I am currently reading
The Last Season by Eric Blehm. It tells the tale of a backwoods ranger in the Sierra Nevada wilderness who goes missing. The ranger, Randy Morgenson, read the works of various philosophers, and I am intrigued and interested in checking out a few myself.
Intro to Philosophy class aside, I have not had much exposure to philosophy, and due to me not being interested in the subject matter at the time, I would consider myself to have no familiarity with philosophy or the various philosophers of the past.
Initially, I am looking for a book that overviews the various philosophers and their philosophies. Ideally it isn't too deep, but also provides enough information that will allow me to specialize and focus on an aspect or type of philosophy that interests me most. Later, I hope to specialize and potentially become more familiar with a single philosopher; later still, adding multiple philosophers to my knowledge base.
As a secondary question, I am curious about how one approaches reading philosophy. Does one read the original works of Plato, for instance, or do they read translations that are more readable and approachable by a non-scholar in the field?
I would say I am more interested in the notions and ideas of a given philosopher than I am the exact words he wrote, however I do realize that the translation process also risks eliminating key components of an author's original work.
I find philosophy to be a very interesting, even fascinating, but difficult, subject, and I would like to make an effort at increasing my understanding, and exposure to the various philosophies. I expect it to be an enjoyable challenge.
I welcome any recommendations, comments, or advice regarding either of my questions and/or philosophical readings in general.
EDIT: After a quick Amazon search, the book
The Great Philosophers : An Introduction to Western Philosophy by Bryan Magee (
LINK) seems like it might be worth a read. If anyone is familiar with this particular book, I'd appreciate feedback regarding it as well.