Reading Philosophy

Philosophical reading is different from reading for information. I offer these two sets of aids to reading philosophy:

  • Philosophical writings before the 1970's. These works may use any one of the following literary forms: commentaires, dialogues, epigrams, journals, letters, meditations, notebooks, novels, question/answer, poems or short paragraphs as well as the traditional book with chapters. Here are 10 tips for reading and understanding these works.

  • Philosophical writings since 1970 may follow one of the forms above but they are more likely to use the academic essay. Here are some tips for reading academic philosophical essays:
    1. Remember that the author is trying to communicate something. S/he is probably addressing a question that others have considered. Before you begin reading look at the footnotes and bibliography. Jot down the names of authors cited. As you go through the reading decide if the author agrees with, disagrees with, or agrees in part and disagrees in part with each of the authors cited. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you do it, you will soon develop a sense of which thinkers belong to what schools of thought, whose work is seminal and whose work has been so influential that almost everyone addresses it.
    2. Now, if the article has an abstract read it. If it does not, start the article. Note if the author has offered you any assisatnce with sub-headings and if so what they are.
    3. Your first task as you begin to read the text is to decide, "What is the fundamental question[s] of this essay?" if the abstract or sub-headings have not given that information already.
    4. Now, look for the paragraph [s] where the author tells you what s/he is going to do and how s/he is going to do it. This is usually near the beginning of the article.
    5. As you read, keep the author's plan in front of you and relate every page to the plan.
      Some typical essay structures:
      • Set out a position, show its weakenesses, give your position/thesis and then show why your postion is true.
      • Set out four or five positions, show why all but the last one is false or inadequate. Argue in favor of the last one.
      • Give your postion, argue in favor of it [and against other positions]
      • Begin with one or a series of problematic cases, analyze them and show that a certain position resolves them.
      These are not the only strucutes used but they are common. Also it is very common to analyze and make distinctions. It helps a great deal if you understand the plan or structure the author created for the essay.
    6. Be sure you can state the author's thesis and the main reasons the author offers to show its value or truth.
    7. Be sure to keep track of any vocabulary and its meaning for this essay. [In philosophy, unlike the natural sciences or medicine, the same words can take on different meanings to different philosohers so it is important to be sure you udnerstand what each author means by a word.]
    8. When you have finished, decide where the author belongs in terms of schools of ethics [Something that your study of glossaries and the class lessons will facilitate.] or in relation to other philosphers you have studied, and/or the positions taken by classmates.
    9. Finally, be sure that you have taken down all the information you will need for your bibliography or possible future footnote reference. If you cite pages as you take notes of thesis, definitions or reasons, you will not need to reread the whole article if you want to use an idea in a paper or your final project.
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