Lately I have found an interest in philosophy. I would love to dig deeper into it when I get the time.
I just started reading Seneca’s Letters from a stoic and plan to read Tao te Ching next, as I always wanted to implement thoughts from Stoicism and Taoism in my life.
I’m aware that, randomly reading different philosophical works won’t give me much in-depth knowledge.
I want to know what’s a good way to go about it and the resources I could use.
I’d probably start with Socrates-Plato-Aristotle. They weren’t the first, but they basically formed the framework through which we think about philosophy. As you look into specific ideas in that context, you’ll find references to people who disagreed with, reinforced, and transformed their ideas. That’s when I’d start going down rabbit holes one at a time based on interesting historical responses.
Who came before Socrates? I don’t think there’s any historical evidence of his existence other than Plato talking about him simply because he’s so far back…unless you’re talking about beyond Greece.
There are a handful in the West, and several in the East. Thales predates him in Greece, Confucius predates him and provides similar insight to philosophical frameworks in the East, not to mention many others around the world and further in the past. It’s fine to start at one point and then research previous influences later.