i am a girl who just graduated from buisness school, and u can imagine how that is far away from philosophy :)
philosophy started for me from about 5 or 6 years ago when i was 16 or something when i found Descartes meditations by chance on the internet. it took me a hell of a long time to understand it, and what made that worse is that my native language is not english, but u cant imagine how i was fascinated by it, i was like: someone actually sat down and wrote his thoughts like that.
i tried after that to read some stuff here and there but it didnt seem to add anything. untill from a year maybe i found a book called “sophie’s world” a novel about the history of philosophy. its a best seller and it definetly deserves to be. so after i read that book i decided i will do my own philosophy studying since i will never be able to do that academically, specially in a place where i live. so i have decided that i shall study every section of that book on my own. for example the first chapter is about how philosophy emerged in the 5th century bc and started with the natural greek philosophers, so i will go and search for that on my own, books about the topic, read everything the prominent prominent philosophers at the time wrote and so on…
i understand its a project that could take a lifetime but i dont mind :)
now because i am doing my masters i find very little time to continue in my project, and sometimes i just miss philosophy, i feel like i wanna talk about it you know, so it was one of those desperate moments when i sent that post on the internet.. hehehe
so your idea about logic seems quite logical to me:) you think i should start with that?
tjwoods wrote:
What sort of things would you like to learn about in philosophy? It is a broad area, like business or computers. There are a few good places that you can easily study at home, but it helps to know your ultimate interest.
If I were to pick the one essential place to begin, I would start with logic. Philosophy consists largely of constructing and examining beliefs and arguments about various subjects, and logic is one tool that is used all the time. Logic is simple to start, but there are a lot of complications and difficult issues that arise as you study it. Although logic isn’t always as directly engaging as ethics, epistemology, hermeneutics, semiotics, or other branches of philosophy, it is probably the best place to begin if you want to fare well in any other subject area.
Introductory college courses in philosophy usually combine logic and history to give some skills and some perspective. While working on logic, you might want ot sample some other writings. A very accessible book is called “The Consolations of Philosophy” by Alain de Botton. It covers the basic teachings of a number of influential philosophers in history, and uses their thoughts to provide insight into problems and pains that people face everyday. The book’s structure makes it readable and enjoyable, and the history is helpful for getting an idea about the contributions of philosophers over time.
Does this sound like what you are looking for? Philosophers are notoriously willing to talk and argue, so keep asking if you want more ideas.
tjwoods
Vilén