1-Where should I start to study philosophy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2-What method to study philosophy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3-Does studying philosophy require any special talent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4-Which philosophers, should we focus on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article will focus on answering the above questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, even practicing massage or cooking requires talent.\u00a0Because not everyone naturally can relax people’s bodies or prepare attractive dishes.\u00a0But if you think that philosophy is only for intellectual geniuses and people with special gifts, that is also wrong.\u00a0It is even more confusing to identify philosophers with crazy, eccentric people who always like to say wild, strange things that no one understands.\u00a0Buddha, Confucius, and Jesus all spoke very simply, although, from these three great men, three great philosophical and theological traditions were born.\u00a0N\u0101g\u0101rjuna (N\u0101g\u0101rjuna \u9f8d\u6a39) and Asanga (Asanga \u7121\u8457), two masters of the Madhyamaka and Mind-Only traditions in Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, also only built their great philosophical system based on the simple saying of Buddha.\u00a0Of course, the philosophical style of Western philosophers is not easy to understand and is sometimes dark, but the main reason is still the problem of language and culture.\u00a0For example, German language and cultural traditions have produced the philosophy of Kant, Hegel, Habermas, Gadamer, and Husserl.\u00a0It was the Chinese language and writing that created and shaped the tradition of Chinese thought, just as Greek influenced the entire operation of Western philosophy.\u00a0If we live in the Vietnamese cultural tradition and try to speak like Hegel, we are just posing or acting philosophically.\u00a0Just as the American cultural tradition has produced great philosophers such as William James, John Dewey, Charles Peirce, and now Hilary Putnam, they write in a style that is completely different from the style of German philosophers. more eccentric, closer to everyday language, and rarely hiding behind metaphysical clouds like their German colleagues.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what skills do you need to study philosophy? I would like to offer the following comment table for young people to evaluate for themselves. If you find yourself answering “no” to the following questions, then you should happily “clean up your life” and study other subjects to save time and energy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1-The most basic observation about philosophers is that they love to read books, not necessarily philosophy books, nor specialized books on math or physics.\u00a0The general attitude of philosophers is to be curious but not interested in practical matters (such as dissections in the laboratory), so they turn all their energies into reading books, reading everything in the world, from the Bible. to Einstein’s theory of relativity.\u00a0In general, they are curious about everything.\u00a0Ken Wilber is a typical case.\u00a0Karl Popper studied physics, politics, and history.\u00a0If from a young age, you did not like reading books (books in general: novels, literature, poetry, art, religion, etc.) and until now books are still your best sleeping pill, then you should be happy. It seems like you’re saying goodbye to philosophy because you’ll never finish reading a page of a real philosophy book.\u00a0This is also the top standard for identifying “fake” philosophers: they never read books or only pretend to buy books to fill their cupboards.\u00a0A passion for reading is a prerequisite for studying philosophy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 \u2013 The second characteristic of a philosopher is that he likes to argue, analyze, and explain.\u00a0Because they always read books and think, a philosopher’s understanding and judgment must naturally be sharper, deeper, and more flexible than those who never pay attention to books.\u00a0But we also need to be careful to distinguish: philosophers like to analyze, argue, and explain, which does not mean that they only skillfully display famous philosophical names without ever giving their opinions.\u00a0For example, many people open their mouths to cite Derrida, Foucault, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Husserl, all names that make listeners fearful, but they do not know what these famous philosophers said or just understand vaguely.\u00a0The philosopher does not like “exhibiting goods,” but he likes to argue and explain all issues, and usually he does not accept existing opinions, but always has a skeptical, gentle sarcastic attitude. against anyone’s “firm as nails” assertions.\u00a0If you find yourself without any opinion: when you were young, you asked your parents, when you went to school, you asked your friends, when you got married, you only knew how to ask your husband (or wife), when your husband (or wife) died, then I ask my son, when he goes to work, he is very obedient and afraid of his boss like his father. When he talks to his friends, he is very “respectful of superiors and subordinates”. Whatever everyone says is right. If you find yourself like that, you should not study philosophy. Studying philosophy only makes you confuse everything and indeed, even if you understand what philosophy is, it won’t help your life, which is too flat.