Reddit reviews Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle, 4th Edition
We found 4 Reddit comments about Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle, 4th Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
HACKETT
I would say yes, but with a few caveats. I myself am a bit of an autodidact, and I study philosophy as a hobby in my free time. I am currently a university student who works part time, so I sympathize with your concerns about limited time and energy. Some things I think you should be aware of:
• Studying on your own will be slower and generally less efficient than getting a degree. You won’t have the same obligations or motivators that university students have.
• You will lack access to resources that university students have. This includes both academic material (journals, essays, books) but also an environment with instructors and fellow students to consult when you’re confused.
• You will not have the benefit of writing essays and having them graded by an instructor.
Despite this, I still think there is a lot to be gained from self study. You have the freedom to pursue whatever you want, and you can go at a pace that’s comfortable to you. Plus there’s something to be said about challenging yourself and doing constructive things in your free time.
It may be best to start with introductory texts like Copleston’s history to get a general idea for each philosopher and to find what interests you. If you are still interested in the thinkers you mentioned, you should move on to primary sources. I’d recommend the following reading plan which should cover some of the “essentials” and has a sort of progression from one thinker to the next:
These four books will give you a solid foundation in western philosophy. You have the fundamental ideas and questions from the Pre-Socratics, Plato, and Aristotle, rationalism from Descartes, empiricism from Hume, and the synthesis of the two in Kant. Moving on:
These three cover your interests in phenomenology, from its foundations in Husserl, to Heidegger’s magnum opus, to Sartre’s interpretation and his development of existentialism. Finally we have:
These two cover Horkheimer & Adorno’s critical take on enlightenment rationality and Derrida’s deconstruction of Husserlian phenomenology.
None of these books are particularly easy (especially Husserl and Heidegger), but I encourage you to try! Take it one book at a time, read slow and take notes, and consult the IEP and SEP if you’re confused, watch YouTube lectures, or ask on this subreddit.
Good luck!
Well, there are a lot of different ways to tackle philosophy. Here are two: you can approach it by topic or you can approach it historically. I prefer the topical approach, but it seems like you want a historical understanding, so I'll base my recommendation on that.
Also, the readings you choose can either be primary or secondary. Purists will tell you to stick with primary readings. I strongly disagree; especially for ancient philosophy. Secondary texts help in a number of ways: they provide social, cultural, and historical context; they can summarize vast quantities of scholarship; they can point out translation difficulties; they can indicate where a fragmentary record might be misleading; they can provide valuable comparisons and contrasts to contemporary background knowledge; and so on. Yes, they're biased, but most of my students get more out of a secondary text that has some bias than out of a primary text they can't understand. The value of secondary is especially great if you're studying on your own. I'll provide both primary and secondary recommendations and leave it up to you how to proceed.
As it's usually taught, the Presocratics are at the beginning of Western philosophy -- people like Thales, Xenophanes, Heraclitus, and Parmenides.
I like the presocratics, but I wouldn't blame you for skipping them and starting with Plato. There are a lot of dialogues, so you might want to be selective. Choose something from his early period: The Apology. Some dialogues from his middle period: The Meno and Phaedo. And something from his later period: The Republic. There are a lot of decent translations out there; however, avoid Jowett at all costs.
Now for Aristotle. There are a number of worthwhile works, but whatever else you do, you should read Nicomachean Ethics. Also, if you have time, read Topics, Physics, Metaphysics, and De Anima; however, I warn you that I don't think these works are as accessible as the Nicomachean Ethics. And since you're studying biology, so you might get a kick out or reading Parts of Animals.
For all of the above you could get one primary text, Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy, (Fourth Edition): from Thales to Aristotle. This is a great reader; it has selections from the presocratics and sophists, it has the Plato dialogues I recommended, it has several works from Aristotle too.
Let me also suggest some secondary texts. For the Presocratics I suggest something like Philosophy Before Socrates (Second Edition): An Introduction with Texts and Commentary. For Socrates I recommend Vlastos' Socratic Studies. For Aristotle I recommend two books: first, Ackrill's Aristotle the Philosopher; second, Urmson's Aristotle's Ethics.
Next up: the Hellenistic philosophers, which includes the Epicureans, Stoics, Academics, and Pyrrhonists. Long and Sedley's collection The Hellenistic Philosopher's, Volume 1 is very good. It has a well organized selection of primary readings with some commentary. But don't get volume 2 unless you speak Greek and Latin. For a secondary text, the Sedley and Long could be paired with Long's Hellenistic Philosophy.
For comprehensive collection of helpful secondary sources, you might want to try the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
I would try to find syllabus by college professors to help you along with this. MIT puts all their material online. These are deep questions and a lot of the information I've gleaned on them is by virtue of podcasts and other various media.
When it comes to philosophy, I'd start with the Greeks. Plato's Republic, Aristotle, Socrates. The pre-Socratics like Anaxagoras and Thales, Pythagoras and Heraclitus all have very interesting things to say that really lay the foundation for the rest of Western philosophy. I have a textbook called Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales to Aristotle that I read early in college and another called The Continental Philosophy Reader that were both instructive to me. The second book takes you though Modernist and Post-Modernist thinkers, though I believe the philosophy is distinct from the literary movement. No joke, you will probably need help understanding a lot of this stuff. I know I did. I never read Sophie's World and so it may be useful, but I can't speak to that.
Much of American politics comes from philosophy. In particular, reading David Hume, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill will be instructive in understanding a great deal of the modern American political landscape. Difficult texts as well.
This will probably be enough to point you in the direction of all your other inquiries. They all intertwine.