Where should I start with philosophy?

Philosophy was actually one of my favorite subjects back in high school. It really sparked something in me. But, let’s be real—finding a decent career path with a philosophy degree is tough, and honestly, some of those classes could get pretty mind-numbing. So, I never seriously considered majoring in it. Still, I have this itch to dive into it as a hobby. Does anyone here have recommendations on where to start? I'm looking for books that are actually engaging and accessible for a beginner to get a feel for things. They don't need to be heavy hitters; in fact, my old teacher once told me that trying to tackle a book by Kant at his university was basically a legendary feat that nobody actually managed to pull off 😁.

If you’re just starting out with philosophy, honestly, your best bet is to dive into as many of Alim's posts as possible first.
Once you've got a feel for that, take it slow—start with the classics from Greece (think Piraeus, Protagoras, and Parmenides), then move on to Plato and Aristotle. Once you've kind of found your footing and actually get the hang of how all this works, you can start picking and choosing whatever specific branches catch your eye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_philosophy

—or, if you prefer, according to certain authors...

http://www.amazon.com/introduction-philosophy/b?node=...

In any case, my advice would be to pick something relatively recent first—something that feels relevant to our current era—and then work your way backward... since almost every modern thinker was inevitably shaped by whoever came before them. From there, you can decide just how deep you want to dive into the rabbit hole...

Morgan Brown4 said:Philosophy was actually one of my favorite subjects back in high school. It really sparked something in me. But, let’s be real—finding a decent career path with a philosophy degree is tough, and honestly, some of those classes could get pretty mind-numbing. So, I never seriously considered majoring in it. Still, I have this itch to dive into it as a hobby. Does anyone here have recommendations on where to start? I'm looking for books that are actually engaging and accessible for a beginner to get a feel for things. They don't need to be heavy hitters; in fact, my old teacher once told me that trying to tackle a book by Kant at his university was basically a legendary feat that nobody actually managed to pull off 😁.

There's that series of books "for beginners" .
It covers various philosophers, concepts, consciousness, time, chaos, and things like that

Any book recs for someone just starting out with philosophy?

Jonathan Brooks8 said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_philosophy

—or, if you prefer, according to certain authors...

http://www.amazon.com/introduction-philosophy/b?node=...

In any case, my advice would be to pick something relatively recent first—something that feels relevant to our current era—and then work your way backward... since almost every modern thinker was inevitably shaped by whoever came before them. From there, you can decide just how deep you want to dive into the rabbit hole...

Is this related to that stuff over on O'Shaughnessy's blog? Hey, Joe Biden, did you actually write this article, or did Wikipedia just scrape it from you (assuming it’s even yours to begin with)?

(just in case Joe Biden wanders back onto the forum and stumbles upon this thread, even if it takes a few months, LOL)

Pick up a copy of Sophie's World. Read it.
It’s an easy read. It serves as a roadmap to help you figure out how to actually tackle philosophy, while helping you pinpoint exactly which rabbit holes you want to dive down next.

Where does one even begin with philosophy? Honestly, I’d start by looking inward. The biggest questions and most profound mysteries are usually the ones we pose to ourselves first...

Andrew Brown5 said:Where does one even begin with philosophy? Honestly, I’d start by looking inward. The biggest questions and most profound mysteries are usually the ones we pose to ourselves first...

Asking yourself a question doesn't make you a philosopher; finding the answer does. Anyone can ask a question, but not everyone can actually find the answer. 😉

James Murphy3 said:Asking yourself a question doesn't make you a philosopher; finding the answer does. Anyone can ask a question, but not everyone can actually find the answer. 😉

The thing is, though, hardly anyone even knows how to ask the right question in the first place.

mistyscout2 said:The thing is, though, hardly anyone even knows how to ask the right question in the first place.

True philosophers are hard to come by. 🙂

James Murphy3 said:True philosophers are hard to come by. 🙂

What I was actually getting at is that some questions just don't have answers because they aren't framed correctly to begin with. The kind of answer we end up with really just depends on how we choose to ask things.

