Beginner getting into Philososphy
Hello, I'm a person who's interested to start studying philosophy but I don't really know where to start. I discovered Philososphy through the YouTube channel called "Unsolicited Advice".... I think that's the name.
Should I start by reading Philososphy books? Should I start by going on Wikipedia and just go into a rabbit hole from there?
Just looking for some tips and suggestions. Answers appreciated : )
Should I start by reading Philososphy books? Should I start by going on Wikipedia and just go into a rabbit hole from there?
Just looking for some tips and suggestions. Answers appreciated : )
Comments (36)
I would say, if you can afford it, go to school. The professionals can provide very good direction. Start with an introductory course, and follow where your interest leads you.
Philosophy is complex and wide. Are you interested in some notions of philosophy or something more specific?
Reading philosophy books is important, but don't be shy to start a thread here on what you want to discuss or learn. Dreamlike, hallucination, art, our mind and the world, etc., always interested me and I learnt a lot asking questions here.
There is also a 'currently reading' thread where you can ask for book recommendations.
The book "Sophie's World" is a good starting place. I recently picked up "Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...", which is a bunch of introductory snippets on various parts of philosophy but illustrated with jokes.
Both of these give you a taste of various topics without having to do too much work. I think it would be a good idea for you to find out something you're interested in in it so that you know what you read next. At least gives you some key terms to google.
Here's a 30 minute summary of philosophy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5i2y5w8Dzc
Here's a friendly digest which gives a more fun overview that dives a little deeper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2zElslG_tE&list=PLybg94GvOJ9FIZxEevSANiCk5O9l_rYWK
Want something more serious? Here's an online history of philosophy series of lectures for free from Arthur Holmes at Wheton College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yat0ZKduW18&list=PL9GwT4_YRZdBf9nIUHs0zjrnUVl-KBNSM
Want to just browse topics like 'Aristotle, moralty, or epistemology?' Use the Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html
And of course, feel free to browse the forums and start topic like, "Can I taste the color green?" :) Have fun learning!
They write them on a number of philosophical, and sometimes other, subjects so I'll just post a link to one of each so you know what to look for if you're interested.
Introducing Descartes
Logic: A Very Short Introduction
People often suggest starting with Plato too. There is a good reason for that. The Republic is a pretty solid piece of work that covers a variety of topics AND it is also important to understand the historical context and learn something of ancient history so as not to be dismissive.
I've also heard people suggesting Hume as he wrote in English.
If you have literally no idea I honestly think writing and having a 'discussion' on paper with yourself. Maybe just start by asking "Why am I interested in Philosophy?" and then just write and write and write. Undoubtedly some interesting thoughts and ideas will pop up, then you just have to follow them with other questions.
Doing that for a few months will give you some grounding in your own thoughts before sullying them with those of others. Plus, it will allow you to better choose from the other suggestions offered probably.
Anyway, have fun and suffer ;)
But here is a handy free online crib sheet to use whenever you come across a name or a term that you are not familiar with. Philosophers love to name drop and use latin jargon so as to sound smart when they talk their nonsense. You don't want a treatise on every name, just a quick outline of who or what and when.
http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/index.htm
There's other stuff there too - a timeline some stuff on logic, some history, etc but the dictionary is what will be most useful probably. Not to read wholesale, but to lookup this and that while you cruise here or elsewhere..
Quoting AlienVareient
That guy is great. His video on The Fall triggered an existential crisis in me that still hasn't, and may never, resolve. Yet I feel (somewhat?) content to exist somewhat uncertain of my values for now. That sort of process as a miniature schematic in which one becomes uncertain of one's self or one's convictions and then reaffirms certain fundaments through argument is often typical of my interactions with people and their ideas on this forum. Or, at least, that is what it is like when it is exciting. As for posting OPs: have an original idea, do a lot of reading and writing, keep thinking and writing until you have something of worth, and then post it. This recursion does not change too much across the study of different subtopics in philosophy I find.
As for reading articles and such on the internet, I suggest embodying the sponge when focusing on any given topic at first and just sucking up knowledge from reliable sources. Apply your bristly side once you have a grasp of the subtopic of philosophy you are interested in by creating an OP, but you really want to make sure you are prepared to defend it, as people on this forum love to argue and bicker, and sometimes are downright acrimonious. Especially when you insult their short fiction.
That's it, really. Just don't get angry when people try to "score" cheap points or be intimidated when they drop names or historical events they likely learned about through dialogue with a chat bot.
Get out while you still can. :wink:
Depending on where you live this maybe a more or less difficult task, may require negotiating with the librarians and other administrators if you're not associated with the university in anyway, may require being persistent, in which case local public libraries, used book stores etc. may have a few books.
But there's really no substitution for a university library and once you get to the philosophy section in such a library you'll understand what I mean.
