Civilized General Discussion, the NEW BLUE BOARD / Philosophy

**Posted by Siagiah** 2/17/2019 1:54 pm

Hopefully, Poppet will share some of her knowledge of Philosophy with us?

Please use your manners and be civil. Enjoy !!

**Posted by Poppet** 2/21/2019 10:07 am

I hope we can get some good, thought-provoking discussions going here! As many probably know, philosophy is my academic/professional field. Hit me up with questions if you like, but know that I might just point you at good links for your answer: the search itself is often the best part of learning philosophy, leading to tangents that are just as useful as the original line of query (and in most cases, someone has probably put it better than I would, anyway!).

And don't worry, I promise never to pull any of that "because I'm the PhD" crap. I someone thinks I'm wrong on a point of philosophy, let me have it! You don't think I'm going to commit an argumentum ad verecundiam fallacy, do you?

**Posted by Siagiah** 2/21/2019 10:40 am

I know so little about philosophy that I don't know where to begin. Where would you recommend someone begin to learn some basics?

**Posted by Poppet** 2/24/2019 1:38 pm

I suggest bookmarking the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ( https://plato.stanford.edu/ ), which is my favorite online "general" tool for people whose questions might fall just about anywhere on the philosophical spectrum.

My favorite book to suggest for people getting their start Western philosophy is actually a novel! I strongly recommend "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder. It's a good read...and also a superbly-presented introduction to philosophy and philosophical thinking.

Last edited by Poppet (2/28/2019 9:08 pm)

**Posted by Siagiah** 2/24/2019 9:51 pm

Poppet wrote:
I suggest bookmarking the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ( https://plato.stanford.edu/ ), which is my favorite online "general" tool for people whose questions might fall just about anywhere on the philosophical spectrum.

My favorite book to suggest for people getting their start Western philosophy is actually a novel! I strongly recommend "Sophie's World" by =smallJostein Gaarder. It's a good read...and also a superbly-presented introduction to philosophy and philosophical thinking.

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Hey, thanks !! I will check them both out and get them.

**Posted by Siagiah** 2/24/2019 11:12 pm

Found the book in Kindle version and bought it. Found the link and bookmarked it. Thanks !!

**Posted by quantafyre** 8/18/2019 9:28 am

(Here's Johnny-come-very-lately) I agree with Sara about "the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy". I refer to it quite often. Another good text is "A History of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell, even though the writing style is somewhat dated. It is a very thorough work.