Recommended Reading
Western Philosophy

If you are entirely new to Western Philosophy, you may feel that some introduction is necessary and I doubt very much that there is any better introduction than Hospers 'An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis'. This is an undergraduate text book but one which is entertaining and thought provoking, full of real-life examples presented as imaginary discussions between disputants. I can recommend this highly. 13 sample pages may be viewed here.
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Another introductory book is this one by Richard E. Creel. It looks at philosophy as a means of enquiry into problems of life, and the book is broken down according to the various domains of philsophical method: metaphilosophy, epistemology, theory of value and metaphysics. And this works very well. It is called 'Thinking Philosophically, An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational Dialogue' and it is much more readable and enjoyable than the title might imply!
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"Reason is not a very effective tool for achieving happiness; if it were, we would all be a lot happier."

Perhaps the best known work is that by Bertrand Russell, 'History of Western Philosophy'. It is comprehensive and readable, though there is perhaps more about the historical context within which each philosopher lived and less about their actual ideas. Also, this book has not been regarded particularly highly by some other philosophers. (94 sample pages at this link!)
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"Religious education is always an evil because it means teaching children to believe things for which there is no evidence."

Though much more an autobiography than an attempt to document the changing directions of Western Philosophy over the past 2,500 years, here is a book I would especially recommend:
Bryan Magee's 'Confessions of a Philosopher' - He has written a number of books and, though not an originator of ideas himself, has associated with many modern philosophers (including Russell). Magee really succeeds in getting across not just how important is the search for truth but also how intriguing and interesting. And he gives some personal but very informative views on the ideas of many Western Philosophers. His search stems from an experience as a child which caused him desperately to want to find a 'meaning' to life. (26 sample pages viewable at this link.)
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"If all I experience, and all I ever can experience, are mental states, what warrant do I have for believing that anything exists other than mental states? Indeed what warrant do I have for believing that there are any mental states other than mine?"

Another general book that touches upon the ideas of a number of philosophers in its addressing of the central problems is 'The Questions of Life' by Fernando Savater. He is the Professor of Philosophy at the Complutense University of Madrid and writes lucidly and provocatively on a wide range of relevant topics. For example, on the 'meaning of life', he says:

"That life should have no meaning is not absurd, because we do not know of any intention that does not refer to life, and beyond intentionality questions about meaning are meaningless! What is really 'absurd' is not that life should have no meaning, but to insist that it must have one."

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The idea that it is often the way in which we use words that is the cause of our apparent problems is one that is central to the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Unfortunately, he is not one of the easiest philosophers to read! (Or perhaps that is not the right way to put it. In fact, what he says is often deceptively easy to read; it's just that you don't know quite what he is getting at!)

Perhaps prior to embarking on any attempt to do so, it would be valuable to gather some background material. A book which enables one to do this excellently is the biography 'Ludwig Wittgenstein - The Duty of Genius'. A very readable and compelling introduction to this enigmatic yet facinating man, who could have been one of the wealthiest men in Europe but preferred to live on the borderline of poverty, forever agonising over his worthiness at the same time as he struggled to formulate his ideas and present them to peers whom he thought unable to understand them. 20 sample pages to read at this Amazon link.
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He knew that the most important aspects of philosophy lay in ethics and metaphysics but also that it was not possible to talk meaningfully about things outside of the phenomenal realm. "Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent", he famously said at the end of his first work, 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'. This may be downloaded.

It should be remembered that Wittgenstein refuted the main tenets of that work in his later work, 'Philosophical Investigations', which was not actually published until after his death. Another quotation, inciting us to look within for the answers to the questions of life: "A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that is unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push."There are 32 publications relating to this work at Amazon.
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Perhaps the philospher whose work is most relevant to the Advaitin is Bishop George Berkeley. His idealistic beliefs depended on an external God who maintains the world during those times when we are not actually observing it. As such, of course, they differ from the views of Advaita. Nevertheless, his arguments against a material world of objects, existing independently of an experiencing subject are relevant and can help persuade the intellect of the truths of Advaita. A relatively easy read, in the style of a Platonic dialogue, is 'Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous'. (Note that this version also includes 'Principles of Human Knowledge'.)

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"But how can that which is sensible be like that which is insensible? Can a real thing in itself invisible be like a colour; or a real thing which is not audible, be like a sound? In a word, can any thing be like a sensation or idea, but another sensation or idea?"

If you shy away from original works, as I usually do, 'Berkeley and the Principles of Human Knowledge' by Robert J. Fogelin is a good guidebook.

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"Berkeley is saying that the nature of an object of perception is fully exhausted in its being a collection of ideas of various qualities or properties. There is nothing more to an object of perception than this."

