Ask HN: Learning about philosophy • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#111

Post by new_guy » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:19 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #107

pmoriarty wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikipedia great for some subjects, but is simply awful for philosophy. I'd stay far, far away from it.

Is Wikipedia great for learning philosophy? Of course not, no better than it would be for learning math or physics. But it's unsurpassed for learning what all the kinds of philosophy are , for getting a sense of all the stuff that's out there. Simply because any "philosophy" intro text you buy, no matter how broad, will ignore huge swathes of it. Wikipedia really is the best place to get an initial "lay of the land"…

It's really not. If you value learning at all stay away from wikipedia. It's garbage.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#112

Post by pmoriarty » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:20 PM UTC

rstefanic wrote: post #99

Ninjinka wrote: post #79

This is apparently an unpopular opinion, but READ THE PRIMARY SOURCES. "There is a strange idea that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a…

It's an unpopular opinion depending on what you're recommending. Telling someone "read the Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle" will lead someone to just pick up any copy of the Nicomachean Ethics. There are a lot of translations of the Nicomachean Ethics and they are not all equal. They range from very good translations, to idiosyncratic readings of the text, to flat out bad translations. Beyond poor translations, the a…

"for other philosophers (e.g. Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Hegel), telling someone to just "pick up one of their primary texts" is a disaster. It will either (a.) be complete gibberish to the reader without any context and they may just give up, or worse, (b.) they think they'll understand something without the proper context and spew nonsense in regards to that philosopher (this is why there are so many bad readings of Nietzsche)."

This is why you'll want to read those primary sources as part of a class, instead of just trying to go it alone.

But even that won't save you from "bad readings" of Nietzsche or any other philosopher, as plenty of experts disagree on what he meant. He, like some other philosophers, just wrote in a way that doesn't have one obvious meaning that everyone can agree on. With experience and study, you can make up your own mind, which will be better than swallowing some other person's pre-digested interpretation of him.

You might have an easier time understanding a secondary source's interpretation of Nietzsche, but that doesn't mean that you understand Nietzsche.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#113

Post by crazygringo » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:22 PM UTC

new_guy wrote: post #111

crazygringo wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Wikipedia great for learning philosophy? Of course not, no better than it would be for learning math or physics. But it's unsurpassed for learning what all the kinds of philosophy are , for getting a sense of all the stuff that's out there. Simply because any "philosophy" intro text you buy, no matter how broad, will ignore huge swathes of it. Wikipedia really is the best place to get an initial "lay of the land"…

It's really not. If you value learning at all stay away from wikipedia. It's garbage.

Could you eludicate? What precisely is "garbage" about:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy

I really can't think of a better or more complete way to get a quick wide-ranging overview.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#114

Post by sharkberry » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:25 PM UTC

Since you seem to be a complete beginner on the philosophy subject, I’d suggest a beginner approach instead of an academic one. There is a podcast called Philosophy This! Try listening to it.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#115

Post by pmoriarty » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:26 PM UTC

mvanga wrote: post #108

pmoriarty wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikipedia great for some subjects, but is simply awful for philosophy. I'd stay far, far away from it.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) is pretty fantastic. They have a lot of articles summarizing debates as well, which I find very useful. Example: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/platonism-mathematics/

It's good for Analytic philosophy, but not for Continental philosophy.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#116

Post by dr_dshiv » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:26 PM UTC

disown wrote: post #49

> Are there any books that are considered a must for someone new to the field of philosophy? > Mental models address a lot of 'practical' situations but I am realizing that they fall short when it comes to bigger questions of life. > What path did you follow to develop a personal philosophy? The "field of philosophy" is different from "spirituality/personal philosophy/meaning of life/etc". If you want an introduction…

It's hard to see how Plato doesn't address "life's bigger questions".

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#117

Post by dr_dshiv » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:31 PM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #46

This is really more history of philosophy, but the "Secret history of Western Esotericism Podcast" at https://www.shwep.net is really something. If nothing else, it'll make you want to go read Plato's works to see what your high school philosophy class didn't go into.

I love the shwep. Episode on Plato's Parmenides is pretty fab.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#118

Post by tomcooks » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:32 PM UTC

For an introduction to theology and eastern philosophy I suggest Alan Watts' lectures, you can buy them as audio files or try to find them on video streaming websites.

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#119

Post by Neputys » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:33 PM UTC

For starters: 1) Forget the Greeks. Anyone tells you to start from the Greeks they are snobs. Showing off and/or having a laugh at your expense. 2) Think about _your_ own "bigger life questions", what are they, what interests you. Give it time. Read something like Russell's History of western philosophy or list through a Philosophical dictionary. See who feels closer, more relevant to _you_. Maybe try this thing https://www.denizcemonduygu.com/philo/browse/ 3) Don't concentrate too much on the names. Same authors have books or parts on different subjects. Some of them will be to your liking some not. 4) Don't get into large complex works right away. For example Locke's essays on human understanding or Kant's Critique of Pure Reason would be a major pain in the butt to read as first philosophy book and you'd have to reread them later not to mention that you'll have to reread them anyway and not just once... Treatises on Government and/or Kant's Pragmatic Anthropology would give better chances to get hooked on. So you don't just autopilot read through the big ones without properly understanding a thing.

edit: 5) Then the Greeks ;)

Re: Ask HN: Learning about philosophy

#120

Post by tomcooks » Sat, Dec 05, 2020, 11:34 PM UTC

ebullientocelot wrote: post #8

So a lot of philosophical writing references a sort of general canon, at least as far as western thinking is concerned. Other traditions I'm sure have their own details but I can't speak intelligently to them. The field is enormous, and without more specific information regarding your goals it is difficult to pinpoint the classics in subfields that may interest you. That said, there are a few highlights I think you'r…

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is a great introduction to Stoicism