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/lit/ - Literature

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6255464 No.6255464 [Reply] [Original]

>ask /lit/ how I should get into philosophy
>"start with the greeks", they say
>ok, let me just pick up this Thales book and start reading some Greek philosophy
>"everything is made of water"

fuck this, i'm out

>> No.6255466

Not a single written piece of Thales remains intact.

>> No.6255467

If you're incapable of thinking on your own, you can always pick up a textbook where the author would go into details of his personal interpretation. Substitute your ignorance with somebody else's thoughts. That's how most of learning begins.

>> No.6255470

>>6255466

it was obvi a book about Thales, you stupid dumbshit

>>6255467

i can think for my own

everything is most clearly not made of water

Thales was a fucktard, why should i read about his bullshit lame-ass theories?

>> No.6255473

>>6255464
it's a meme anon^^

>> No.6255475

>>6255466
check'ed ✓ ✓

>> No.6255477

>falling for the banter

Seriously, go for any introductory text, just fucking around a bit through warosu reveals this:

INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

Histories of Philosophy:
1. (Short, 1 Volume) A Short History of Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins
2. (Medium, 2 Volumes) A New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny
3. (Long, exhaustive, 10 Volumes) The Routledge History of Philosophy by various

Essential texts and suggested editions in chronological order:
1. The Complete Works of Plato, by John Cooper
2. Aristotle: Selections, Translated with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, by Irwin, T. and Fine
3. Thomas Aquinas Selected Writings, by McInerny, Ralph
4. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, by John Cottingham, Robert Stoothoff, Dugald Murdoch and Anthony Kenny
5. The Philosophical Works of David Hume by T.H Greene
6. The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant
7. (Hegel's) Phenomenology of Spirit, by A. V. Miller
9. Karl Marx: Selected Writing by David McLellan
10. The Portable Nietzsche, by Robert Solomon

Important Literature:
1. The King James Bible

Internet resources for secondary literature suggestions and continued research:
http://plato.stanford.edu/
http://philpapers.org/browse/all

OR THIS

Get yourself an anthology and read through that shit. Either get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Readings-Ancient-Philosophy-Fourth-Edition/dp/1603844627

and start at the very beginning, or get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Readings-Ancient-Philosophy-Fourth-Edition/dp/1603844627

and start at Plato and work your way through to Wittgenstein and Austin. The latter book contains a mixture of full works, key excerpts, and a short introduction for each philosopher that is clear and concise. If you have an interest in existentialism then you'll be glad to know that it has Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Sartre. If you want Ancients and Medieval it has Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Maimonides, Anselm, and more. Modern? Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Kant. It also has a lot more than this and includes Hegel. Read these primary texts and only consult a secondary source like the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy if you really need to. The SEP is a free, online, legitimate source for understanding philosophy:
http://plato.stanford.edu/

Also, if you like Marxism then check out the Marxist Internet Archive:
http://www.marxists.org/

Most people on /lit/ don't actually care about helping and just want to make jokes or convince you their opinion is right without giving a legitimate reason. If you want to have a good understanding of philosophy then the best you can do is read philosophy, do philosophy, and then make up your mind which philosophers and philosophical schools you agree and/or disagree with.
A long, long time ago an anon posted links to read chronologically (and weighted) through the Stanford Encylopedia, I can't find it anymore

>> No.6255478

>>6255470
>i can think for my own
>everything is most clearly not made of water

how do you know either of these things to be true? surely you must not have sat down, thought individually about many things in your life, and arrived to the conclusion that most of them are not made of water. then you must have heard they are not water from someone else.

>> No.6255480

>>6255470
So what IS everything made of, anon?

>> No.6255481

You don't have to fucking start with the greeks, what a bunch of bullshit. I'd start way more modern, especially since without an understanding of modern philosophy a lot of the greek ideas won't make as much sense as they could. IMO start with the existentialists, it's fairly easy to understand and gets a good taste for philosophy. If you want something more about reality go read Locke, if you want epistemology go read Descartes. If you start with the existentialists I'd say start with Nietzsche, but for the love of God don't start with the greeks.

>> No.6255482

>>6255480
shit, of course

everything is made of shit

they'll mark you truant!

>> No.6255491

Water you so upset about

>> No.6255509

>>6255481

>Locke
>Descartes
>Nietzsche

You have shit taste in philosophy.

Read Kant, OP. He is literally the only philosopher who matters.

>> No.6255611

>>6255464
Good luck with the rest of history´s philosophy thought.

>> No.6255627

Just start with Bertrand Russell. You'll know the one.

>> No.6255638

>>6255627
Hot twinks in bondage?
Nuclear Disarmament now?

>> No.6255641

>>6255491
underrated post

>> No.6255755

https://georgelakoff.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/the-cognitive-science-of-presocratic-metaphysics-lakoff-1994.pdf

>> No.6255766

you really should start with the greeks.

The point is to see why he thought it was all water and how the people who came after differed and why.

>> No.6255767

>>6255509
>the only philosopher who matters
so i guess you agree with Kant? So do I for the most part. You sir, however, are a moron.

>> No.6255789

>>6255464
read "Sofies World"

good intro into phylosophy

>> No.6255803

>>6255477
>no Spinoza
>no Leibniz

>> No.6255817

The wiki says to start with Mythology by Edith Hamilton, or is the wiki shit?

>> No.6255865

>>6255466
dubs confirm

>> No.6255872

>>6255491
suck on this OP

>> No.6255875

>>6255817
its a good book but not relevant unless you're really into the history of philosophy