Dead Philosophers Society

[studentsofphilosophy]

Masterpost: How to Begin Studying Philosophy

I get a lot of messages from people interested in beginning their education in philosophy - this is a masterpost for people who might ask that daunting question. From here you get to choose your own adventure. You can jump right into a philosophy book that you’re interested in, listen to podcasts, read a comic book, take an online class. Find what works for you. As with everything, you have to start somewhere.

Books 

General Philosophy - Meditations by Descartes, The Apology by Plato, The Anti-Christ/Birth of Tragedy by Nietzsche, An Inquiry Concerning Human Nature by Hume, The Problems of Philosophy by Russell, Meditations by Aurelius 

Ethics - Famine Affluence Morality by Singer, Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle,  Utilitarianism by Mill

Political Philosophy - The Republic by Plato, On Liberty by Mill, The Prince by Machiavelli , The Social Contract by Rousseau 

Environmental Ethics - Sand County Almanac by Leopold, Animal Liberation by Singer, The Ethics of Climate Change by Garvey

Existentialism - Existentialism is a Humanism and Existentialism and Human Emotion by Sartre, Myth of Sisyphus by Camus

Eastern Philosophy - Bhagvad Gita, Tao Te Ching (the Laozi), The Art of War by Tzu

Students of Philosophy protip - if you’re reading a book, it’s a good idea to have that book in print so you can actively read. Mark your philosophy books up with a highlighter, underline, take notes in the margins. Most philosophy books can be found on Amazon for pennies or at discount bookstores. 

Philosophy in Literature (these are stories heavily imbued with philosophy)

Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche, The Stranger by Camus, All Men are Mortal by de Beauvoir, any of Plato’s dialogues actually, Siddhartha by Hesse, Under the Net by Murdoch, No Exit by Sartre, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (philosophical autobiography)

Overview Books 

(books to give you a general overview of philosophy but that aren’t persay a “philosophy” book)

History of Western Philosophy by Russell*

From Socrates to Sartre

Sophie’s World (also a fictional story)

Doing Philosophy by Gerald Rochelle (”how” to “do” philosophy)

Students of Philosophy protip - reading a “history of philosophy” book that goes through various philosophers and trends in philosophy will help direct you towards what you’re interested in and is Bar’s recommended platform for learning philosophy, even if it isn’t the most fun method

* This is the book I see most often recommended for beginning an education in philosophy. 

Other Mediums to Learn by

Learning by Listening and Watching

Crash Course in Philosophy (Hank Green PBS youtube series)

Partially Examined Life podcast (roundtable discussion about philosophical ideas, accessible for beginners)

Wireless Philosophy (youtube series done by university professors)

School of Life (well made educational youtube series)

Comic Series

Action Philosophers Comic Series

Online Courses

Oxford University Philosophy Classes

Oxford University General Philosophy Podcast

1200 Open Courses 

Wes Cecil Lectures

Students of Philosophy protip - if you haven’t already seen, most words are linked back to their original source. 

Reference Links

Specific Genres

Analytic Philosophy (a long step by step guide)

Existentialism 

Other Guides to Beginning Philosophy 

Pathways

Quora

Existential Comics (a truly wonderful masterpost-esque guide)

Helpful Posts

How to Read Philosophy

Areistotle’s “How to Study” Masterpost

Why Study Philosophy Anyways Masterpost

More Links 

Study Guide for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

How to Study Philosophy on Your Own

Female Philosophers

TV Shows with Philosophical Themes

[studentsofphilosophy]

Given recent discussions, people might wonder why I have hard-to-read books on my recommended-for-beginners masterpost. The reason? I like giving people options. You might not understand everything you read if you start with Meditations but if it gets you interested in philosophy, the recommendation has done its job.

[fyp-psychology]

The searching for our selves is the most agonizing, isn’t it? - and yet the most stimulating - and one simply cannot escape it.

Karen Horney (via fyp-psychology)

[themindmovement]

It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his own answers.

Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man’s Fear (via themindmovement)

[philosophybits]

Philosophical discussion unites the two greatest and purest pleasures of human life: study and society.

David Hume (via philosophybits)

[misswallflower]

Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but ‘steal’ some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.

Albert Camus, “Notebooks 1951-1959″ (via misswallflower)

[philosophybits]

Of prosperity, mortals can never have enough.

Aeschylus (via philosophybits)

[freedomss0n]

[philosophybits]

The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

David Hume (via philosophybits)

[philosophybits]

The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one.

William James (via philosophybits)

[scientificphilosopher]

“Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.” –Bertrand Russell, ‘The Problems of Philosophy’

[istanbul1997-deactivated2016031]

she said time is an abstract concept i said bitch where, she said underneath the illusion of existence i said bitch..none of this is real

[syntheticphilosophy]

It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards. And if one thinks over that proposition it becomes more and more evident that life can never really be understood in time because at no particular moment can I find the necessary resting-place from which to understand it.

Søren Kierkegaard (via syntheticphilosophy)

[studentsofphilosophy]

[pizzaback-deactivated20201011]

I hate how the stereotype is that dolphins are good and sharks are evil, when dolphins are so smart that they have the capacity for evil but sharks are simple fish who can only be true neutral, so even if a minority of dolphins are evil there are still more evil dolphins than sharks

[rageclit-deactivated20181208]

quality marine philosophy discourse

[philosophybits]

To the poet, the philosopher, the saint, all things are sacred, all events profitable, all days holy, all men divine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (via philosophybits)

[philosophybits]

History is philosophy teaching by example.

Thucydides (via philosophybits)

[lazyyogi]

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle (via lazyyogi)