Start with the Greeks?

Kurush559 · 2019-06-10T22:04:28+00:00

Start with Simon Blackburn's "Think"

Alexlax11 · 2019-06-10T21:32:37+00:00

Start with the stoics, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius etc...

[deleted] · 2019-06-10T22:30:42+00:00

meditations by marcus aurelius

GetMeLaidAlot · 2019-06-11T00:29:21+00:00

Philosophy is something that you have to understand the context in which a lot of things are written. A lot of arguments are between two people who never met eachother and, in some cases, by people who aren't alive at the same time. If you ask me, you have the right idea in starting with the Greeks. You'll want to start with the Pre-Socratics, also known as the Milesians - it's exactly what it sounds like. These are the men who were philosophers before Socrates, although that's not what they were called. The two big boys of Greek philosophy, Plato and Aristotle, refer back to a lot of concepts and arguments by these men and you need to know what they were inquiring into. Good luck trying to find any surviving works by them though because the Pre-Socratics works are divided into two categories: (a) Testimonia and (b) excerpts. Testimonia is other philosophers referring back to the Milesians works and excerpts are exactly what they sound like. A forewarning, it doesn't sound like you will be interested in these guys based upon your question. The Milesians were known as Naturalists and they inquired into the natural world. They asked questions about the stars, the earth, and, you guessed it, nature. Nevertheless, they're still important to know of.

Once you've read up on the Milesians, then move onto Plato. Socrates never wrote anything and the only way we know anything about him is through this man. Socratic dialogues were the popular form of inquiry during ancient Greece, so most texts are written in this style. Xenophanes, another, less well-known, Greek philosopher also has written texts in which Socrates is involved but his are not as interesting and lacks the vividness that Plato's doesn't. If you read both Plato's and Xenophanes account of The Apology, you'll realize that they differ in some key ways, so it's always important to approach philosophy with a grain of salt and an open mind. After Plato, you'll want to move onto Aristotle. However, what you're looking for seems to be what Socrates was after. Questions such as "What is virtue?", "How does one live a good life?, or " What do we mean by a good life?", are all questions that Socrates was after and you will thus find a lot of inquiry into those topics in Plato's works.

Depending on whether or not you've found your answer you can then move onto Aristotle, who wrote on a vast majority of topics. I am not well versed enough in his works and lack the sufficient background to correctly hemp you in regards to this man's works because I myself am still working on Plato.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

inbredostrptw · 2019-06-10T22:24:14+00:00

You might want to listen to the podcast philosophize this. It gives a good overview of the works of major philosophers and their lifestyles and you can choose what you’re interested after that. Quite interesting, also lemme know if you find any good reads. I haven’t read any yet but I’m likely gonna start with Plato or Aristotle

Project_Zero_Betas · 2019-06-10T23:26:11+00:00

Yes. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, in that order.

Title	Start with the Greeks?
Author	papertowelfreethrow
Upvotes	1
Comments	10
Date	June 10, 2019 9:31 PM UTC (7 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/bz3m9f/start_with_the_greeks/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/start-with-the-greeks.241518 https://theredarchive.com/post/241518

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