It’s tough to dip into original long form philosophical texts. They tend not to be in the form “hey, this is what I think...” Rather they assume the reader understands the general history of the specific topic and has read the key texts. So right off the first page you are tuning in to a global conversation, which does not acknowledge you, and that has been ongoing for thousands of years.

It would be very difficult to do without guidance.

There are books explaining what philosopher X was saying but summary is interpretation and there are translation issues over what philosopher X was saying anyway. So they can’t really tell you what philosopher X was saying only philosopher X can, but they can give you enough background and some simplified explanation that could enable you to engage with the text.

And that’s the next part. Philosophy isn’t for reading, in the sense that you read it and think “ok, I have read and understood that”. It is a conversation and you need to join it. You have to engage with the text. You need to acknowledge and check each point in each of their arguments. What are the premises, what is the conclusion, are the premises true, are they necessary and sufficient, does the conclusion follow from the premises, etc.

I recommend reading some essays rather than full texts. They are more accessible because they are shorter, focus on a single interesting argument, are self-contained and tend to be of the form “hey, this is what I think...”

And maybe a good history of philosophy book or summary of a specific philosopher or area of interest to you. However, know that whatever you learn from the history or summary book is not an accurate representation of the arguments of any philosopher. However, it will give you enough assistance that you should be able to understand them when you later go read them.


Peace,

kowalski