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nerlinhammy t1_j7ulcsz wrote

What are some good books to read as an introduction into philosophy? I’ve always loved philosophical discussions but I feel I’m at a much lower level than most people on this sub, and I want to catch up lol. Any and all suggestions are welcome!

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ephemerios t1_j7yijul wrote

I wouldn't recommend Russell's History of Philosophy. While it is certainly easy (and at times delightful) to read, it's dated and frequently reflects Russell's biases more than being a good introduction to philosophy (the chapters on Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche are atrocious, the one on Aquinas borderline slander). Russell is decent to understand certain attitudes that dominated 20th century British philosophy, but we now have better histories of philosophy, especially for beginners. Instead, I'd recommend this:

  • Anthony Kenny's New History of Western Philosophy (four volumes). Probably the best historical overview available right now. Accessible and well written.

  • The Routledge Contemporary Introductions series should cover the basics: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics. The series contains more than 30 volumes. Pick the ones that interest you/that you can find on the internet. None of those are exactly historical and pay little mind to historical context or the specific philosophers while Kenny's work is an actual history of philosophy.

  • Russ Shafer Landau's The Fundamentals of Ethics is an accessible introduction to moral philosophy.

  • For contemporary analytic metaphysics, Loux's Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction (part of the Routledge series) seems to be standard. Alternatively, van Inwagen's Metaphysics. For a more historical approach, or for continental metaphysics, Grondin's Introduction to Metaphysics.

If you're just interested in a bunch of ideas, removed from their historical context, then the Routledge series might be the better pick (but imo not paying attention to the historical context deliberately is just intentionally depriving oneself of the "full picture" for no good reason).

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thoughts_n_calcs t1_j7w9m69 wrote

Betrand Russels „A History of Western Philosophy“ will give you a good overall knowledge about the most important ideas in Western Philosophy. It‘s a bit lengthy( 1000 pages), but comparatively easy to read.

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nerlinhammy t1_j7wfkul wrote

That’s fine, page length doesn’t matter to me as long as the book assumes I don’t know much.

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