\u00a0In some ways, a philosopher is a person of real courage, in the sense that he has enough courage and intellectual honesty to oppose views that he believes are wrong or dangerous.\u00a0Socrates is the model of a true philosopher. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 – Philosophy is only for people who like to think, are inclined towards an intellectual, introspective, leisurely life, like to sit and read books or like to talk with close friends, so if you are the type of person who is too energetic, who likes outdoor activities and sports, clearly has no talent for studying philosophy.\u00a0The history of Greek philosophy tells us that Plato was a perfect athlete.\u00a0But that is an exception: we are not Plato, so we should not imitate to achieve “perfect literature and martial arts” because if we try too hard, we will only be able to become “weak literature and martial arts”, a kind of “philosophy”. Gia Ba Bo” is not like any other zodiac animal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4-Philosophy is deeply related to language issues, so if you don’t have a specific and serious interest in learning foreign languages, you shouldn’t study philosophy at all.\u00a0Even books written in Vietnamese to present Western philosophy to philosophy students (by authors Tran Thai Dinh, Le Ton Nghiem, Le Thanh Tri, Kim Dinh, Nguyen Van Trung, and philosophy professors at Van Faculty before 75) cannot be understood if the reader does not have basic knowledge of French literature (or Chinese literature in the case of reading Kim Dinh’s books) because the authors present all rely on French and Chinese sources. Most of these sources can be translated into Vietnamese.\u00a0Learning Chinese philosophy is less painful because common terms such as Dao, Reason, Qi, Mind, Humanity, Righteousness, Righteousness, Fame, etc.\u00a0have been vietnameseized for a long time, so in the early stages it is not necessary to know Chinese characters.\u00a0The reason Indian philosophy could not develop in Vietnamese culture was due to the main obstacle being the Sanskrit language and the too strange thinking style of Indian philosophers, focusing on discussing the Absolute Entity (Brahman) rather than when looking at people, society, and politics, while these are the main concerns in Chinese and Vietnamese thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, the standards for studying philosophy are just that.\u00a0With above-average intelligence, and the patience to learn the relevant foreign languages, no need to be a genius, anyone can become a philosopher.\u00a0Mencius and Xun Zi in the Confucian tradition also affirmed that anyone can become a saint.\u00a0Chinese Zen masters all affirm that anyone can become a Buddha.\u00a0The difficulty begins with how we must learn philosophy when we start learning philosophy because philosophy itself has a system\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0tradition, we cannot rush into anyone.<\/em>\u00a0certain philosophy books, such as Heidegger’s work\u00a0Being and Time<\/em>\u00a0(Sein und Zeit<\/em>) (especially read Tran Cong Tien’s translation), then you will be so disappointed that you will have to jump back, carrying your heart with you. Endless hatred of philosophy.\u00a0Philosophy students all admit that the biggest initial difficulty is the problem of technical terminology.\u00a0These technical terms themselves come from extremely one-sided translations and lack concepts in English, French, or German, thus adding to the confusion.\u00a0For example, the word \u201cbeing\u201d in English (\u00eatre<\/em>\u00a0in French or\u00a0sein<\/em>\u00a0in German) is translated into Vietnamese as \u201cbeing\u201d or \u201cbeing.\u201d\u00a0No one knows what “being” is, but if you know a foreign language, the difficulty will be halved.\u00a0We will vaguely guess that \u201cbeing\u201d or \u201c\u00eatre\u201d is related to sentences in which these two terms are used as verbs:\u00a0\u00a0I am a student<\/em> or\u00a0\u00a0Je suis un homme<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0(I \u201cam\u201d a man).\u00a0Thus \u201cbeing\u201d or \u201c\u00eatre\u201d refers to the state of \u201cbeing,\u201d the state of \u201cexistence,\u201d the state of \u201cexistence.\u201d\u00a0I \u201cam\u201d a student, which means I \u201cexist\u201d as a student.\u00a0A philosopher studies this \u201cexistence\u201d (beingness Existenz<\/em>) in all its aspects.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, one of the first conditions for studying philosophy is to learn a foreign language.\u00a0It should be noted that most famous philosophers in the history of philosophy were gifted in foreign languages.\u00a0We can explain that because philosophers are all exceptionally intelligent people, learning foreign languages \u200b\u200bwell is normal for them.\u00a0It does not seem to be like that.