Asad asked:

My question is not really a philosophic question but it matters a lot for me. I had a lot of questions
about life, our purpose, myself and stuff like that, and philosophy seems to be the only field of study
which even address that issue. I cannot join any college or school (personal reasons), but that should
not be any hindrance in my zeal and love toward knowledge. That's why I started reading books on it.
But now I am kind of lost in difficult and abstract books. I need guidance about the better course of
study for me like where to start and list of books not to be missed. The main purpose is only to have
the knowledge of right and wrong and my place in this rather difficult picture.

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Quite admirable, if difficult. There was a book around at one point called College On Your Own,and it
was pretty good. You might still be able to find it in libraries, etc. It gives reading lists for various
courses, and so you can get a systematic introduction to subjects. In addition, why not simply ask
people what they use for their courses? For example, if you want an introduction to ethics, go on the
web, find some good schools, find the philosophers teaching there, and askthem what books they
would recommend. I'd wager you'll get quite friendly responses, for the most part.

Also, you might take a look here: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html. This is the MIT OpenCourseWare
site, and everyoneshould know about this. MIT is putting, for free, allits course materials on the web,
eventually for allits courses, so that anyonewith web access can teach themselves anything. It's
quite amazing, and I highly recommend it, although really they're just starting and may not yet have
posted just what you're interested in. Again, I'm sure you could go ask individual professors there for
their reading lists.

Good hunting!

Steven Ravett Brown