You have heard about the ancient art of knowledge and want to know how you can start doing philosophy. At first glance, the world of philosophy can look very overwhelming. There are many branches and types of philosophies that all seem so different. In this blog post, you will find an easy way to learn philosophy, so you can get started with becoming a true philosopher.
How to get started with philosophy
Reading
In philosophy, a few skills are very important. If you want to learn how to do philosophy, you are going to have to train them. One of these skills is reading. The main way for philosophers to share their ideas and theories is through text. We still have texts from ancient masters of wisdom and how amazing is it that you can still read these? Though, these old texts might be difficult to understand you should not let this discourage you. That is one of the lessons you need to keep in mind when approaching philosophy, you will have to read difficult texts that might take multiple readings to grasp. But you should not let this discourage you because, after all that struggle, it is much more fulfilling when you finally unravel the meaning. Start your philosophy reading journey by researching ideas and philosophers you would want to know more about. You will do the best reading when you do it out of interest. Start with philosophers you have heard of before, and see which ones have ideas that interest you. From there you can look into philosophers that have similar theories or opposing ones. Keep it interesting for yourself and don’t get stuck in one corner of this ancient art of wisdom. There is so much to explore.
Writing
The other skill that is extremely important is that of writing. As a philosopher, this is a skill you will have to develop. Start by writing small portions of texts in which you explain an idea of yours or in which you defend an opinion. Start making this more and more challenging for yourself by looking for prompts on the internet or by writing a reaction to a paper of an actual philosopher. Once you have read a lot of philosophical works, the writing does get easier. A good way to practice your writing skill is to dissect a text that you are reading to see if you can get the structure right. Once you develop this skill, you are starting to become a philosopher!
How to do philosophy
You don’t do philosophy alone. As a modern philosopher, many of the things you can learn you can learn by interacting with other people. You could look up if there is a group of people nearby you that are into the same topics as you or that already discuss philosophical issues to spar with. The art of philosophy is just so much more enjoyable if you can do it with others. By listening to others trying to defend a point or explaining a difficulty they have found, you will discover many more subjects and ideas you will want to research. From this, you will also learn how to articulate your own ideas and standpoints. This is so important because if you want your ideas to be heard you have to find a way to articulate them enticingly.
Learn the art of wisdom
The best way to learn philosophy is thus by focusing on the skills of reading, writing, and discussing. One of the most important things I have found is that you should figure out what branches of philosophy you like. There are just so many different subjects to get into and you probably will like some more than others. So, figure out if you like philosophy of language or ethics or something else entirely. Learning is just much more fun when focusing on something you have an interest in.