\u00a0Philosophy is related to language at a very deep level, so much so that Heidegger had to say: “The most important ultimate task of philosophy is to preserve the power of the most primitive languages \u200b\u200bin which Nature express themselves, and keep common sense from flattening them into total incomprehensibility, which is ultimately the source of all artificial problems.\u201d\u00a0(\u00a0am Ende das Gesch\u00e4ft der Philosiphie, die Kraft der elementasten Worte, in denen sich das Dasein ausspricht, davor zu bewahren, dass sie durch den gemeinen Vestand zur Unverstaendlichkeit nivelliert werden, die ihreseits als Quelle f\u00fcr Scheinproblem fungiert<\/em>\u00a0).\u00a0Wittgenstein wrote that “The limits\u00a0of my world are the limits of my language<\/em>\u00a0“.\u00a0When thinking, we all move within conceptual categories established by language, so philosophers’ arguments revolve around clarifying the meaning of certain terms (such as the use of tenses). , how to use prepositions, and combine grammatical structures in sentences…), so it can be affirmed that the first step to learning philosophy is learning pure language.\u00a0<\/strong>It is not necessary to learn the correct language belonging to a particular philosophical tradition (for example, you must learn Chinese if you want to study Eastern philosophy) because learning a foreign language is the practice of essential analytical skills. necessary for studying philosophy, not for other purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another common event is that due to a lack of knowledge of foreign languages, many people argue or misunderstand a certain statement.\u00a0For example, many Christians (generally both Catholic and Protestant) have argued about the most important message in the New Testament: the kingdom of God (regnum dei<\/em>).\u00a0One point, based on the Gospel according to Saint Mark (1.14), is that the kingdom of God has come and has been established in the present.\u00a0The second view is that the Kingdom of God will be established in the very shortly.\u00a0But the Greek verb Mark uses \u00eaggiken is a verb that describes an action that started in the past and is moving toward the future, that is, an event that is not yet completed.\u00a0Thus the kingdom of God (Hebrew:\u00a0\u00a0basileia tou theou<\/em>\u00a0) is near and people can respond to that good news (Gospel).\u00a0Perhaps the main problem is not that the Kingdom of God will come very shortly, but the heart of the problem lies in people’s attitudes and reactions to the appearance of the Kingdom of God: belief or denial abandonment, apathy, etc.\u00a0The verb \u00eaggiken<\/em> does not indicate that the kingdom of God has arrived (has<\/em> arrived<\/em>) or is at hand (to be at hand<\/em>) as popular English translations do.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many scholars also believe that the first Christians were baptized in water (immersion).\u00a0But in the Bible, the Greek noun used is\u00a0\u00eadsti<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0\u00ean \u00eadsti<\/em>\u00a0which means “using water, with\u00a0water<\/em>“, not “in water“<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please cite another example.\u00a0METANOIA in Greek \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ac\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9\u03b1 means “a transformation\u00a0of the heart<\/em>\u00a0” or specifically “spiritual conversion“<\/em>.\u00a0In ancient Greek METANOIA simply means \u201cchange of opinion\/opinion about something.\u201d\u00a0In the King James Version, the verb\u00a0metanoeo<\/em>\u00a0\/\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03ad\u03c9 is (erroneously) translated into English as \u201crepent\/repent\/repent= REPENT.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n New Testament translations into English all agree on using the word REPENTANCE (=repentance\/ repentance) for both METANOIA and METAMELOMAI.\u00a0In the Gospel of Saint Mark, Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was near and asked everyone to\u00a0repent<\/em>.\u00a0METAMELOMAI also has an additional meaning (\u00a0connotation<\/em>\u00a0) which is “pain, sorrow, and regret”.\u00a0<\/em>In early Christian communities, METANOIA was used consistently to mean \u201ca radical change in thinking and action,\u201d very similar to the concept of SHIFTING IN CONSCIOUSNESS-ONLY BUDDHISM.\u00a0In 2006 a group of scholars in the ecumenical movement published a study on repentance in the Bible and the Church.\u00a0\u00a0This study confirms that at the time of Jesus Christ, Jewish culture still believed that METANOIA (=which today we translate as REPENTANCE\/ REPENTANCE) only meant “a radical change in thinking and behavior.” “move” only.\u00a0<\/strong>According to scholar David N. Wilkin (Millennium Web Catalog<\/em> of Virginia seminary): \u201cThe Latin Fathers translated METANOIA as PAENITENCIA (=this word means REPENTANCE).\u00a0The father of Western theology, Tertullian, himself objected to the translation of the Greek METANOEO into Latin PAENITENTIAM AGO.\u00a0The saint said that \u201cin Greek, METANOIA is NOT A CONFESSION OF SIN\u00a0\u00a0BUT<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0A CHANGE OF SOUL.