2006-11-14 16:26:43 · 12 answers · asked by wintermelon 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
read philosophy for dummies...if that doesn't work...try philosphy for really stupid people...and if that doesn't work...try philosophy for people who are so damn stupid that their mothers sold them to their pimp book.
2006-11-14 19:45:13 · answer #1 · answered by Bogey 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I can't believe that someone asked a beginner to read Plato. Plato's writings represent a very small - but also very complicated - sampling of one school of philosophical thought.
There are many, many others. The best way to get started is to read an basic overview of some of them, then go into details like Plato's stuff later. Who knows, you may want to explore other types of philosophy, and it would be a shame if Plato discouraged you before you had a chance to look at something else.
Wikipedia has a great introductory article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
Read it first, then go to some of the links they provide. It's great stuff and it helped me a lot, because I'm basically a beginner too.
Good luck!
Big Al Mintaka
2006-11-15 00:55:43 · answer #2 · answered by almintaka 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Philosophy at its most basic level insists on only one thing: ask questions. Philosophical thought is characterized by repeated asking of the question "why?" Science, deals with the question "how?" Sure, there is some overlap, but basically, you can atomize the difference between the two in this. Why begs for a meaning, a true purpose, whereas how is a technical question. How is there reality is scientific. Why is there reality is philosophical. Another characteristic of philosophy is that it is highly personal. In fact, no philosophy can truly be said to be better than any other. Since any such judgment would require using a certain set of values [such as coherence, rationalism, consistency] which is in of itself, a certain philosophy*. It has been said that "philosophy bakes no bread." In other words, philosophy cannot be practically applied, that it is not practical to philosophize. I agree with this. However, I feel that humans are not purely beings of practicality. We are concerned with more than our humanity, we want the absolute truth. I suppose that an accurate definition of philosophy would be that it is a search for meaning in every way. To some, this would seem oversimplifying. However, it only seems this way because it is short. In fact, the definition is simply a floodgate for all the questions philosophy asks. Of course, this is only my philosophy of philosophy [known as metaphilosophy]. To summarize, philosophy is the quest for subjective meaning, it is neither absolute, nor practical, but by definition, it is meaningful.
*= another aspect of philosophy is that everyone has one. A man who says "philosophy is dumb" is actually giving his metaphilosophy.
2006-11-15 02:10:02 · answer #3 · answered by Danny V 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Start off with something like, 101 Philosophy Problems, by Martin Cohen... It is a good way to get started on the basics of philosophy.
CyberNara
2006-11-15 01:27:43 · answer #4 · answered by Joe K 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read Plato
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if you can't understand Plato's dialogues, you have no business attempting to understand philosophy. It's a monolithic tradition, and Plato is the point and counterpoint of so many issues.
And I hate Plato, but it's important, approachable, and unfiltered.
Read the Penguin copy of the Presocratic fragments and you'll be ready to read Aristotle after. Spend 10 years reading Aristotle and learning ancient Greek.
2006-11-15 00:28:05 · answer #5 · answered by -.- 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Philos-sophia is a wonderful old Greek term. It refers to "philos" love of, admiration for "sophia", that means wisdom, science, real understanding of the workings of things. And not just surfaces, and appearances and things you "sort of know about" Philosophy is another name for categorizing definitions; definitions drawn on the prioritized inner workings of things.
Its opposite is childishness--getting hung up on mere appearances; being ignorant of important truth and liking the feeling because it's undemanding. For instance, if you really know baseball, you see much more at a game than someone does who just roots for his team. And if you watch a movie looking for a self-responsible type as central character, you see a lot more than someone who just looks at images going by. It's as simple as that.
2006-11-15 00:33:36 · answer #6 · answered by Robert David M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Citrus, I would like you to meet Philosophy,
Philosophy, this is that new punch, Citrus.
I know, that was silly, I'll turn myself in....its late....
2006-11-15 00:30:38 · answer #7 · answered by OPTIMIST 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
lay on your bed and count the spots on the ceiling
2006-11-15 00:29:21 · answer #8 · answered by pumpmar 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
there are more than one.
2006-11-15 00:28:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
read the book sophie's world..
2006-11-15 00:29:30 · answer #10 · answered by grifter_xiii 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