. There are not many of these because you only need to go through that door once I feel.
Also, I would observe that besides Ayn Rand (who for many is not a philosopher) not a single female philosopher has been mentioned here which I find is a damning indictment on the state of affairs of the world of ideas. To remedy that I would recommend to you read A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft or anything by De Beauvoir (and do ignore her contemporary Sartre for he was nothing but a windbag).
I am delighted that you singled out Thomas Paine (who again is not a philosopher as such; must be something in the air in the States) and Arthur Schopenhauer. They are both tremendous stylists. I've said this many times before - I don't care how great a philosopher's ideas are, if they can't write well I don't want to know. Thus we have people here recommending Kripke or Frege or heck knows who like that who bludgeon you to death with their tedious logic. Avoid them I say.
Finally I would like to be clichéd and recommend anything by Nietzsche except for Thus Spake Zarathustra even though he himself considered it his best work and I would especially recommend Ecce Homo by him because it is a summation of his previous works by his own hand. Nietzsche was the supreme stylist and ruthlessly honest and fearless. Also I'd recommend A Short Treatise on the Great Virtues by a contemporary philosopher André Comte-Sponville. This is a remarkable book on virtue theory that takes in Aristotle, Spinoza, Nietzsche and Woody Allen among others and is divided up by virtue which is extremely novel. It is fantastically written. Anything by Cioran as well such as The Trouble with Being Born. I'm trying not to typecast myself here! :)
And finally finally Sophie's World and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance while nice cute books are not true philosophy books. This is also why I wouldn't recommend Camus' The Outsider though someone did mention The Myth of Sisyphus. Borges falls into this category. Sophie's world is really a kid's book as well and one that I would perhaps recommend to children though I'd recommend Borges or Camus or Kafka first.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vindication-Rights-Woman-Penguin-Cla...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Sex-Vintage-classics/dp/00997...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Great-Ideas-Suffering-World/...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ecce-Homo-Becomes-Penguin-Classics/d...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Treatise-Great-Virtues-Philoso...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trouble-Being-Born-E-M-Cioran/dp/155...
- >> would you mind writing up a comment with why you found it so profound and enjoyable?
It's been many years since I read it, but I can still remember the terror of identifying with its hero and his struggle against insanity and alienation. His struggle to create a connection with his son, his deep sense of caring for him and yet not being able to fully reach him.
Pirsig's genius was to get us to identify with its hero Phaedrus, a deeply damaged human being fighting to make sense of his world. Phaedrus is rather clearly an INTP/INTJ personality type, which should only deepen the identification with him by HN readers.
His clear explanations of the scientific method in terms of motorcycle maintenance are a big plus as well, especially for me. I worked for several years repairing electronics and, being a philosophical type, was often struck by how similar the process was to scientific experimentation and theory formation. Great read.
My books:
The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand -- A sharp, bitter, and ultimately soaring defense of the individual against the conformity of the compact majority, without the didacticism and moralizing that marred Rand's later novel, Atlas Shrugged.
Ecce Homo, Nietzsche (Kaufmann translation). Nietzsche's last full work, completed days before his descent into insanity. Shatteringly beautiful prose that will rearrange your soul, from one of history's most original (and misunderstood) thinkers. One of history's great fighters against political and cultural correctness. This boy could write.
- Nietzsche intended to say the radical opposite, from Ecce Homo:
"My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it—all idealism is mendacity in the face of what is necessary—but love it"
For him there were no transcendent values, ideologies, gods, what have you. People weren't individualist enough. To him it wasn't about latching onto some cause but to, in his words, become who you are. Affirm your own will and say yes to the world even if you, like in one of his thought experiments, lived in the worst world imaginable, on repeat, forever.
- It reminds me of Nietzsche's autobiography Ecce Homo, which was at least somewhat self-aware of its pomposity, titling chapters as:
1 – Why I Am So Wise
2 - Why I Am So Clever
3 – Why I Write Such Excellent Books, Part 1
4 – Why I Write Such Excellent Books, Part 2
5 - Why I Write Such Excellent Books, Part 3
6 - Why I Am a Fatality
