What are some introductory readings for someone who knows nothing about philosophy? Where to even start?
So far I have just been reading Wikipedia, got my first book, Meditations, at a friends recommendation, been reading through it..
Intro Philosophy
Colton Smith
Xavier Morgan
Wikipedia is actually a good primer if you're starting with the Greeks and don't know any of them. They're organized and linked to related topics. It's like having a map, but the map is not the terrain.
Meditations is okay. Read Epictetus if you like that soldier's life moralism. classics.mit.edu
Read Plato. Pic related isn't that expensive and the best version. Socrates is literally just an old man walking around asking people annoying questions and embarrassing powerful people.
Read Plato's students. Read Thucydides and get a feel for the world that Greek philosophy came out of.
Don't worry too much about fags like Spinoza or Kant or perverts like Foucault and Deleuze. Existentialism and analytical philosophy are masturbation, word games for bored old wannabe-gurus.
John Thompson
First, you should watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, as it is philosophy for beginners.
Xaxaxa.
No joking from now on.
Google: "lit philosophy project 1.2". I believe that guy and went through Plato with his help.
Benjamin Ortiz
Personally I've found some existentialism to help me get through life, and I've found Deleuze useful for meta analysis. Foucault is pretty easy to read and I use his stuff for entertainment/light reading.
It all depends on what's important to you, and that can change over time.
Bentley Ward
According to the Google Drive Veeky Forums guide you should first read Mythology (Hamilton E.), The Iliad and Odyssey, The Histories (Herodotus), and The first Philosophers (oxworld worlds classic). Do I really need to read all those before starting Plato?
Thomas Lewis
No
Gabriel Sanders
No. Iliad and Odyssey are national epics. Hamilton's Mythology is a collection of myths. Herodotus is the father of history but a lot of his work reads like fables.
All these are important in their own way, but you don't need them for philosophy. Plato is entirely self-contained, and pretty easy if you're paying attention.
Xavier Peterson
Consider reading the following.
Henry Martin
What's the best version of Plato for someone who doesn't know a thing about philosophy?
Hunter Hill
Oxford World Classics, Penguin Classics, Hackett Publishing (full version)
Austin Sanders
Thomas Taylor Collection
Kevin Mitchell
The one I showed you. If you need a little help, get (and read) the Cambridge Companion or listen to some lectures about the subject. Prof. Michael Sugrue recorded an outstanding series of lectures titled Plato Socrates and the Dialogues. I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Alexander Anderson
1. Plato — complete works.
2. History of philosophy, any academic thick textbook.
Then just continue studying with any philosophical school, since the whole philosophy is simply Post-Platonism.
Cameron Wright
Plato's Socratic Dialogues (Apologia, Phaedo, Crito)
The Republic, also Plato
Skip Aristotle, you'll need to be taught and his influence begins to pop up later in Christian theological philosophy
After Plato you have a choice of quite a few different schools of Post-Socratic philosophy, namely
>Stoicism: behavior according to natural principle, namely the focus of controlling ones own thoughts and judgments. The most prolific classical school
Read Epictetus' Discourses and Handbook (Enchiridion), as well as Marcus Aurelius' Meditations for a more practical and individual take.
>Scepticism: The belief that all senses, including reason, are flawed and ultimately subjective, and the axioms drawn from these flawed systems must be challenged
Pyrrho, though not what we would consider a Skeptic, was the forefather of this mindset
>Epicurean metaphysics: a model of the universe in which God is presented as an uncaring primeval force. Can be thought of as the origin for both fundamental atheism and nihilism
Epicurus, obviously, was the founder of this school, commonly considered an atheist alongside Pyrrho
>Cynicism: Direct distrust of all value systems and normative forms of action
Diogenese the Cynic, the 'founder' of this school should be read about if only for being an absolute madman
From there you just pick up texts that either offer analysis on a primary source or move onto a later primary source that develops on the theme.
Zachary Ward
>not going from plato to aristotle to the early, middle, and late platonists
Top pleb
Grayson Gray
So can I skip Aristotle if I read Plato?
Zachary Watson
No.
scribd.com
follow this
Wyatt Murphy
If you want to be a smoothbrain forever, sure. Skip Aristotle.
Aristotle's organon aren't really like the dialogues. It's like the first analytic philosophy, except he is describing real things and not virtual ones, and his goal is clarity and not obfuscation. His ethics and metaphysics will grow your brain and introduce you to the language and concepts that later philosophers refer to. Both Aristotle and Plato are top shelf, and you should read them both. They are infinitely more interesting than someone like Sartre or Deleuze. Don't be in a hurry to get to the 20th century and "the good stuff." These are the good stuff.
Elijah Parker
>he is describing real things and not virtual ones
What is this? This sounds like Deleuze
Brayden Fisher
Start with the Russians
Then
>Start with the greeks
Also read the bible lol
Jaxon Green
At the very least read this. Aristotle-skipper.
classics.mit.edu
checked and that is a great image it activated my dopamines
Hudson Harris
>At the very least read this. Aristotle-skipper.
I'm not OP, I'm really wondering what you mean by real vs virtual things.
Josiah Gutierrez
If you and a good intro book to Western philosophy, check out "Great thinkers , great ideas" by Vincent falcone. PDF is out there for free
Colton Foster
Oh. I mean Aristotle addresses actual philosophical problems and labors to define things as accurately as possible according to their nature. He is a make-it-clearer man.
As opposed to 20th century French guys who have an interesting in making up new words and phrases that mean something slightly different from something else, or imagine models of things that do not accurately capture the reality they mean to criticize. They are make-it-cloudy men.
Aaron Cruz
Im also new to philosophy, but I'd recommend the podcast "PhilosophizeThis!". He obviously shouldn't be used as a replacement for actually reading the source material, but I like that he talks a little about each philosopher's background and why their thoughts had an impact.
Plato references the Illiad a lot so I'd recommend at least brushing up on the Illiad and the Odyssey. I'm not sure they warrant a full reading since you probably already know most of the story.
Reading "Achilles in Vietnam" gave me a richer understanding of the Illiad. I found that this was helpful because the author talks about the culture of the greeks at the time it was written. You don't necessarily have to read THIS book, but having a better understanding of greek culture, history, and values will help you appreciate the philosophy of the time.