Reddit reviews Truth and Method (Continuum Impacts)

Former grad student in humanities checking in. You're asking the right question! (IMO anyway...) You are very organized and it looks like you are interested more in the humanities than science.

IMO, the fundamental clarification to make is what field (and sub-fields) you want your intellectual foundation in: linguistics, philosophy, literature, religion, history, rhetoric, political science, etc. For each of these there are any number of methods to their study and focus on different aspects of the topic.

Let me explain: my field is the academic study of religion and sub-field is South and East Asian Religion. My sub-sub field Hinduism (and some Buddhism - Indian, Chinese, and Japanese) and my sub-sub-sub field is so-called "Tantra" but of a specific species non-dual monistic Shaiva tantra so-called Kashmir Shaivism - as opposed to other schools of tantra such as the more widely practiced dualistic Shaiva Siddhanta tantra in 9-10th century North India.

This demands - primarily - a study of the language of surviving texts: Sanskrit and also the geography, history, and literature, measuring months, years, seasons, etc. from that point in time and space - in addition to the actual philosophical tradition. This is more than a life-time of study.

Hopefully the swamp of detail above makes my point is clear - the better you discover and articulate what you want to learn about the better for you.

Also, what are your practical goals? Do you want to become a lawyer, get into politics, government, teach, work in a museum, for a religious organization, wander the world and have adventures - what?

Knowing this will help structure your program of study. I guarantee you that developing a methodological approach to your studies will be very valuable. Having a methodology will tell you why you are reading a particular set of books and what you are reading them for. Plato's Republic can be read for all sorts of reasons, but you will gain the most benefit by understanding what you want out of it.

A great way to get there is to go to major universities websites like Harvard, Columbia, Stamford, etc., and look at the various departments, courses, and for those courses that appeal to you - the syllabus of that course - and follow the reading list. Also, no problem contacting a professor asking for the reading list or some recommendations. Some uni's like Harvard have free videos of lecture series.

If you just want a list of books I can't do any better than the list provided by u/alistar373 - only I would recommend Gadamer's Truth and Method because it includes a summary of 19th and 20th century German thought Husserl, Hegel, Heidegger. Gadamer includes an interpretation of Classical Greek thought so that might be a good intro to Plato, et. al. Also some Derrida to go with your Nietzsche as an intro to 'post-modern' thought.

IMO starting with more contemporary material like Gadamer gives a foundation for going back to Plato, Aristotle, etc.