How to read philosophy

A quick introduction

Hello there!

One of the most common questions I get from my 1-1 clients is “How can I read so that I understand more of what is going on?” And this especially comes up with those who are enriching their lives with philosophy. Philosophy may be valuable, but it is also often written as if by an ancient sorcerer with an interest in psychedelics. So here is my quick users’ guide to reading philosophy:

1. If there is an introduction or preface, read that first

I have been guilty of missing this step in the past and have always regretted it. If you are reading a classic work of philosophy like something by Plato or Nietzsche, there will almost always be an introduction by the translator, or an academic expert, explaining the key concepts in the work and how they fit together. This introduction will usually be in modern English and will be a much clearer explanation than the philosopher themselves gives. This means when you encounter the concept in the work, you will already know a bit about it, which makes the whole book much easier to understand.

It is very tempting to skip this step. After all, you bought Beyond Good and Evil to read Nietzsche, not his translator. But the expert introductions really are invaluable, and you will not regret reading them.

And if you want to work with me 1-1, then send me an email at josephfolleytutoring@gmail.com for client inquiries.

2. Read it slowly

Philosophy books are like baths, they are a lot more pleasant when they aren’t rushed. I explained in a previous video how I skim-read Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation, and as a result understood essentially none of it, wasting an afternoon in the process. Take your time. These ideas are complicated and often rich in nuance and detail, so getting a full understanding of them requires a slower pace than most books. Everyone has to do this. I have known philosophy professors who still, after illustrious academic careers, said they could not read more than 50 pages of philosophy per day.

3. Think for yourself

Philosophy is not nearly as fun as a spectator sport. A lot of people think they are somehow unworthy of questioning the great thinkers of the past, so their opinions are those of whatever philosopher they last read. Trust me, philosophers (even great ones) have said a lot of quite spurious things, and they deserve to be questioned. They are there to enrich your life, you are not there to flatter their long-departed egos.

This will also help develop your own philosophical thinking skills, and make the book more enjoyable. It will feel a lot less like a lecture and a lot more like a conversation.

4. Read it twice

Truly great philosophy books are rarely fully understood on a first reading. If they were, they probably wouldn’t be considered great books. I recently re-read Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols and I was shocked at how much more there was to learn. So much wisdom had slipped through the cracks when I had first read it. I actually think it was better the second time around.

So don’t be afraid to pick up the same philosophy book again. It is not “going backwards”, it is making progress to a deeper understanding of the work.

5. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy

This is the secret of philosophy departments the world over. They all use this brilliant resource. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy contains pages on all the major philosophers written by experts in the field. They also have pages on philosophical topics like “The Ethics of AI” or “Non-deductive Methods in Mathematics”. Whatever your philosophical heart desires is here, so have a read through it. Best of all, it is completely free. A professor once told me they used it for every single academic article they had published in the last 10 years, so it is definitely worth a look. You can find it here: https://plato.stanford.edu/

There are exciting things coming up on the channel. A video on Camus is in the works, plus a long-term project on the philosophy of resentment, so stick around for that.

All the best,

Joe