/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10819188]

why the hell is philosophy so hard to read? why can't they use easier words?

[Anonymous No.10819217]

Because:
1. They're older writers and expect their readers to be well-versed in the classics
2. They're part of a conversation that's been going for 2500+ years and don't need to spoonfeed everything
3. The concepts expressed are difficult and lose something by being rendered in ordinary language

[Anonymous No.10819222]

because if you say something simple in a complicated, obtuse way you can trick pseuds into thinking that you're a genius

[Anonymous No.10819224]

>>10819217
>3. The concepts expressed are difficult and lose something by being rendered in ordinary language

I distinctly remember a thread here yesterday with plenty of people agreeing that I'd you can't explain a complex topic in simple terms, you don't know what you're talking about. Philosophers seriously need to be humbled if they want any sort of progress to happen.

[Anonymous No.10819228]

>>10819217
shouldn't philosophy try to reach out to the common man as well?
for one, i don't understand why philosophy can't be condensed from dense original texts with possibly extraneous ideas into textbooks like other subjects.

[Anonymous No.10819229]

>>10819188
they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about

[Anonymous No.10819237]

>>10819228
that’s unironically why religion exists

[Anonymous No.10819244]

Possibly the best way to start with philosophy is Peter Adamson's podcast, The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps. He presents a continuous narrative of western philosophy, covering many topics which are skipped in conventional histories, such as the influence of Hippocratic medicine and medieval Islamic thought (his specialty). Every few episodes he does an interview with some academic on particular topics. The first 51 episodes, ranging from Thales to just after Aristotle, are a great overview of Greek thought and I'd heavily recommend them.

Sophie's World by Gaarder is a novel, told from the perspective of an adolescent girl receiving lectures about western philosophy up to Sartre. It can profitably be read by adults as well as clueless teenagers, and has a clear continental influence.

Then you have multi-volume, academic histories of philosophy, which can be good reference books as well as continuous reads.
Copleston (9 volumes) and Anthony Kenny (4 volumes & one-volume Brief History which is good) are usually recommended. Copleston intended his work for catholic students, as a result giving you a detailed view of medieval philosophy and Thomism, but is appreciated much wider than that.
Routledge History of Philosophy contains essays from many academics, coalescing into a decent narrative, and gives you a taste of the up-to date research which goes into these thinkers. Not all academics are equally great, but these volumes are still worthwhile reads and references.

That should be quite enough of a list for secondary literature. For primary texts, try to read editions by respected universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, which usually contain helpful notes and interpretative essays. Some good starting points, in my opinion, would be:
● The First Philosophers: Presocratics and Sophists (Robin Waterfield)
● Five Dialogues of Plato (G.M.A Grube, John M.Cooper)
● Complete Works of Plato (edited by John M.Cooper)
● Descartes - Discourse on Method (Oxford, translated by Ian Maclean)
● Descartes - Meditations, Objections and Replies (Hackett)
● Basic Works of Aristotle (edited by Richard McKeon)

[Anonymous No.10819245]

>>10819224
>let's intimidate philosophers so they'll work towards my ideal

[Anonymous No.10819253]

>>10819244
thanks
i was kind of worried going into philosophy since people say it's a pseud waste of time