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How to get started on philosophy?

Blogs > Rev0lution
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Rev0lution
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1805 Posts
July 04 2010 02:12 GMT
#1
I want to become educated in philosophy, but how?
There is western and eastern philosophy and in each there are at least thousands of books. Not only that, but for each sub-philosophy there are hundreds of books.

Am I supposed to read on books that reinforce my beliefs or should I read on the classics, and if so what classics do you recommend?

If I reinforce my beliefs isn't that just preaching to the choir? What prevalent philosophical schools are considered important and which ones are now defunct?


Thanks guys,

My dealer is my best friend, and we don't even chill.
Pandain
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States12989 Posts
July 04 2010 02:17 GMT
#2
Honestly, if you want to get started on learning ANYTHING, Wikipedia is the answer. Start from there, then read up more on specific subjects that interest you. Perhaps even get books if your really curios.
Rev0lution
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1805 Posts
July 04 2010 02:18 GMT
#3
Yes I am trying to get books. Not into reading online, it strains my eyes way too much.
My dealer is my best friend, and we don't even chill.
Malgrif
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada1095 Posts
July 04 2010 02:18 GMT
#4
I suggest begin your philosophical journey by first reading some of the works of aristotle, plato, and socraties. they are generally the foundation to most of the modern day views. after you're done with them you can move onto whatever catches your interest.
for there to be pro there has to be noob.
Motiva
Profile Joined November 2007
United States1774 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-04 02:26:45
July 04 2010 02:22 GMT
#5
http://www.amazon.com/Socrates-Sartre-Philosophic-Quest/dp/0553251619/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278210064&sr=8-1

This for a basic idea (it is fairly narrow, but isn't a bad start) or for a more scrupulous method you could start by simply reading something like Plato's Republic, and then progress across the time line.
Aus)MaCrO
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Australia349 Posts
July 04 2010 02:23 GMT
#6
A big part of philosophy is thinking for yourself, and nobody knows how far along you are in your intellectual development, so nobody can really tell you what you should read (ie what will be worthwhile to YOU). Still, as you said, there are thousands of books out there, so a push in the right direction is good.

A website I like is insomnia.ac, which focuses on videogames and philosophy. There is also a forum thread there with a list of recommendations:

http://forum.insomnia.ac/viewtopic.php?t=2373

Eastern philosophy is mostly a waste of time as far as I am aware.

Hope that helps.
mainerd
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States347 Posts
July 04 2010 02:28 GMT
#7
the ammount of literature is enormous, and it really depends what you want to know. if you want this historical aspect of philosophy (east, west, et al), and just want to absorb as much philosophical thinking as possible, you just need to put your nose to the grindstone and do a LOT of reading. however if this is a pursuit of a more personal nature, IE learning your own views and leanings on major philosophical points, this can be more easily achieved by throwing yourself into discussions, like on IRC philo channels. real life discussion is better, but not everyone knows people irl who like to discuss such things.
"Let me tell you, in eSTRO we had some circle jerks, straight up. It wasn't pretty." -NonY
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-04 02:35:57
July 04 2010 02:34 GMT
#8
philosophy requires you use your own mind, nothing else really..
"studying" philosophy is a lot more like studying history, facts. sure you can pick up ideas but to understand them you're gonna just need to use your own mind. and you could have gotten there anyways without studying other people's work.

i am frequently annoyed by half-men/half-parrots that clearly haven't developed their own views through serious contemplation
noko
Profile Joined January 2010
United States7 Posts
July 04 2010 02:38 GMT
#9
recommending 'sophie's world' then 'Socrates to Sartre'.
illu
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada2531 Posts
July 04 2010 02:43 GMT
#10
Get some philosophy texts. Read. That's all. It's a really simple subject.
:]
Bereft
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States1007 Posts
July 04 2010 02:44 GMT
#11
I don't know too much about philosophy, but I took a class called Contemporary Civilization last year and these are the readings I found on the more interesting end of things...

Plato: Republic
Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics, Politics
Machiavelli: The Prince, Discourses
Hobbes: Leviathan
Locke: Second Treatise, Letter on Toleration
Rousseau: Basic Political Writings
Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
de Tocqueville: Democracy in America
Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morals

And haha, I remember reading Sophie's World for AP Lang a couple years back... good stuff.
e.soul[gm]
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
Sierra Leone254 Posts
July 04 2010 02:49 GMT
#12
On July 04 2010 11:34 travis wrote:
i am frequently annoyed by half-men/half-parrots that clearly haven't developed their own views through serious contemplation

sounds like half of the tl.net community. but spiteful words aside, i agree. don't wind up like that op!
http://www.last.fm/user/jesuspopk
koreasilver
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
9109 Posts
July 04 2010 02:51 GMT
#13
Just read what you want to read. As you get more interested and more serious about it you will naturally also read their predecessors and their successors and their opponents, etc. The classical texts are essential but you don't have to start off with them. It's most important that you enjoy it.
URfavHO
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States514 Posts
July 04 2010 02:52 GMT
#14
I'm currently in a phil class. As far as books go, we're reading (or have read) Meditations of First Philosophy by Rene Descartes (he's basically the definition of baller), Ethics of Belief by William Kingdon Clifford, God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard. So far we've read the first two.

