Is this a good one to start with? Regardless I’m gonna read some and take a bath
and get back to you
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It is. I started with Thus Spoke Zaratrustra. Then went on to Anti Christ, Beyond Good and Evil and some others I don’t remember now. He’s… heavy.
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I’ve never read western philosophy before outside of school when I was too high and drunk to know what was going on. I actually understood what I’ve read so far much better than I thought. Indeed is heavy, can’t handle too much of it. For some reason I get the idea pansdisease is writing the whole book. I liked what he said about socrates being sick…in that socrates pretty much said “lifes a bitch then you die”…and Neitzche said there’s more to life than that. You CAN be happy. I didn’t like how he said socrates was ugly and ugliness is developed by interbreeding 
…“Socrates belonged, in his origins, the the lowest orders: Socrates was rabble. One knows, one sees for oneself, how ugly he was. But ugliness, an objection in itself, is among Greeks almost a refutation. Was Socrates a Greek at all? Ugliness is frequently enough the sign of a thwarted development, a development retarded by interbreeding. Otherwise it appears as a development in decline.” I don’t agree with this 
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I heard he sucks
I stay away from reading. Nothing good to be gained. My intellect has been capped out and there’s literally nothing interesting to me anymore by word of philosophy or science.
I think that the things I am truly after transcend mere intellect & logic. Becoming “zen” defies logic, it’s all about being and doing, less about thinking. In fact, thinking is a barrier to true enlightenment if you ask me…
This is true…You can’t read to become Zen. i THINK (;)), i’ve become more zen since I stopped reading Alan Watts and just lived my life. Still i find it interesting topics to conjure up ideas about it. I don’t want to become a scholar but rather take a light interest in it all. I think most religious scholars would agree they have not achieved enlightenment no matter how much they read about it. In fact thats the anti-enlightenment like you were saying. I do better of being and doing these days…but I still like reading at times 
Alan Watts teachings has helped me find a more enlightened life, only through his metaphors. When he talked about a Potato being more enlightened than a human it changed my life a lot. But you can’t read to become enlightened. Your actions depict it best.
That said I think Alan Watts was a prophet if he could get more recognition…I wish there were modern day philosophers that I could follow and look forward to new books released by them to see their new thoughts. Any ideas of some young philosophers who haven’t released much but will continue to release “enlightening” ideas? Anybody?
I have a friend who is a true Nietzschien and he recommends “Will to Power” or “The Gay Science” to start with. I made the mistake of starting with Zarathustra which I didn’t understand or enjoy and he says is not a good place to start. I will go back to Nietzsche one day though.
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Do you know how many kids have been ruined by Nietzsche in spelling bees?
He has ended so many promising careers of prospective professional spellers.
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I would recommend starting with The Gay Science or Human, All Too Human.
Didn’t he write the screenplay for Gone With the Wind"?
Meh…ya gotta be into it or you wont be into it…ya know?
I haven’t read Nietszche either, but I have read a little about him, and what I’ve gotten from that gives me grave reservations about this guy. Of course, they say that his philosophy is very much open to interpretation, but his geneology of morals repels me. The man was also a egomaniac. I do like some of his aphorisms, and I like his iconoclasm, but I am still very hesitant to embrace his philosophy. He could be misinterpreted. The Nazies were very big on his philosophy.
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Not high-minded philosophy, but I hike Loren Eiseley. I like how he writes.
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