July: Bring Your Own Philosophy

For July we are trying something new. 

HERE'S THE PLAN:  Everyone is to read some philosophy, whatever you want and however much you want/have time for. Then you'll share some quotes and such at the next book group. 

This is an idea that works well digitally.  We often have a small crowd in July with so many out of town, so even if you're gone, you don't need to miss out!  You can send an email to the group and share or by all means POST a comment here!  

Now for those of you who will take that and run with it, go ahead. For anyone who wants a bit more information to go on, here are some possibilities.  

If you click on their name it takes you to the wikipedia entry, unless there was an obvious "official" website.  

Wilhelm Nietzsche (/ˈniːtʃə/[42] or /ˈnitʃi/;[43] German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈniːt͡sʃə]; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philologist, philosopher,cultural critic, poet and composer. He wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor,irony and aphorism.

C.S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.
Lewis wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. C. S. Lewis's most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics in The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

The Articles of Faith I can't recall where but somewhere recently I was reading some church something and they were talking about what a great philosophy The Articles of Faith is.  The 13th has enough to keep you mentally occupied for quite a while.  And when we talk Philosophy who says it needs to be the Philosophies of MEN.  

Confucius (551–479 BC)[1] was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.
The philosophy of Confucius emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. His followers competed successfully with many other schools during the Hundred Schools of Thought era only to be suppressed in favor of the Legalists during the Qin Dynasty. Following the victory of Han over Chu after the collapse of Qin, Confucius's thoughts received official sanction and were further developed into a system known as Confucianism.

Need some more ideas:

List someone made of the top 10 Philosphers of all time:  Including Paul of Taursus as well as John Locke, Aristotle and Plato etc.  

Ok I made that "Philosophies of Men" comment comparing man and God, but it got me thinking about the obvious lack of women on the list.  

So here is an article, Ten great female philosophers: The thinking woman's women that addresses that very concern with some women philosophers listed including Mary Wollstonecraft and Ayn Rand.  

Some others I'd add to the list, some more down to Earth than others are:

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (A Gift from the Sea) Have a copy I can loan.  Not my favorite but it may have been the time in life I read it.  I think it could be a good beach read though.  pretty short.  

Katrina Kenison (Mitten String's for God:  Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry)  Also have that I can loan.

Marla Cilley (Sink Reflections) (Yup this is the Fly Lady and I know that may be scoffed at by some but she has many a philosophy that will help you save your sanity, by helping you make your everyday life more manageable.)  Also have that I can loan.

And since this is supposed to be what YOU need it to be, some may need some lighter fare and I'd offer these ideas to consider:

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson an Article on some things they said best Such as:

Calvin: Isn’t it strange that evolution would give us a sense of humour? When you think about it, it’s weird that we have a physiological response to absurdity. We laugh at nonsense. We like it. We think it’s funny. Don’t you think it’s odd that we appreciate absurdity? Why would we develop that way? How does it benefit us?

Hobbes: I suppose if we couldn’t laugh at things that don’t make sense, we couldn’t react to a lot of life.

Calvin: (after a long pause) I can’t tell if that’s funny or really scary.

More Children's Philosophy  Books?  Here's an Amazon Search.

I have Zen Shorts if anyone wants to borrow it.  I also have several Calvin and Hobbes books.  

Hopefully you can see the possibilities are VAST, find whatever suites you at this time in your life and come share it with us (or post or email it, if you can't come).  

May's Book: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

"This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It’s also about Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano and the violin, and how we made it to Carnegie Hall.
This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones.
But instead, it’s about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old…"
(From the opening of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother)

Links:
About Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
About Amy Chua
Amy Chua about her book
Link to Q&A between Amy Chua and readers of an article about the book  

A Couple Updates:
The Q&A above is a response to an article, Why Chinese Mother's are Superior, which is excerpts from the book, but there is one picture that's not in the book and there are a few pictures from the book but they are in color.
Also very interesting is that in response to that excerpt people went crazy with hate mail and such, but there was also a response from her daughter, Sophia.  Dear Tiger Mom (make sure you read page 2 as well, I almost didn't see it).

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

I just barely got this from the library so I don't have much to say about it yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and put up a post so that you can all have a place to discuss it.  Only about 3 more hours until Spring Break and I'm OVER THE MOON! Also I'm hoping that without the interruption of trips to and from school and messing with homework, that I'll be able to get so much done, including reading this book.  I hope the rest of you find time too.

Here are a couple links.  They both make grandiose claims about being the best websites about Winnie the Pooh, who knew?

Tao of Pooh on Just Pooh.com
Pooh the Bear.net
And here, the Goodreads blurb and other's reviews.

Here is the website for Benjamin Hoff, author.

I'll post a thought question below to get a discussion going (I hope).  Don't be afraid to respond!  Who cares what random internet viewers think of what we write (it is still a public blog)?  Those that know you, love you and would LOVE to hear from you!