How much should i be understanding on a first reading of a philosophical text? Whenever I read one I mostly get what's being said but i always feel like i'm missing something. I've never really read much outside of literature for school and sci-fi/fantasy.
Am i just stupid or is this normal?
What have you been reading? Philosophy often assumes familiarity with prior works, so you should probablystart with the Greeks.
>>7897140
I've been reading Plato and Nietzche
>>7897148
Familiarize yourself with the presocratics, then return to Plato. Nietzsche comes later.
>>7897116
Don't start with the Greeks. Look for books that you can understand and that try to be explicit in their refernces to other philosophers. You don't have to like it, but Grham Harman's "The Prince and the Wolf" is such a book, for example. When you have found a ghandful of those, you can tackle the more difficult ones that deal with related topics because you will be able to understand where they come from and where they are trying to get to.
I've never really understood that picture and becoming literate is such a drag when you're an american, so could anyone elaborate it a bit? I know I'm shitposting.
>>7898158
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Atlas#The_print_advertisements
They're mutations of the "90 pound weakling" exercise advertisements
>>7897241
That is the worst advise I've ever heard
>>7897241
>>7897148
Start with Presocratics move on to Plato then go to Aristotle, I'd recommend reading things such as books on the cynics, the skeptics, Seneca, and just lay a solid foundation in ancient greek then move onto Aquinas, Descartes, and Spinoza. Go from there.
>>7899423
Not really. To understand Nietzsche better you need to read what he read and attempt to understand what he read to the best of your ability.
>>7897116
Who's the girl with Freddy? Salomé?
>>7897116
hello OP, first of all I would like to say that I mostly agree with what this>>7899496
anon is saying, however if you feel like that if 'the Greeks' is becoming to much of a grind don't be afraid to pick something you're simply interested in (like Nietzche in your case) for fun and re-reading it later.
it doesn't really matter if you don't understand everything right away, read it, think about it and maybe re-read it again a few years later, philosophy and literature isn't about accumilating as much knowledge as one can in th least amount of time possible, do things at your own pace and just enjoy yourself.
>>7899520
Ayn Rand
>>7900601
That would be the worst couple.
Freddy deserves better!