We suggest the following books, in particular, as things you might like to read for yourself before coming here.
If you haven't done any philosophy before (or even if you have):
- Thomas Nagel, What Does it All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford University Press). This is a reasonably modern take on some classic philosophical problems, written by a very good contemporary philosopher.
- Plato, Early Dialogues (Penguin Classics). Read these rather than the Republic as your first introduction to Plato. You should find them provoking and infuriating, as well as just fun. Take time trying to work out what's wrong with the arguments.
If you have done some philosophy before, and are looking for reading relevant to the courses you will take in First Year:
- Bernard Williams, Morality: An Introduction to Ethics (Canto)
- Judith Jarvis Thomson, Goodness and Advice (Princeton University Press)
- A.J. Ayer Language, Truth and Logic (Penguin Modern Classics)
- Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (available in lots of editions and translations).
- Bernard Williams, Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry (Routledge)
- R. M. Sainsbury, Paradoxes (Cambridge University Press).