I think it’s more important to get acquainted with the subject of philosophy than to start interacting on forums. — Wayfarer

Why not do both at the same time? Since joining TPF for the first time, I've learnt a lot and discovered new authors on a wide range of topics, such as when you suggested I read Alan Watts. For a beginner, I believe there will never be a suitable time to join a forum and engage in argument. Philosophy is complex, and I think it cannot be learnt in our own way.

Sure. Might just be my own experience as I first started reading philosophy decades before the internet existed. And I’ve learned a ton here. But the diversity of views can also be confusing.

These are generally good, although some are certainly better than others. I particularly like the one on Wittgenstein A.C. Grayling (originally published outside the series) and the one on existentialism (Thomas Flynn). The one on objectivity is excellent and I wish many people were forced to read something like it in school. The ones on linguistics, systems theory, and nothing (really the physics of "void") are all good. The one on philosophical method was neat too, and I'd give high marks to the ones on analytical and continental philosophy. The ones of post-modernism and post-structuralism were more average.

Some are less good. I like Floridi, but I thought his introduction to information was fairly confusing and I'd definitely recommend the Great Courses lectures on them over it, or Caleb Scharf's The Ascent of Information, our even the more advanced Routledge Handbook to the Philosophy of Information (much better than the Blackwell version IMO). They got Rodger Scruton for beauty, but that was more "Scruton does beauty," then an introduction. I haven't read the Hegel one, but IIRC they got Singer to do it which is a baffling choice. The philosophy of physics and biology ones are good but less interesting than they should be (biology was better).

I dabbled into the Heidegger and Foucault ones and they seemed ok.

In general, if you really want to go in depth on an area of philosophy I think the Routledge Contemporary Introductions are better (but also like 300-400 pages instead of 80-120), although they have a strong analytical bias in most cases.

Springer Frontiers is another good source if you like the intersection of philosophy and science, particularly physics, but it is not entry level. Arthur's book on time through them is my favorite book on time.

I would suggest not bothering if you are young. Just go and think about stuff then come back to it in a few years.

I say this because it can be easy to fall prey to this or that idea from this or that person. Just try and figure out stuff on your own by asking questions. Mull them over, leave them alone, come back to them, throw them away, pick them up again, think what else may be true, explore your world and life.

In the meantime, paint some pictures, make music, learn some mathematics and science and explore in general. :)

Alright, I guess I'll just be chill:smile:

Philosophy deals in concepts, rational thought, the bizarre creativity of the human mind and of course the various schools of a particular philosophic bent. The subject matter is open to anything and everything within the gambit of human existence. One can pull threads of thought from any avenue and any whimsy from the Existence of God right on down causality of time and place. The direction of "knowing" starts with ones own life experiences and choices.