Doing Philosophy - A Short Summary

Doing Philosophy by George MacDonald Ross et al. is a great introduction to the study of, or doing of philosophy, which includes reading, taking notes, discussing and writing essays. It is aimed toward university undergraduates beginning their study of philosophy, but it can be applicable to anyone wanting to study philosophy, of which I belong to the latter.

I really enjoyed the section on Reading Philosophy as I found it more applicable for my immediate needs, and is in fact, the cornerstone to doing philosophy. Different kinds of texts are discussed. If that journal article has you stumped, it's okay; the authors claim that even professional philosophers sometimes need to read an article several times to understand it. They say that when reading about a subject, it is essential to review arguments both for and against an idea. When reading philosophy, you must be careful to read thoroughly, and not skim. No speed reading! They offer a "structured reading" guide which will enhance your experience. Reading philosophy poses many challenges, such as technical language and translation issues, just to name a few. The authors cover this adequately.

Applicable to university students, they explain how plagiarism can take many forms, and how to avoid it.

Included in the "Writing Philosophy" section are four types of sample questions that one may need to write essays about. They discuss how you should think about the issue or question.

I believe my having read this book will benefit me in my self-study of philosophy and can do the same for you, whether a university student or on your own.

Hiking Trip

I'll be gone for the next 4-6 weeks while I'm hiking the trails from Pittsburgh, PA to DC. I'll only have my cellphone, so availability and ease of use for blogging will be difficult at best. During rests I'll be reading Jean Paul Sartre's "On Being and Nothingness". That's sure to add some weight to my pack. It's a work on existentialism, ontology, and phenomenology. It will make quite the challenge. Even students majoring in philosophy require much preparation just to begin reading this book. I've done all that time will allow, and hopefully will have some insight to share at my return.

On Being and Nothingness

One week left to go for the Blogathon! I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Seriously. When I'm feeling well, I can make a decent post every now and then. But when I'm feeling unwell, it's difficult to stay focused. Like, this last week I've been obsessing over the question "Why is there something as opposed to nothing?". This is a question that science can not answer at the moment, or possibly never will. It belongs in the realm of Theists and Philosophers. Can you imagine nothing?

And, I know this to be the case, yet the question pervades my every atom. It resonates within me, like I may be able to do something about it, or provide an answer. Everyone thinks this at some point in their lives. But, when you get seriously caught up in the moment, you seem to detach from yourself. A feeling of unreality settles in. You may feel like you are in a dream. This is a fleeting glimpse of Depersonalization. And it's been devastating this week, along with the OCD and Depression.

Depersonalization Disorder is this, but every day of your life. At least for me. Over the years, it has gotten better, but when I start thinking deep questions sometimes the Depersonalization gets worse.

The OCD portion of my brain won't let me quiet this thought, or be at peace with it. It ruminates over and over in my mind. I guess if I had a compulsion component to it, it would be researching the question on the internet and reading philosophy books, both of which I do. I will expand on these ideas in a future post, but I want to give it its due attention, so I will ease away for now.