read more philosophy

I took a “Philosophy in Literature” class last semester. As an English major, I was really impressed by how my favorite themes tend to be deeper and more philosophic in nature than I had ever given them credit for. Now my interested is piqued and I want to start reading more Sartre and other existentialists first (since they’re easiest for me to digest), and then progress to “the next level”, whatever that might be.

I’ve just finished the first year of my philosophy degree at The University of Glasgow. I’ve read Descartes’ Meditations, Plato’s Republic, and a lot of political philosophy, amongst others.

However, I will always want to read more philosophy, no matter how much more I do read, so the goal remains.

Which book should I begin with???

started reading “The New Science”, mainly because I heard a lecture of Robert Anton Wilson’s where he mentions him.

use philosophy techiniques to think critically about my piece of the world

Any other suggestions for Spanish literature & philosophy?

Any Catalan philosophers?

I just read some Joan Maragall. Did he write any philosophy?

What about Pardo Bazan? Did she write any? Or Carmen LaForet?

Well, I don’t have very much progress to report. However I am planning (within the next few weeks) to have an isolation period where I will lock myself in a room (much like Harry Crosby) and just read philosophy for a week or so, shunning everything that has to do with society! Althought I have a few ideas for books to get, I should probably post a question on which ones are really worth the read.

DH tries to make an analogy between consciousness and “feedback phenomena” of a special sort.

This is the kind of thing he talks about:

If an organism uses categories to discriminate external objects in the environment, it will be hard to avoid categorising itself ( or at least parts of itself) – being an object of perception to oneself is not the function of sense ( supposedly you just want to perceive food, a mate , or whatever..) so these self-perceptions are “side-effects” .. yet they might have causal consequences ..

he tries to make a similar move with consciousness and symbols
but I havent got that far yet:)

i cant say i find it very convincing yet

So I should really start doing this. I think I’ll combine it with my other reading goal and start with the obvious, Plato’s Republic.