(Say 'life has meaning again. I dare you. I double dare you mothafucka')
Disclaimer -
Wo whoo. Tips on reading a subject that barely anyone reads. Great. Another very well-performing blog in the making I am sure (insert nervously chuckling Squidward meme here). Anyways. The disclaimer is that this is not a blog on how to read philosophy for your school or college syllabus. Any under-performing scorecard is not my responsibility, that is on you and your internet addiction. Now with that out of the way, this is a blog about how to read philosophy in general life, not just how to get over with it in 2-4 years of academic life. Reading a subject/genre for fun/knowledge is different from reading it for the (Indian) academic system; the latter can be mostly aced without cultivating knowledge at all. This blog is about things I wish I knew before I started reading philosophy for interest's sake.
1. Don't take things personally.
Try to maintain a sense of detachment from the text while reading it. Philosophy is basically a bunch of thought experiments, and it is very easy to be like "hmm...this hypothetical/rhetorical situation does seem kinda like my life...and this branch of philosophy, say Nihilism for example, is giving me the answers to the problem...so I should let this branch of philosophical thinking dictate my life...hmm that seems reasonable". While yes, logically that would seem correct, however, it is good to remember that each philosopher, no matter how ancient, from far back Buddha to more recent Slavoj Zizek, everyone is a master of rhetoric. Every philosopher is a genius that could have been a top salesman in this capitalistic economy, they know how to structure the problem such that their answer seems best to the problem. So in the first 2-3 years of going into philosophy, try not doing the 'literally me' meme thing. Maintain a safe distance from the text and have other things to do/have goals to achieve in life than just reading philosophy for the first 5 years.
2. Don't try to be pretentious
Yeah. Don't do that. Try not to create this romanticized image in your mind of "oh look...I study the classics...I study philosophy...oh smart me...". Don't do this, because this not only annoys other people who don't give a shit about philosophy (until they hit an existential crisis one day and come to you asking the meaning of life or free will or destiny or whatever), but also this will create a contorted view of yourself in your own mind about how you are a wise person but when in reality you will not take wise decisions, you will be like 'ah fuck...philosophy is useful for jackshit in real life I guess. Yah Buddha I get it, empty your mind, but that isn't going to help me win this argument I am having with my girlfriend' or something. Idk. Just don't be pretentious. Philosophical principles, knowledge, and aphorisms take years to understand, and some philosophical lessons are situation based, so you won't ever be able to comprehend the practical value of the knowledge until you face that particular situation. For example, understanding the concept of mortality and coupling it with stoicism, yah I know it is easy to understand them, but you won't be able to practically value them unless one of your loved ones dies, which I am sure (and hope) does not occur regularly.
3. Take a break.
Can't stress this enough, but take a break when you fill overwhelmed by philosophical ideas, which is something very common in the first 5 years. Take a one-month break at least when you need a break, and sometimes a break can even mean 5 years if required to take one. Understanding Philosophy is more like creating curd from milk. Your mind is the milk. The information from Beyond Good and Evil is the lactobacillus and time is the temperature. The curd that will form is your enhanced worldview after reading the philosophical text. The harder the philosophical text, the less lactobacillus it will contain, and hence the more time it will take to form the curd, the easier the text, the more the lactobacillus it will contain, and hence easier to form the curd. Unsurprisingly enough, the more curd your mind will create and store, the easier it will be the next time you want to create the curd. So take a break when you feel you need it, especially if you have been reading any texts that have caused you a major paradigm shift. Close the books and take the time to think about it. Come back at least after a month.
4. Don't use it as a defense mechanism
Don't. Just don't. You have a laziness issue? Don't try to hide with hedonistic philosophy. You have general apathy for life and haven't experienced anything good for a while? Don't use Nihilism as a shield then. You have parental issues? I hope you are not burying your nose into Freud to justify your sexual thoughts.
Use each branch as a way to understand your problem, as a way to recognize the problems better, not as a way to create an excuse on not working on those problems. It's just...not worth time reading philosophy then. Do something else.
5. Read opposing views. Please.
Philosophy is for broadening the worldview, not for using it as a means to validate an existing narrow worldview. Philosophy in its purest form is discourse, argument, and clash of ideologies and ideas. Reading philosophy is about chasing truth, its end goal is to attain the truth, but for attainment, the chasing is necessary, and that chasing is the reading of contradictory materials and branches and finding which one is the better one. Don't praise Absurdism until you have read Existentialism. Maybe after reading both of two you find both are equally jackshit to you, and Transcendentalism suits you better. Good. Go for it then. You do you bro!
6. Form your own (remix) views. Please.
Thesis. Anti-thesis. Synthesis. What's the point in wasting all those painstaking hours and making your brain work extra hard when you could have watched Netflix instead; if not for the reason that now you have more nuanced and personally attuned worldview. Treat philosophy as a guiding principle and apply them to life, and change few rules and adjust a few guidelines as you go through the years, you don't have to follow Plato's footsteps, problems, philosophical problems that exist in your age didn't exist in his age, remember? Don't be a parrot and blurt out quotes, be a functioning and rational human being instead.
Some Bonus Tips!
a) Watch films. Watch good films. Even Anime/Animated ones.
You know what I am talking about. The ones that aren't hyped around on cable television, the ones that only "nerdy" youtubers and video essayists talk about. Yah, Those. Watch them. If philosophy is the king of arts then cinema, good cinema, is the king in action. Watch Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki, Bong Jon-ho, Park Chan-wook, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, George Lucas, Watch Angel's Egg, Perfect Blue, Paprika. Watch films from the French New Wave, Watch from the silent era, watch films based on themes like loneliness, like Taxi Driver, on wars, like Darkest Hour, on the struggle of existence and consumerism like Fight Club. You get it right? The "good" stuff. Watch the Good stuff.
b) Write more often than you read.
Write things. Keep writing things. Keep the ideas coming. The brain never stops and one way to look inside the cauldron and see what khichri is cooking up after you have read some difficult stuff and reflected upon it is to write your heart out. Keep a journaling diary and make reflective writing a habit not a task.
c) Talk to people. Discuss ideas.
Lastly, keep talking to people about your ideas and views and what you have read. Make conversations and do not shy away if sometimes "deep" topics come up. Talk to people with the intention of expanding yourself and the other person as well. Participate in debates, talk in public parks, go up to professors and discuss things. This was the earliest way philosophy developed. People talking and debating and pondering over things late at night. Keep the tradition alive and raise a toast to it.
Sooo...OK. That's all. Thank you for reading. Byeeee
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