As mentioned during the latest podcast, there are different “onramps” for learning more about some of the philosophy and history of philosophy you’ve gotten a taste of during the course of listening to Critical Voter.
You could always start by reading the original works of philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, and more power to you if you decide to go down this route. But for most people, a likely next step would be one of the many secondary sources, including books, web sites, classes and online or audio courses that provide a survey of philosophical material integrated into an historical context.
The Critical Voter Resources page has a smattering of secondary resources I enjoyed learning from, my favorite being a book mentioned during the podcast entitled The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance by Anthony Gottleib.
Gottleib, former Executive Editor of The Economist Magazine in Great Britain, has also (like this week’s guest) taught philosophy at New York’s New School. And his book is a hugely informative as well as entertaining read which can put you in a strong position to start diving into specific or primary materials if you choose to do so.
Dream of Reason is probably too high level for younger students (such as Middle Schoolers) involved with the Critical Voter curriculum. But for anyone else who wants to find out how the Pre-Socratics begat the “Big Three” (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle), who begat the Hellenists, who begat the Middle Age philosophers and theologians, who began the world we live in today, Gottleib’s book is a great starting point.
And by the time you finish reading it, I expect you’ll be as anxious as I am for the second volume the author is currently writing which will complete the work with a look at modern philosophy.
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