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/lit/ - Literature

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3307054 No.3307054 [Reply] [Original]

I don't know anything about philosophy but I want to learn. What should I read?

>> No.3307058

Start with the Greeks

>> No.3307064

>>3307058

no ever started with the greeks.

OP, work out what you want to believe. If you want to believe in the goodness of man then you will read different books than if you want to believe in the banality of existence.

>> No.3307065

>>3307064
Eventually I'd like to read both and come up with my own conclusion.

>> No.3307069

Start with something light like Hegel.

>> No.3307084

>>3307069

lol yeah Hegel is so easy to get into

>> No.3307092
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3307092

>>3307084

Way to sublate his thesis, nigga.

>> No.3307095

>>3307069
>hegel
>light
are you on crack?

>> No.3307100

>>3307084
>>3307095
Take your ADD medication.

>> No.3307104

>>3307100
I can read it fine, but it's hardly "light."

>> No.3307116

>>3307069
>>3307084
>>3307095
So, I take it Hegel isn't good to start with? What would be good?

>> No.3307139

>>3307054
Ask first why you want to study philosophy. Go from there.

Don't study philosophy if you want to impress people (you won't do it as nobody cares), do it if you are curious about the topics it deals with.

>> No.3307142

>>3307116

Read a fucking Intro to Philosophy pamphlet, shop around. We are not your educators. If you want to contribute on /lit/ though, you might wanna get into Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra because everyone on here wanks themselves into a frenzy over it, and if you reference it then that means you are smart.

I tried to start a thread on Heideggar a few weeks ago here and got no bites. Sad times.

>> No.3307145

>>3307116
Socrates, then fuck the rest. Lao Tzu for eastern weirdness.

>> No.3307235

>>3307145
Muh Cynics. Muh Sceptics. Muh Epicureans. Muh Stoics. All very much worth a read.

>> No.3307249
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3307249

I hear Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" is a good intro.

>> No.3307251

Pick an intro to Philosophy book. I recommend Thomas Nagel's "What Does It All Mean?". Short and concise.

Then maybe check out writers like Nigel Warburton and Julian Baginni (Philosopher's Toolkit is excellent). This will give you a broad base of knowledge to work with-- you'll better understand what philosophy really is and what you'd like to know more about.

Skim articles on plato.stanford.edu for anything you'd like to know more about. Definitely check out Laozi, Chuangzu, Nagajuna etc up to the Kyoto School. Eastern philosophy is great.

>> No.3307255

>>3307251
And to add: don't take a historical approach starting with the Greeks, and don't start with Russell's History. If you do want a basic historical survey, I recommend Anthony Kenny or Will Durant.

Russell is a brilliant man, he's just not a good starting point at all.

>> No.3307264

>>3307116
History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell is probably the most famous overview of philosophy. It's pretty long (around 700 pages I think), but he's an excellent writer and good at explaining the basic ideas of all the famous western philosophers. After that, I recommend looking into the "A Very Short Introduction Series" published by Oxford University. These books are around 150 pages each and they cover almost every philosopher. These are especially helpful for people like Hegel, Derrida, etc.

>> No.3307268

>>3307235
I've always felt those are more for the read than for learning, and that Socrates is all the methodology you need. And Tao te Ching is another way of seeing things, that's hard to reach through Socrates.

>> No.3307274

>>3307249
You heard wrong

>> No.3307280

>>3307264
It's a terrible place to start. Russel's viewpoint is all over it and unavoidable on every page, which is absurd. One should face Russel like an evil dragon, slay him, and have done. One shouldn't have afterward to read the dragon's memoirs. That would be the end of heroism.

>> No.3307293

>>3307268
Those Hellenistic philosophies are some of the most worthwhile and timeless philosophies created. They're comprehensible ways of thought and life, practised for hundreds as years by thousands of people. All of it is still applicable today and the wisdom still stands. Philosophy in this way is of the calibre that it can compete with religion towards achieving a worthwhile and supportive world view unlike most of the philosophy since. I'd say even today Hellenistic thought can be one of the most powerful tools against nihilism.