1 of 1- Camionneur
- New member
Offline - Registered: 7/26/2015
- Posts: 1
Recommended sequence of reading
So I've come across a wide range of philosophy majors a few years ago in my brief exploration of Philosophy classes, and I wasn't very impressed with their technical knowledge. That is, not being able to understand upper level division texts on Metaphysics (a and b time, that Quine paper on Pegagsus, unable to use predicate logic in papers outside of the necessary logic course, etc.) My exposure to Philosophy ended at 20 or so credits, and then work and fitness took over my spare time.
Now I want to get back into the subject, but I'm not in the position to jump right into hard material. So what recommended sequence of reading should I start with?
Anyone read Just the Arguments: 100 arguemtns in Philosophy?
- John West
- Administrator
Offline
- Registered: 6/25/2015
- Posts: 1,254
Re: Recommended sequence of reading
Right now, I like ABC of Scholastic Philosophy by A. C. Cotter as a place to start. As the author writes in his summary, scholasticism as he presents it has pedagogical value even for people who don't ultimately agree with it. For a more general survey of metaphysics, there is also E. J. Lowe's A Survey of Metaphysics (which I had as a class text and was my introduction) and Loux's Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction. I recommend starting with one or more of those.
There is an introductory resources thread here with further recommendations.
- DanielCC
- Administrator
Offline
- Registered: 6/26/2015
- Posts: 765
Re: Recommended sequence of reading
Camionneur wrote:
Now I want to get back into the subject, but I'm not in the position to jump right into hard material. So what recommended sequence of reading should I start with?
Okay so is there any area you are particularly interested in and at what level would you consider yourself? (Sorry if that sounds a bit patronising - it isn't mean to).
I would definitely second John’s recommendation of Loux’s Introduction to Metaphysics. It starts off with the most in-depth section first but if you can get through that then the rest of the book will be smooth sailing. It really is one of the most impressive, over-arching sweeps of contemporary Analytical metaphysics out there.
(Lowe is also good though the subjects he deals with are somewhat more specialised. If you have access to both go for Loux first)