There's no substituting reading the source material. Other material about this source material is complimentary, but not a substitute.
History of philosophy without any gaps is a pretty great and pretty comprehensive free introduction however.
You typically spend the first 6 - 12 months studying the history of western philosophy: ancient, medieval, and modern, including an introduction to logic. Then you pick some famous philosopher's original work, read it carefully, also other books about it, and then you write an essay about the work. That's a start for further investigations.
I have a bit of a different attitude towards philosophy than most people here do. I once started a discussion called "You don't need to read philosophy to be a philosopher" which may or may not be true. I certainly have read philosophy books, but generally on subjects where I have a specific interest.
For me it all starts with what I know, what I believe, what I value, and what I see. This is from one of my favorite philosophers, Emerson:
That's what philosophy is for - to help us "learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across [our] mind from within." It's about self-awareness. How we think. What we value. How we know what we know. How should we act. For me that means everything starts with your own ideas - what's important and interesting to you. Philosophy is a tool to help you figure things out that matter to you. So, what matters to you?
I am curious about your age and level of education. What might help one person could be meaningless to another.
Just a joke. E.g., save you a lot of time so you can move on to something useful :razz:
:up:
One piece of advice i can give you at the moment is to start with your own natural curiosity. Be clear on what specifically you want to know, and begin observing (inwardly and outwardly). Assume you know nothing, and look with fresh eyes. Ask yourself questions that pertain to how and why. Don't look for the answers directly from other philosophers or thought leaders, but rather seek ways to find the answers from your own original place, using first principles.
Your answers (whether true or not) will emerge from this original place. Don't immediately turn to philosophers for answers they've arrived at on their own or borrowed from others. Instead, do what the originators did, and then, if you wish, compare your conclusions. Identify where your differences lie, and try to understand how or why they came to different conclusions than yours. They might have considered something you didn't, or it could be the other way around. You can decide to keep yours, and reject theirs, or you can reject yours and adopt theirs. In this way you would have performed the essence of philosophy in my humble opinion of course. Rinse and repeat as needed.
Additionally, be as rigorous as you can. Oh, and tell Sophia when you see her i said hello. :smile:
I think the plan youve laid out is the right one for someone new to philosophy.
It has served me well; it has. I particularly liked your advice and suchi's, but everyone gave good advice.
:smile: :up:
Great! If you have that in mind, you should start with Kierkegaard or reading Dostoevsky.
Philosophy is very vast and deep. I am more interested in reading books about dreams/awareness than logic, although these are philosophy. @AlienVareient needs to set his preferences. :smile:
Watch anything by Jeffrey Kaplan on YouTube. Hes got whole intro to philosophy courses online and hes great to watch.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JFfIQJsUFL4
Why not do both at the same time? Since joining TPF for the first time, I've learnt a lot and discovered new authors on a wide range of topics, such as when you suggested I read Alan Watts. For a beginner, I believe there will never be a suitable time to join a forum and engage in argument. Philosophy is complex, and I think it cannot be learnt in our own way.
These are generally good, although some are certainly better than others. I particularly like the one on Wittgenstein A.C. Grayling (originally published outside the series) and the one on existentialism (Thomas Flynn). The one on objectivity is excellent and I wish many people were forced to read something like it in school. The ones on linguistics, systems theory, and nothing (really the physics of "void") are all good. The one on philosophical method was neat too, and I'd give high marks to the ones on analytical and continental philosophy. The ones of post-modernism and post-structuralism were more average.
Some are less good. I like Floridi, but I thought his introduction to information was fairly confusing and I'd definitely recommend the Great Courses lectures on them over it, or Caleb Scharf's The Ascent of Information, our even the more advanced Routledge Handbook to the Philosophy of Information (much better than the Blackwell version IMO). They got Rodger Scruton for beauty, but that was more "Scruton does beauty," then an introduction. I haven't read the Hegel one, but IIRC they got Singer to do it which is a baffling choice. The philosophy of physics and biology ones are good but less interesting than they should be (biology was better).
I dabbled into the Heidegger and Foucault ones and they seemed ok.
In general, if you really want to go in depth on an area of philosophy I think the Routledge Contemporary Introductions are better (but also like 300-400 pages instead of 80-120), although they have a strong analytical bias in most cases.
Springer Frontiers is another good source if you like the intersection of philosophy and science, particularly physics, but it is not entry level. Arthur's book on time through them is my favorite book on time.
I say this because it can be easy to fall prey to this or that idea from this or that person. Just try and figure out stuff on your own by asking questions. Mull them over, leave them alone, come back to them, throw them away, pick them up again, think what else may be true, explore your world and life.
In the meantime, paint some pictures, make music, learn some mathematics and science and explore in general. :)