Getting Grounded in Philosophy - Where Should I Start?

[Bob Moss]

(Probably already been said) Think for yourself.

Bob

[Triumph36]

I'm just going to agree with this post, mostly. Plato and Nietschze's subjects are so wide that it can clue you in on what branch of philosophy you'd like to pursue further. I'd put Epictetus and La Rochefoucauld on that list of Marcus Aurelius, Thucydides, etc, just because they're interesting as well.

Being 'forced' to read certain philosophy can be painfully dull, but having an interest in one particular area will help you out a great deal when it comes to those duller works.. don't just read the 'greatest' or 'most important' writings, it's for your benefit, read what's interesting.

[jakethebake]

Rickey Williams method. Use a lot of mind-altering substances. Quit your job. Go live in a cave in India for a year.

[RicktheRuler]

Well, I am assuming he is intelligent enought to do it this way, as I think it is clearly the best way to go about such a project.

To the other poster, I think it is important to read them chronologically, in order to witness the progession of the field. As with any other discourse, it builds off of itself and if you do not understand what someone is reacting to it is dificult to understand the reaction.


Poorly written, sorry.

[drudman]

[ QUOTE ]
I've never taken a philosphy course, and I'm taking a year off from school so I figured actually learning something while I'm away would be a good idea. What are some good books to start with to get down some philosophical fundamentals (stuff I'd learn in the first few college courses I suppose)? I'm a phsyics major and reasonably intelligent - I imagine I should pick stuff up pretty quickly but I just don't know where to start.

-SmileyEH

[/ QUOTE ]

Plato - The Republic
Descartes - Meditations
Kant - Critique of Pure Reason
Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil
Ayer - Language, Truth, and Logic

These are I think the big five. Plato is the original pimp of philosophy. Very little good work exsits between him and Descartes' Meditations. From there philosophy evolves through a number of people, but the biggest names are Kant and Nietzsche. The logical positivists (Ayer, Russell, Wittgenstein, etc.) shatter everything.

When you're done, you can start filling in the spaces.

Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics
Locke - A Treatise Concerning Human Understanding
Hegel - The Philosophy of Right
Hume - An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Sartre - Being and Nothingness

If you understand all of the above 10, you'll be in better shape than most B.A. philosophers.

[Bodhi]

The first courses you'd take would be Ancient and Modern philosophy, and Logic. You have likely already learned symbolic logic, so I would suggest some of the shorter Platonic Dialogues, some Aristotle (maybe the nichomachean [sp?] ethics), and for Modern Philosophy Descartes' meditations, Spinoza (if you're feeling frisky), Berkeley and Hume. Don't try to tackle Kant until you have someone to help you.

If you want to jump into things that are more contemporary and relevant to your field, a great book is Van Fraasen's "The Empirical Stance," and definitely check out the Oxford edition of the Philosophy of Science.

[drudman]

[ QUOTE ]
I've never taken a philosphy course, and I'm taking a year off from school so I figured actually learning something while I'm away would be a good idea. What are some good books to start with to get down some philosophical fundamentals (stuff I'd learn in the first few college courses I suppose)? I'm a phsyics major and reasonably intelligent - I imagine I should pick stuff up pretty quickly but I just don't know where to start.

-SmileyEH

[/ QUOTE ]

Smiley, take "Existentialism" with me at UMass, it's a fun class.

[CallMeIshmael]

Watch some Woody Allen moves, not from the goofy period.


EDIT: This comment isnt 100% joking. Though its close.

[Ragnar]

If you want to give yourself a philosophy course similar to what you would get freshman year in college I'd recommend two books.
An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis by John Hospers and The Art of Reasoning by David Kelley.
These will give you the basics and introduce you to the issues in philosophy and logic.
Then tackle the big boys.
Full disclosure. I work with David Kelley at a philosophy think tank.

[fritzwar]

I wouldn't suggest starting with the history of philosophy. I'd suggest picking up a good contemporary introductory text -- these focus on the *problems* and issues that philosophers are most engaged with (and the range of serious philosophical answers to these problems), rather than focusing on the historical facts about which philosophers said what about these problems. After becoming familiar with a range of central problems in philosophy you can then trace out references to further contemporary and historical work on the problems that most interest you.

For a beginning point, I suggest one or both of *What does it all mean?" (Oxford Univ Press, by T. Nagel) and, no kidding, *Philosophy for Dummies* by my former colleague (now retired) Thomas Morris. This is from the popular for dummies series but mostly he just wrote up his freshman intro course for the book. If I still taught freshmen I'd use this at the University level for sure.

Ted Warfield
Associate Professor of Philosophy
University of Notre Dame