Gotta Start Somewhere - Help.

Wish I had a recommendation for you, bermbits. Your intuition or gut would be my first suggestion.

'Philosophy' is an interpreted word ~ left to the interpreter to define.

Well, I think that's pretty arbitrary, Rae.

Are you serious, Bermbits? Is there really such a thing as Philosophy for Dummies? I've found both series to be a mixed bag. Home Buying for Dummies is top of the line; others have lived up to and exceeded the title.

I took one semester of philosophy and have to admit that most of it was over my head.

Philosophy was my minor in college, and believe it or not, got better grades than my major in accounting! Philosophy is very difficult in the beginning, because it doesn't make sense to the first time reader. One must reread passages over and over until the sense comes through. Our younger son took philosophy 101 last year, and he had difficulty understanding the course. This is a kid that has taken physics, advanced math, three years of Spanish, and other difficult courses, and averages a 4 point grade. I don't think a bone-head/dummies book on philosophy is going to cut it, but reading about the old Greek masters would be a good intro. Maybe a good way to start is to go to the local library, and ask the librarian what they would recommend for philosphy beginners. c.i.

Bermbits - Bertrand Russell's "History of western Philosophy" is not a bad starting point, I think - although my knowledge is way out of date - and lots of exciting stuff has been happening. Russell is very lucid.

A good dictionary of philosophical terms is a must, I think. I would have a look at some of these in a good bookshop.

I wonder if your nearest university allows people to "audit" courses? Or if there is a good correspondence/net course somewhere?

I think it is helpful to have some input - and good reading lists - and a chance to discuss things.

Enjoy!

I imagine people with more up to date knowledge will come along!

What dlowan said.

The old Greek masters are definitely a good intro. Plato (who uses Socrates as a character in his writings) wrote extremely well, most of the time, though not always (The Laws, for example, is really hard to read). I have a rather large book called, Plato: The Collected Dialogs - it is translated by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns and is as readable as it possibly can be, but it's not annotated (don't know if that matters to you).

Anyway, I would start with the dialogs about the trial and death of Socrates: The Apology (AKA Socrates's defense), the Crito, and the Phaedo. In order is best, as the first is the trial, the second covers his imprisonment and the third covers his execution.

I would then move onto others and perhaps return to Socrates/Plato later, as there's, well, a lot of Philosophers and Plato wrote so much you could spend all of your time reading him. Aristotle, for example, was the father of quite a bit of modern thought. He coined the term Metaphysics, for example. So I'd look at him but he can be harder to read than Plato (frankly, Plato is one of the most readable of all Philosophers).

I'd then fast-forward a few centuries and go straight to Thomas Aquinas. He can be hard to read, but he's the biggie in Medeival Philosophy and he also addresses a lot of Legal Philosophy. Then fast-forward a few more centuries and go on to René des Cartes. He coined the cogito (Cogito Ergo Sum = I think, therefore I am), which is a proof of existence. He also developed what is now called the Cartesian system of mathematical plotting (the x-axis and the y-axis, if you recall them from Algebra).

I'd possibly go to Locke and/or Rousseau (the American system of government is based upon both) but would be sure to hit upon John Stuart Mill (utilitarianism) and Thomas Hobbes (man, he was one depressed individual). Then, I'd go to Karl Marx and perhaps to Hannah Arendt. And by that time you'd've hit most major Western Philosophers (notice I didn't include the East; that's a whole other ball of wax) in most centuries, in a more or less chronological order.

There's a short book on Aristotle's philosophies that's a very good starting point. I'd have to search for my soft bound copy in my library (which a lot of it is in boxes as I ran out of room years ago to display every book).
I can look for it on the Web -- I got mine from Quality Paperback Book Club. There's also a great small book on Proust's philosophy -- it's also one I'd have to look up. Surely these are available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You might like "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson Phd (not the actor!) as it is steeped in Proust philosophy.

Thanks, all for the direction.

If you can find it translated in English, "Sophia's world" by Jostein Gaarder is not bad to start with...couple of years ago it was most popular book...at least, in this part of a world.

Alexandra

A good logic book comes in handy when discussing any topic and is a must for philosophical discussions.

"Sophia's world" is very easy to find in English - it was a bestseller in english too.

Choose your rut in life carefully.
You may be in it for the next ten years.

The Solitaire Mystery also by Gaarder is user-friendly.

bermbits, a good place to start is with The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. In a sense it was precursory to his monumental, multi-volumed Civilization series.

Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer Adler is very good.

Here's a website you might find useful:

http://www.grtbooks.com/adler.asp?idx=2&sub=0

The Durant book which Debacle suggests is also very, very readable. If I remember correctly (after all these years; sigh), it was also my own personal introduction to philosophy and got me so fired up I minored in the subject at university.

Debacle, thanx for tips....two more books that I didn't read so far

Debacle, thanx for tips....two more books that I didn't read so far!

Alexandra

Ups.....sorry for double post....this able2know is very quick with it, not used after abuzz troubles.

Alexandra