The only Western philosopher of whom I am aware, who has written of his experience of Self-realisation in an Advaitin sense, is Franklin Merrell-Wolff in the book 'Pathways through to Space'. However, having looked at this several times in the bookshop and returned it to the shelf, I could not personally recommend it! It does seem virtually unreadable to anyone other than a philosophy graduate.

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The writings of many other Western philosophers show that they, too, reached similar conclusions to those of Advaita, e.g. early Greek Philosophers such as Heraclitus and Parmenides and later, Plotinus; the Romantic Idealists Hegel, Schelling and F. H. Bradley.

The philosopher who probably comes nearest to expounding non-dual truths of the Advaita variety is Francis Herbert Bradley (1846 - 1924), the British Idealist. An excellent writer, he was also influential in the life of the poet T. S. Eliot, who studied under Bradley and wrote his PhD thesis on an interpretation of the philosopher's work. His most significant book, which is effectively on the topic of this website, is called 'Appearance and Reality'.

The book may now be obtained from Elibron Classics. It is in two parts and is a facsimile of the first edition. Price $21.95.

It may also be downloaded as a PDF file.

Another general book on Western Philosophical thought is the small but excellent book 'Think' by Simon Blackburn, currently Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University. Not particularly relevant to Advaita but highly recommended. I have included a beautiful parable from this in 'The Book of One'. (Buy US or UK)

"The imperfections of Windows have no doubt led to virtues of patience or fortitude, but even Microsoft have never used that to defend the perfection of the product, and indeed that is why they continue to try to improve it."

Plato should also have a mention, since his concept of absolute 'Forms' has some relevance to Advaita. I have also used his famous metaphor of the men forever trapped in a subterannean cave and the one who escapes to the world of light and subsequently returns to try unsuccessfully to 'convert' his companions. This is from the dialogue 'The Republic', which is one of his more substantial works, describing the nature of his ideal society. 11 sample pages here. (Buy US or UK)

"The soul is like an eye: when resting upon that on which truth and being shine, the soul perceives and understands, and is radiant with intelligence; but when turned towards the twilight of becoming and perishing, then she has opinion only, and goes blinking about, and is first of one opinion and then of another, and seems to have no intelligence"

Some of his other works are much smaller and perhaps a more friendly introduction to this classic writer. 'The Symposium', for example argues various attitudes to the concept of 'love'. 5 sample pages here.
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"What may we suppose to be the felicity of the man who sees absolute beauty in its essence, pure and unalloyed, who, instead of a beauty tainted by human flesh and colour and a mass of perishable rubbish, is able to apprehend divine beauty where it exists apart and alone?"

But, if you want to ensure that you learn about Plato from the standpoint of advaita, then the book that you need is 'Initiation into the Philosophy of Plato' by Raphael. This concludes with chapters on 'Shankara' and 'Platonism and Advaita'. Raphael is possibly unique in being intimately acquainted with both philosphies. (Buy US or UK)

"The One-One, or supreme Good, corresponds to turIya, or Fourth, or brahman nirguNa (non-qualified) of vedAnta. It is the metaphysical Being in the strict sense of the word, or the Non-Being, because it is beyond the bounds of qualified or principial Being."

The 'Great Philosophers' series deserves a mention. This collection provides very small, pocket-sized introductions to many of the major Western philosopers, each written by a modern academic expert on the subject. Each being only 50 - 60 pages, including contents and index, there is no excuse for not finishing the book and learning at least a little about these important thinkers.

Plato Not Prozac by Lou Marinoff, Ph.D. This is a book about the burgeoning field of 'Philosophical Counselling', rapidly gaining popularity especially in the USA. The idea is that most of our problems are not signs of mental illness and psychiatric help may actually cause more problems than it solves. Instead, what we often need is guidance as to how to examine and analyse the situation and where better to seek that guidance than from the acknowledged experts of the past two millennia? The book provides a cursory summary of the ideas of key philosophers and extensive examples of specific cases that have been successfully addressed. Despite the somewhat naff title, this is a very intelligent and readable book that easily convinces one of the validity of the concept.

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"If you are experiencing change or uncertainty or unhappiness and don't know why, your task becomes to discover your purpose, avoiding the egotism of presuming you already know, or should know."

'An Introduction to Awareness' by James M. Corrigan. James’ background in designing complex computer systems makes him uniquely able to reflect upon modern Western philosophical notions about the nature of perception and thought and the awareness that apparently underlies these. He demonstrates, in a logical and unarguable manner, that the traditional ways in which we try to explain these phenomena must be mistaken and leads us instead to an understanding of the true, if startling, non-dual explanation. Written with careful intellectual rigor, this is not always an easy read but its subject is of paramount importance and the reader is amply rewarded for his efforts. This should be a landmark book in Western philosophical thought.

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The Philosophy of Mind: An Introduction, Peter Smith and O. R. Jones, Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN 0 521 31250 7. An extremely readable introduction to this fascinating topic, albeit not terribly relevant to advaita, of course!

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