Intro Philosophy books

[OldManPete]

Thanks again to everyone for the continued help, you’ve given me more great resources than I imagined. I have started to show some of these books to my friend and I am hoping he will decide to begin reading some of them. I am in the middle of reading some Scott Hahn and Christopher West right now, but hope to be able to begin reading some of these books myself as well, and I’m sure I’ll be introduced to the authors more when I begin my philosophy studies in a few years. God Bless!

 

[csr]

It is really hard, IMO, to get into philosophy. It is easy to be idealistic and say “I’m gonna start with Plato!” but then you get into a few pages and it’s just, uh, what is all this.

I think it’s worth taking a look at www.teach12.com, which offers a lot of courses on DVD or in MP3 format. The prices aren’t bad, and it’s a nice first look at complicated topics, almost like a college 101 or 201-level course on whatever the subject matter may be. Not Catholic, but hey few things are perfect in this world.

 

[Cajetan]

For a working adult who is really interested in learning about philosophy in his free time for personal benefit, I would actually recommend sitting in on philosophy lectures at a local university (if you’re interested in Plato, attend lectures on Plato’s works, etc.). Reading books is great and necessary, but good lectures from professional scholars really go a long way toward a deeper understanding of the issues. It also gives one a taste of the true philosophical spirit, which is really dialogic or conversational.