How to Understand the Philosophical Tradition
Get an idea beforehand on what you think philosophy is., Know how to read philosophy., Study the history of philosophy., Begin with Plato and Aristotle., Do not limit your studies to works of philosophy., Know which philosophers to read., Use...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Get an idea beforehand on what you think philosophy is.
Figure out what you think it does, what it should accomplish, and why you would like to set about practicing philosophy.
If you later find out that philosophy is not what you thought it was, you might know better whether you would like to stick with it, or find a different practice that suits your goals better. -
Step 2: Know how to read philosophy.
Many philosophical texts are dense works, more akin to prose mathematics than traditional essays and literature.
When reading a work of dense philosophy, do not read, as you would a novel, "page by page".
You should read sentence by sentence, taking the time to understand each idea before moving onto the next.
The ideas and terminology presented in one sentence are often of key importance for understanding those to follow in the next sentence.
Sometimes you have to read the next couple of sentences to understand the one before, and sometimes you have to go back and reread a prior sentence to understand one later.
But take your time and try to understand as much as possible before moving forward in the work. , Philosophy is not necessarily always exciting (depending on your mentality), but if you plan to study philosophy seriously you should begin with a cursory grasp of the entire trajectory of the history of philosophy.
The reason for this is that many philosophical works and ideas are developments of or reactions to prior works and ideas.
It's often very difficult to understand or appreciate one work without having read what came before it.
For this reason it is particularly helpful to begin at the beginning and work your way forward through at least reading the major works of history. , Many of the key issues in philosophy are found in the works of these thinkers.
It is not necessary that you agree with the conclusions of these thinkers, or even with their methods
- many of their successors don't.
Still, dealing with their arguments and their ideas with logic and reason will put you in the right direction for continuing your philosophical studies. , To a degree it is possible to get lost in abstraction.
Much of modern philosophy takes cues from empirical data (physical data, and data available to the senses), as well as the methods and findings of modern science (including physics, psychology, etc.), history, current events and social/political development, so it is more than worthwhile to keep your head above water on these subjects.
If you want to write/discuss political philosophy, it is important to know about current political events as well as the structure of governments and methods of government actions.
If you want to study philosophy of the mind, you should stay abreast of recent developments in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. , Which philosophers are considered most important is often the result of prejudices, but it is undeniable that there are a few philosophers who have objectively contributed to paradigm shifts in philosophical thinking.
In chronological order, some of the most important of these are:
Plato, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, etc.
This list is not by any means exhaustive, and it doesn't include many of the important figures who contributed to specific areas of philosophy.
Pick the area or areas of philosophy that most interest you and read about their history in order to understand who the most influential philosophers are.
For example, the list of influential political philosophers would look very different, with emphasis on Machiavelli, John Locke, and Karl Marx rather than Descartes, Spinoza, and Hegel. , When you are having serious trouble understanding a philosophical work even reading the work slowly and closely sentence by sentence, you should try looking up terminology either in a regular dictionary or a philosophical dictionary, or else reading a secondary work (ie. a scholarly work about the philosopher's philosophy) on the philosopher.
Make sure the secondary work is an introduction or overview, or else knowledge of the philosophers terminology might be presupposed and you may find the secondary work as difficult as the primary one.
Secondary sources can be very helpful in teaching you about philosophers and how to understand them, but they should never be substituted for reading the philosopher's work itself. , Yes it seems that a lot of philosophers do not practice this, as their writing can be stilted and obscure.
Recognize that this is not a hallmark of good writing.
Writing about your own ideas is the best way to develop them and make them concrete, but when you do this, make sure to write in a grammatically clear and coherent fashion.
Write as if you're talking to a friend or teacher, not as if you're trying to impress someone.
This will help make sure both you and your readers understand exactly what you're trying to say. -
Step 3: Study the history of philosophy.
-
Step 4: Begin with Plato and Aristotle.
-
Step 5: Do not limit your studies to works of philosophy.
-
Step 6: Know which philosophers to read.
-
Step 7: Use secondary sources to understand a complicated work.
-
Step 8: Work on expressing your meanings clearly.
Detailed Guide
Figure out what you think it does, what it should accomplish, and why you would like to set about practicing philosophy.
If you later find out that philosophy is not what you thought it was, you might know better whether you would like to stick with it, or find a different practice that suits your goals better.
Many philosophical texts are dense works, more akin to prose mathematics than traditional essays and literature.
When reading a work of dense philosophy, do not read, as you would a novel, "page by page".
You should read sentence by sentence, taking the time to understand each idea before moving onto the next.
The ideas and terminology presented in one sentence are often of key importance for understanding those to follow in the next sentence.
Sometimes you have to read the next couple of sentences to understand the one before, and sometimes you have to go back and reread a prior sentence to understand one later.
But take your time and try to understand as much as possible before moving forward in the work. , Philosophy is not necessarily always exciting (depending on your mentality), but if you plan to study philosophy seriously you should begin with a cursory grasp of the entire trajectory of the history of philosophy.
The reason for this is that many philosophical works and ideas are developments of or reactions to prior works and ideas.
It's often very difficult to understand or appreciate one work without having read what came before it.
For this reason it is particularly helpful to begin at the beginning and work your way forward through at least reading the major works of history. , Many of the key issues in philosophy are found in the works of these thinkers.
It is not necessary that you agree with the conclusions of these thinkers, or even with their methods
- many of their successors don't.
Still, dealing with their arguments and their ideas with logic and reason will put you in the right direction for continuing your philosophical studies. , To a degree it is possible to get lost in abstraction.
Much of modern philosophy takes cues from empirical data (physical data, and data available to the senses), as well as the methods and findings of modern science (including physics, psychology, etc.), history, current events and social/political development, so it is more than worthwhile to keep your head above water on these subjects.
If you want to write/discuss political philosophy, it is important to know about current political events as well as the structure of governments and methods of government actions.
If you want to study philosophy of the mind, you should stay abreast of recent developments in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. , Which philosophers are considered most important is often the result of prejudices, but it is undeniable that there are a few philosophers who have objectively contributed to paradigm shifts in philosophical thinking.
In chronological order, some of the most important of these are:
Plato, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, etc.
This list is not by any means exhaustive, and it doesn't include many of the important figures who contributed to specific areas of philosophy.
Pick the area or areas of philosophy that most interest you and read about their history in order to understand who the most influential philosophers are.
For example, the list of influential political philosophers would look very different, with emphasis on Machiavelli, John Locke, and Karl Marx rather than Descartes, Spinoza, and Hegel. , When you are having serious trouble understanding a philosophical work even reading the work slowly and closely sentence by sentence, you should try looking up terminology either in a regular dictionary or a philosophical dictionary, or else reading a secondary work (ie. a scholarly work about the philosopher's philosophy) on the philosopher.
Make sure the secondary work is an introduction or overview, or else knowledge of the philosophers terminology might be presupposed and you may find the secondary work as difficult as the primary one.
Secondary sources can be very helpful in teaching you about philosophers and how to understand them, but they should never be substituted for reading the philosopher's work itself. , Yes it seems that a lot of philosophers do not practice this, as their writing can be stilted and obscure.
Recognize that this is not a hallmark of good writing.
Writing about your own ideas is the best way to develop them and make them concrete, but when you do this, make sure to write in a grammatically clear and coherent fashion.
Write as if you're talking to a friend or teacher, not as if you're trying to impress someone.
This will help make sure both you and your readers understand exactly what you're trying to say.
About the Author
Ann Gibson
Enthusiastic about teaching cooking techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: