Hardly surprising since many of us have experienced some of the processes or, can at least look forward to either participating in it or taking steps to avoid it.

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

^Misandry!

Hunters have a perverted gun fetish, so sayeth a terrorist supporting kiddie-fiddler.

I think women tend to have a more practical view of abortion.
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Thankyou for those recommendations, I was actually a little tongue in cheek with the OP.
I liked what you said in the latest abortion thread as we seem to agree.

I would probably read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book apart from that
When I started my PhD I decided I should know more about philosophy so I read the History of Western Philosophy, or at least tried to. That was when I realised I should stick to science and confine myself to reading Popper. I learned alot more from posting on this board in the good old days than I did from Russel's book. It's a shame Achilles etc don;t post here anymore.
I rarely read pop sci books but Nick Lane's
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6429264-life-ascending
is brilliant,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Speaking of Nagel I need to get around to buying his "view from nowhere" since I couldn't locate an online copy. So I'll read that sometime next year.

Im a big fan of Thomas Nagels
earlier work
lol, it's amusing how overused this backhanded compliment is.

Gonna start with my Sherlock Holmes collection. I'm halfway they the first story and I really love the style of writingI'm just not reading as much as I want to.
After that I'll probably dig into another King book. Got Mr Mercedes and Doctor Sleep for xmas.

I can't waitthanks for the heads up!
Sounds amusing!

Yep, it's particularly crap. I read an article saying that the rise of the Nazis made Russell highly prejudiced against Germans, hence why he largely dismisses Kant, Schopenhauer and Hegel and goes beep crazy when discussing Nietzsche. He also held Rousseau directly responsible for the rise of Hitler.

His Nietzsche chapter was hilarious.

Note that when you read Russell's History of Western Philosophy, the last third of the book is basically him trying to crowbar all philosophers from that point on into two camps, the Lockeans (who he likes) and the Rousseauians (who he hates).
To do so he misrepresents several ideas (as someone who's read a fair bit of Rousseau I can attest to this), uses ad-hominem attacks (he frequently dismisses Rousseau as insane - Rousseau suffered from paranoia later in life after he'd written most of his works; Descartes he spends more time commenting on his laziness than his ideas) and focuses on minor thinkers (there's a chapter on Byron for crying out loud) whilst omitting major philosophers who don't fit into his dichotomy (no mention of Paine, Wolstonecraft, Kierkegaard etc.) He also leaves out his contemporaries (eg Sartre, Heidegger, Camus, Wittgenstein) though that can perhaps be forgiven.
He also represents logical atomism as the culmination of philosophy that has effectively solved all the problems thinkers came up with over the last 2500 years. A bold claim to be sure.
So the first two sections (the Greeks and Medievals) are definitely worth a read but the rest of it is patchy - I would trust his thoughts on the philosophers he likes more than the ones he dislikes.

Ya gotta start somewhere!
I have New Year's resolution intentions.
They also said I would never stick to my training regime for my long walk next year and I have confounded everyone by walking at least 40 km per week. for the last 2 months.
Many people give up too easily.

lol, I seriously doubt you will ever actually read any of that.
formerly known as Saoradh

Onya mate~
You will find Sydney certainly has more buzz, excitement and opportunity than Melbourne in many areas.
Yes One month in Spain walking, and 1 month in UK with famaway mid April to mid June.

overseas for two months.
I envy you. Two months in Poland or Austria or UK or wherever you are going. I also want to move. i have applied for Australian Permanent residentship. If I get the PR, it won't be 5 days before I pack my bags and move to Sydney. Sydney is the finance capital of Australia, i don't know what I am doing here.

Dragons!

adds to list though I have a fair bit ahead of me! Going on holidays end Jan so this could be my big chance to get some good reading in before going back to work and then overseas for two months.

Currently half way through GRRM's
A Clash of Kings
and loving it.

Dragons!

Pass.

Poor you.

Goz, if you knew even half the crap I deal with on a daily basis in my personal life, you probably still wouldn't hold good to the pathos you apparently expect from me right now. All those times you insult me and call me names? Do you think I'm floating in a bowl of cherries every time?
Oh. what the hell. Screw it. I'll give you a pass tonight. Call it a belated Christmas present. Or as my brother calls it, Post Xmas Drip.

The point is that you use idiocy as a substitute for substance.
I am the first to enjoy a jokeI post them all the time, good bad and indifferent. I am just saying that I don't have problems, I am sad today and for the last few days.
It's the internet, you can't know that so I am telling you now.

I've already said it. The point is that some things (like that joke, for example) just don't work when explained.
And I'm sorry about the death in your family, but don't act like you're the only one with problems, or that it gives you the right to be a twat.
I'll get off when I damn well feel like it.