It's often times in order to lay a groundwork of philosophical concepts that are needed to build off of one another to reach the main assertion of the texts. There is an assumption of familiarity

Yeah i gave up on reading philosophy because i found myself just saying 'i know that' aloud after every sentence and getting exhausted

That's kinda what philosophy is, in some respects.

Taking universal, intrinsic feelings and concepts, and putting them into words so that other people can be made aware and have a greater understanding of what they already know.

It's conceitedly insightful of the human experience, to turn a phrase.

>>7827252
not just philosophical literature, but philosophy as well, you probably already have intuitive ideas about the topic of free will vs determinism for example, but someone who took the time to sit down, think, and write out this stuff may take the ideas further or in a different direction than you have yourself.

there's also the matter of an author something you already knew, but writing it with clarity, putting it succinctly, imbuing the thought with art, and etcetera i dunno mang

>>7827252
The killer

>>7828924
>conceitedly insightful
very clever

also most people were illiterate when the classics were written, so to them it was like genius knowledge.

all contemporary writing has these classical philosophical concepts so deeply ingrained within their cores, and we've been exposed to them for so long that we feel they are obvious. but if you took an uneducated individual, taught them to read without exposing them to anything other than rote procedural material, and then gave them The Republic, for example, they would be blown away.

Try phenomenology, it will make you go "what? hmmm I guess but, hmmm no, wait, hmmm, that seems wrong but...hmmm"

>>7827252
There's still value in learning the true names of things. It helps in separating out the bullshit for one.

>>7827252
You haven't read Plato then OP, start all over again.

Yes and no.

I don't think philosophy has to challenge your thinking, it can cement it.

Some Buddhist texts changed my whole way of thinking, and put into words some things which should have been obvious to me, but weren't.

(for instance, non-attachment, focusing on the process or intention rather than the outcome. You cannot control the outcome, so your intent is what matters.)

It has a beautiful simplicity to much of it I found lacking in most modern philosophy, especially Western philosophy.

But it is also comforting to realize that you are not completely insane, and that others have had similar thoughts or opinions.
History has shown that people can believe they are mad, if nobody else believes what they believe. The guy who first theorized germs spreading disease, was commuted to a lunatic asylum, and convinced himself he must be insane, because the undeniable logic of his situation was that he was commited to an asylum.

I found Nietzsche refreshing and less stuffy than most works, and more accessible than I expected, and it was comforting to find myself saying 'yes! That! Exactly that!' especially when he talks about religion (I'm a reformed atheist, now an apatheist)
'how evangelical!'

Ironically, Nietzsche got me started on Buddhism when I read him complimenting it as more a philosophy, less dogmatic, and more a philosophy, comparing it favourably to other more established religions.

I remember a bloggers saying 'write down all your beliefs and thoughts on how to live, that have stood up to scrutiny. This book is your philosophy.'
I just thought 'wow'.
I don't prescribe to any one teacher or author or philosophy, I have free will.
I can agree with 99% of something, but still think 'yes, but....'

i tend to assume we know nothing, iterated truths are only true upon utterance and for not long after. Even something like "Sure is cloudy today" I take as revelatory the first time i hear it in a day. There's always a new way to put a social or philosophical truth; always a new situation to apply an old one.

>>7829138
who was the insane germ speculator?

all the time.