7 Ways of Reading Philosophy: An Introduction

There are many ways you can read a philosophy book.

Image: Yumeiji Takehisha, Woman Reading a Book on a Sofa (1919), Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Philosophy can often appear to be a daunting subject. All those great minds! All those long words! All those endless sentences that go on for half a page! The popular image of philosophy — an image that some philosophers are reluctant to dispel — is that it is an unusually difficult pursuit. And so perhaps it is not surprising that many readers sit down to read philosophy full of good intentions, only to find themselves grinding to a halt in a strange cocktail of frustration, inadequacy, and despair.

How (not) to read philosophy

If you look at most online guides to reading philosophy, they tell you that to read philosophy, you need to be particularly methodical. First, you find a quiet place to settle down, free from distraction. Next, you muster all your high-minded seriousness. Then you start at the first page and work through sentence by sentence, making sure you understand each one before you move on to the next. You identify the philosopher’s arguments. You try to work out what their theses are. You think about what the premises are and what the conclusions are. You single out key terms and look them up. You make careful notes. And thus you proceed through the great work — as methodical as a giant tortoise munching its way through the contents of the salad bar — as the sun of understanding slowly dawns.

Cimelia physica. Figures of rare and curious quadrupeds, birds, &c. With descriptions by Shaw, George.London, 1796. Tab. XXVI. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

And all this is okay. In fact, it is probably good advice. But only if you have the patience of a tortoise, or if you are that kind of reader. But not all readers are the same. And failing to appreciate this is one reason that many readers of philosophy fall at the first hurdle. You don’t have to read philosophy in this tortoise-like fashion. Sometimes, there are better ways of reading. After all, different ways of reading a book can reveal different aspects of that book’s personality or character. And you really are under no obligation to read in any one particular fashion.

So in this friendly guide (which is going to stretch over eight different posts, including this…