Recommended Authors and/or Books/Blogs/Magazines/Journals/etc

[Htom Sirveaux]

20. Philosophy has been the biggest help to me.

Why Does the World Exist? by Jim Holt: The Question of Questions, and a variety of answers, some of them surprising. I had no idea that Platonism was still viable, but I found this book's discussion very influential.

A Brief History of Thought by Luc Ferry: His discussion of Nietzsche pushed me to begin considering the nature of time.

Buddhism as Philosophy by Mark Siderits: Could there in fact be no absolute anything? The Buddha and some of the schools he influenced may have thought so. Professor Siderits examines their views and the arguments that other Indian schools made against them.

The Experience of God by David Bentley Hart: God is not always the old white bearded guy in the sky you've been shown in pop culture. Here's a classical view of God as pure being, one that cuts across religious boundaries according to Hart.

Is God a Delusion? by Eric Reitan: does a good job of explaining, among other things, the cosmological and ontological arguments. It's been awhile, I should probably revisit it.

The Authenticity of Faith: Varieties and Illusions of Religious Experience by Richard Beck: is faith always a terrified reaction to the knowledge of eventual death? No, but sometimes it is. Beck discusses the research that proves that Freud was on to something, but fear of death isn't everything.

The Philosophy of Hebrew Scriptures by Yoram Hazony: Excellent, if sometimes slightly repetitive look at whether the writers/compilers of the Hebrew scriptures may have been examining the big questions like early Greek philosophers, and using the story of Israel's history do it.

Culture and the Death of God by Terry Eagleton: how the cultural elite of Europe broke away from personally believing in Christianity, but were anxious to find a replacement for God and to preserve the beliefs of the masses as much as possible to avoid revolution. Puts the modern history of philosophy in a new light.