Regarding Descartes, his writing helped bring the west out of the Dark Ages and made philosophy relevant again, so I can't exactly recommend him unless you're very interested in God or want to understand the concept dualism. He also writes in a very strange style that won't really make much sense in the 21st century. Nonetheless, he is vital in the history and development of philosophy. You can find this for free on the internet so perhaps you'd want to print it out or something (it's about fifty or sixty pages in .pdf).

Clifford's Ethics of Belief kind of just tells you that believing things that can't be backed up with sufficient evidence is wrong. It's a very materialistic and promotes skepticism and doubt in your beliefs. In many ways, I feel that it just gives people the right to be a dick to other people in order to promote your own beliefs. Now when purchasing this collection of essays, make sure it's by Clifford and doesn't have other authors attached to it. From what I'm aware, there isn't a single intro phil class that skips this book.

Now as far as what you should read, I don't really feel that it's a proper question since you aren't taking a class for it and you don't have any curriculum to adhere to. However, If you want a general understanding of modern philosophy, I'd go with Ethics of Belief.

Hope this help, good luck on your quest.
shinosai
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1577 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-07-04 03:06:01
July 04 2010 02:59 GMT
#15
Taking a class in intro philosophy is a good way to start out. I'm a philosophy minor myself and enjoy the subject. Moreso than any other subject it emphasizes logical thinking. Arguments in philosophy need to be valid and sound (and in studying epistemology, you'll learn that there are some other requirements as well!)

Do not read books that reinforce your beliefs. If your interest is reinforcing your beliefs, then read someone that believes the opposite of you, and try to form an argument that logically disproves it. If you can't, then you've just learned something new.

As an aside, Descartes is highly respected for his math, but I'd be wary of his metaphysics. He made some great contributions to modern mathematics, including a proof for an "actual" infinity (great stuff for finitists vs infinitists). As far as his metaphysics go, he spent a lot of time trying to prove the existence of God. And I think it's common belief among philosophers (at least since Kant) that one cannot prove the existence of God through metaphysics.

edit: Oh, yea, I should probably mention... if you're really interested in philosophy, Kant is obviously a go to. There are more dissertations and papers written about Kant than anyone else, mostly because of how controversial his philosophy is. He's very important, you'll want to know about him.
Be versatile, know when to retreat, and carry a big gun.
URfavHO
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States514 Posts
July 04 2010 03:06 GMT
#16
On July 04 2010 11:59 shinosai wrote:

As an aside, Descartes is highly respected for his math, but I'd be wary of his metaphysics. He made some great contributions to modern mathematics, including a proof for an "actual" infinity (great stuff for finitists vs infinitists).


Some say Descartes contributed so much that France decided not to contribute anything for the next three hundred years
ella_guru
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada1741 Posts
July 04 2010 03:07 GMT
#17
I hope you don't bother with this stuff : (
Each day gets better : )
Crahptacular
Profile Joined December 2008
United States295 Posts
July 04 2010 03:09 GMT
#18
Depends on what you mean by getting well educated in philosophy. If you mean the way it's taught in schools, you're looking at learning the history of (predominantly) Western philosophical thought. This involves reading a large variety of books by prominent philosophers, as well as learning about (but not necessarily reading the works of) a multitude of lesser philosophers. When learning philosophy this way, there is little to no connection between what you read and what your personal beliefs/opinions are. They might coincide or contradict with the material you deal with, but the purpose of studying the entire history of philosophical thought is to understand the way various ares of philosophy developed over time.

If you want to learn philosophy in order to further develop your own opinions on certain subjects, you can probably skip straight to contemporary philosophers who talk about what you're interested in, with just a short crash course (e.g. Wikipedia articles) on the background of that subject. For a very broad example, you might be interested in metaphysics In that case, background knowledge of someone highly influential like Kant would almost certainly be needed; and Kant's metaphysics are (partially) in response to people like Descartes, and so on back to Aristotle. Except if you're only interested in your contemporary philosopher, you only need to know very little about his/her influences in order to know what's going on, which is a really good thing, because fully understanding someone like Kant takes years of dedicated study.

As for the question of reinforcing your beliefs vs. challenging them, that's not really a problem. Almost every philosophical work is written in response to something (or everything) written before it. Moreover, many works will make direct references to other philosophers and their arguments, so you'll get a little bit of input from both sides. And if that interests you, you can go find the people who were mentioned and read their works too.

Finally, if you're mostly concerned about more "ordinary" or "everyday" philosophical issues (e.g. ethics), you honestly don't need any background information. It's useful and interesting to read what others think, but if I ask you if doing something is right or wrong, you're just as qualified as anyone else to give your opinion regardless of whether or not you can name drop famous philosophers to support your opinion.
koreasilver
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
9109 Posts
July 04 2010 03:10 GMT
#19
On July 04 2010 11:59 shinosai wrote:
edit: Oh, yea, I should probably mention... if you're really interested in philosophy, Kant is obviously a go to. There are more dissertations and papers written about Kant than anyone else, mostly because of how controversial his philosophy is. He's very important, you'll want to know about him.

Regardless of whether you like Kant or not you will always have to cross by him sooner or later. It's always like this with philosophers of stature. Whether you like them or not you inevitably have to study them for some reason or another.
TossFloss *
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Canada606 Posts
July 04 2010 03:25 GMT
#20
iTunes U and MIT open courseware are good places to start.
TL Android App Open Source http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=265090
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