What To Read (Philosophically)

[jazzy_dave]

From the same source -

4. What to Read

To be a good philosopher you need to read a lot of good philosophy. Anders Eriksson, an expert on becoming an expert, has estimated that you need around 10,000 hours of practice to become a genuine expert in most fields. In philosophy, practicing includes (but isn’t exhausted by) interacting with great philosophical minds. And the best way to do that – for many philosophers the only way – is by reading their books.

Sometimes what you need to know is buried in an especially dull book, in which case you just have to grit your teeth and plough through. Much of the time, though, it’s more useful to be a bit of a magpie. Read the things that capture your attention. If a philosophy book turns out to be dull or irrelevant, or just not very good, put it down and find something better to read.

Over the last twenty years a large number of philosophical dictionaries, handbooks and companions/study guides have sprang up. These can be both incredibly useful and very entertaining. Three of my favourites are the Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of Mind edited by Samuel Guttenplan; the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy by Simon Blackburn; and the on-line Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward Zalta. Indulge yourself.