Hey guys, I'm to start a philosophy degree in october.
Good for you. I'm an old philosophy student myself.
I've little background knowlegde, but the subject has always interested me. I've bought several books, but the subject is so vast!
That it is. Philosophy addresses pretty much every aspect of human experience.
Who and what subjects do peaople believe are good starting points?
If you don't have a lot of background at this point, you might want to start with a good introductory survey of the subject.
Thinking It Through: An Introduction to Contemporary Philosophy by Kwame Anthony Appiah is a book that I like. It's written on an introductory level, but it isn't overly simplistic and it addresses many contemporary controversies from multiple points of view. You'll come away knowing the issues, who the contending philosophical factions are, and will be better able to understand what articles in the philosophical journals are going on about.
You probably should have a good dictionary of philosophy too. The
'Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy' edited by Simon Blackburn is excellent and available in a cheap paperback edition. It will help clarify the jargon that you encounter, and the little essays that accompany each word will tip you off about the questions and controversies surrounding various concepts.
I've read Plato's Laches, Meno, Lysis and The Cave and Descartes' Discourse On The Method so far, all thoroughly enjoyed!
Great! It's often best to read what the philosophers actually say, rather than reading what contemporary authors say they say.
You know, philosophy majors write lots and lots of papers. So one of the unexpected beneficial side-effects of studying philosophy is that your expository writing is apt to improve towards professional writing standards.
Feel free to mix it up in the philosophical arguments here on Sciforums too.