I also think that certain questions—the ones that are actually well-constructed—are meant to act more like guides rather than things demanding a straight answer. Sometimes, a question exists just to help us stumble upon even clearer, better questions. In a way, you'll find that the answer is often already tucked away inside the question itself.

James Murphy3 said:True philosophers are hard to come by. 🙂

So, what do you call the ones who aren't "real" then? 🤷

Look, we all sit around playing philosopher sometimes, but that doesn't mean we actually *are* philosophers.

mistyscout2 said:What I was actually getting at is that some questions just don't have answers because they aren't framed correctly to begin with. The kind of answer we end up with really just depends on how we choose to ask things.

I also think that certain questions—the ones that are actually well-constructed—are meant to act more like guides rather than things demanding a straight answer. Sometimes, a question exists just to help us stumble upon even clearer, better questions. In a way, you'll find that the answer is often already tucked away inside the question itself.

Wait, who gets to be the judge of whether a question is "flawed"? If the person supposed to provide the answer decides it's bad, does that automatically make it a good question just because it was evaluated?

Honestly, I’d argue there are way more wrong answers to perfectly good questions than there are right answers to bad ones.

rapidscout8 said:So, what do you call the ones who aren't "real" then? 🤷

Look, we all sit around playing philosopher sometimes, but that doesn't mean we actually *are* philosophers.

Wait, who gets to be the judge of whether a question is "flawed"? If the person supposed to provide the answer decides it's bad, does that automatically make it a good question just because it was evaluated?

Honestly, I’d argue there are way more wrong answers to perfectly good questions than there are right answers to bad ones.

They aren't philosophers; you already answered that question yourself.

mistyscout2 said:What I was actually getting at is that some questions just don't have answers because they aren't framed correctly to begin with. The kind of answer we end up with really just depends on how we choose to ask things.

I also think that certain questions—the ones that are actually well-constructed—are meant to act more like guides rather than things demanding a straight answer. Sometimes, a question exists just to help us stumble upon even clearer, better questions. In a way, you'll find that the answer is often already tucked away inside the question itself.

How certain can we really be that an answer doesn't exist just because we haven't found it yet?
Maybe an answer doesn't exist for me, but it might for you.
So, does my logic hold up, or am I missing something here?

Greek, Greek, Greek. Honestly, nothing works without them... It’s that classic foundation everyone eventually circles back to, whether they realize it or not. That’s the bedrock, and frankly, most of them are actually interesting. There’s zero point trying to kick things off—like the OP suggests—with Kant or diving straight into analytic philosophy or the philosophy of language. (Though I doubt anyone would even bother jumping into that stuff right away 😁 )

And man, brushing up on logic? That helps more than you'd think.

James Murphy3 said:They aren't philosophers; you already answered that question yourself.

Like, why do you even need "true" when being a philosopher is enough?

I was just pointing out that the whole phrase is totally redundant.

rapidscout8 said:Like, why do you even need "true" when being a philosopher is enough?

I was just pointing out that the whole phrase is totally redundant.

Like you said, we all philosophize, but not all of us are philosophers.
There are those who actually are (the real deal), and those who aren't (the pretenders).

James Murphy3 said:Like you said, we all philosophize, but not all of us are philosophers.
There are those who actually are (the real deal), and those who aren't (the pretenders).

Why even frame it like that when it's actually super simple? You've got people who are philosophers by trade—like, it's their actual job. Everyone else just philosophizes sometimes, but if someone starts pondering the meaning of life, it doesn't mean they're some "fake" philosopher... it just means they aren't a professional philosopher to begin with!

We all have our own way of looking at the world, our own little life philosophies, we just don't go around teaching them at a university like the pros do.
I honestly think we're all just splitting hairs here.

Bertrand Russell, "Western wisdom". Honestly, this might be the single best book out there if you’re just trying to wrap your head around philosophy without falling into a total coma.