Starting with the Greeks

[Anonymous No.17053899]

New to philosophy. Started with the Greeks as advised by this board, read Plato’s republic and it fucking sucked imo, I understand it and I don’t find it particularly difficult I just didn’t enjoy it. Are Aristotle and Platos other works any better? Should I just move onto other philosophers that I enjoy (from what I know of them) or will it pay off to read the rest of Platos work and start Aristotle.

[Anonymous No.17053946]

>>17053899
Imagine getting filtered by the first boss of philosophy, just give up anon

[Anonymous No.17054028]

>>17053946
the republic was boring change my mind

[Anonymous No.17054033]

>>17054028
Not sure you’re gonna to find other works of philosophy less boring, desu

[Anonymous No.17054041]

>>17053946
>uses video games to conceptualize foundational philosophy
Go directly to incel jail, do not pass go.

[Anonymous No.17054062]

>>17053899
Fooling yourself into thinking that you understand something is the greatest obstacle to making it for a motivated reader. Get to know Plato better with his other works through the recommended order, consult secondary sources, read with attention, humility and the assumption that there must be something to this revered work if so many smart people were drawn to it.

[Anonymous No.17054221]

>>17053899
Republic is one of Plato's harder works to conceptualize if you're new to philosophy. Many people would suggest reading the Apology. It's pretty short and entertaining. If you like it, read Euthyphro, Crito, and Phaedo since they have a chronology revolving around the trial and death of Plato's teacher Socrates. Plato's other entertaining, easier dialogues include Symposium, Meno, and Gorgias. It's also good to look up what each of his dialogues is about and find a topic that interests you, maybe. Plato is one of the easier reads in philosophy but that doesn't mean he isn't challenging at times (definitely don't read anything released after Republic to start with).

Aristotle is much drier and more "boring" than Plato, so I definitely wouldn't suggest moving on to him until you get a feel for Plato.

If you're newer to reading, avoid starting with the Greeks at all. Go for high school literature classics like Brave New World, Catch-22, 1984, Clockwork Orange, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, etc. Just read what's interesting of that type until you get a feel for reading, especially if you have coombrain or play a lot of video games. If those are still a little slow for you try Harry Potter or the Hobbit.

If you read a lot but just find Greek philosopy difficult, start out with Homer, the Greek tragedians, and maybe Herodotus for some comfy road trip storyteller history. Don't discount the Greeks just because of one bad experience. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Anonymous No.17054261]

>>17053899
Don't read Republic first, read Gorgias then Protagoras.
Gorgias shows what Plato is about (objective truth/justice) and Protagoras shows how he uses objective truth to get anything he wants in his Socratic dialogue. He knows he can be entirely wrong and the Socratic method will not only still work it'll teach him what's right. So long as truth is objective he can critique anything and wind up w the right answer. Republic is a step away from the Socratic dialogue. After his earlier dialogues you see hints at where his thoughts are headed even if he only meant them to be an exposition of Socrates. Republic is read as the maturation of himself as a philosopher and so he has more monologues in there as he just tries to get his voice out there.

[Anonymous No.17054266]

>>17054261
>Gorgias then Protagoras.
these were both the exact dialogues that got recommended to me when I was younger and I attribute both of these to my now love of philosophy.

[Anonymous No.17055377]

bump

[Anonymous No.17055558]

>>17053899
>Start with the Greeks
>Start with Plato
>Start with Republic
Why do pseuds do this?

[Anonymous No.17055580]

>>17053899
its cause Platos republic is rather dated. Todays popular form of government, republicanism, hadn't even been invented yet when republic was written. You read the republic to figure out the foundation of political philosophy, you won't get any profound revelations from it.

[Anonymous No.17055592]

>>17055580
* and the foundations of his theory of forms