\u201d\u00a0The English term “Conversion” (from the Latin root conversi\u014dn-em<\/em>\u00a0= to turn around) accurately describes the meaning of the word METANOIA rather than REPENTANCE (PAENITENCIA).\u00a0Thus we see a rather interesting similarity: METANOIA approaches\u00a0\u0101\u015braya-pariv\u1e5btti<\/em>\u00a0(=TRANSFORM Y) in the Consciousness Only philosophy of Buddhism.\u00a0According to Consciousness Only Studies, Alai Da Consciousness is the eighth consciousness, the final consciousness, and the foundation for the remaining seven consciousnesses.\u00a0For the moment, imagine this CONSCIOUSNESS as a giant tank containing many karmic seeds serving rebirth in samsara.\u00a0There are many different seeds because they have been accumulated and collected here for countless lifetimes, but roughly include two main types: PURE and IMPERFECT.\u00a0PURE (GOOD) seeds, when the right time is right, will grow into good RESULTS for the beneficiary, while BAD (IMPURE) seeds will of course create the cause for evil results right in this life or in another life. future birth.\u00a0TRANSFORMATION is to probe to the bottom of this CONSCIOUSNESS to correct it at its root: REMOVE BAD SEEDS FROM THE MIND<\/strong>, like installing powerful anti-virus software on the computer, and restoring operating functions. machine efficiency.\u00a0The beautiful expression of American Zen masters is “turn the light around and shine it on yourselves” (turn the light around and shine it on yourselves<\/em>).\u00a0AFTER HAVING ILLUMINATED ALL THE DARK CORNERS OF THE MIND CREATED BY IGNORANCE, THE MEDITATION UNDERSTANDS THAT ALL PHENOMENOLOGIES THAT CAUSE DISTURBANCE IN LIFE ARE ONLY DUE TO THE CHANGES OF CONSCIOUSNESS WHEN REACTING TO EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS.<\/strong>\u00a0The main practice for changing the robe is MEDITATION and practicing the principles of Buddhist precepts in daily life.\u00a0Through the practice of meditation, the MIND (CONSCIOUSNESS) will go through a process of screening, cleansing, and removing all impure seeds stored in the stored consciousness for eons.\u00a0If you choose to practice according to the Pure Land method, through reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name and visualizing the Buddha’s good appearances, you can also reach this goal AFTER being reborn in the Pure Land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mastering a foreign language is therefore indispensable when studying ancient texts.\u00a0For example, professors who teach Chinese philosophy or scholars who write books on Chinese thought often start immediately with Confucian thought and Confucianism.\u00a0Sometimes they start with the Xia Shang and Zhou dynasties and analyze pre-Confucian works such as\u00a0Kinh Thi<\/em>,\u00a0Kinh Thu<\/em>, and\u00a0Ta Truyen<\/em>, considering them to belong to historical records rather than philosophical texts.\u00a0That’s why they don’t know that the character\u00a0\u4ec1\u00a0<\/em>used in the Book of Poetry does not mean “kindness” as in later Confucian thought, but actually refers to the physical beauty of men and is even used to describe men. The characters are not at all virtuous and compassionate [See Takeeuchi Teruo, \u201cA Study of the Meaning of\u00a0Jen<\/em>\u00a0Advocated by Confucius,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Acta Asiatica<\/em>\u00a0\u00a09 (1965), 57- 77).\u00a0Reading\u00a0Ta Truyen<\/em>, we see that the word used to refer to hunting\u00a0is<\/em> also used to refer to the attack of an army.\u00a0Thus, in the perspective of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, hunting was a form of war and vice versa.\u00a0In general, a deep awareness of the issue of language is the first gateway to philosophy.<\/strong>\u00a0Without understanding the language in which ideas express themselves, we stop copying and repeating pre-fabricated conventional ideas in textbooks.\u00a0I even dare to assert that reading ten books on Confucian political thought is not as useful as spending an hour studying Chinese to see that the word “chinh” \u653f in “politics” is closely related to “politics”. \u201d\u6b63=\u00a0uprightness<\/em>\u00a0refers to personal morality.\u00a0Politicians must have personal ethics, which is obvious in the context of East Asian civilization, but not obvious at all in the history of Western politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n After our foreign language level is relatively stable, we will begin to study philosophy systematically by finding an “introduction to philosophy” book that is easiest<\/em> to read. According to personal experience, books of this type written by American authors are the best: presented neatly, orderly, systematically, and especially clear and easy to understand. Even if your long-term goal is to study Chinese or Indian philosophy, you should start with an “introduction to Western philosophy” first. It’s like practicing the necessary skills before climbing higher mountains. Never misunderstand that philosophy is only for eccentric or crazy geniuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philosophy is a serious subject like all other subjects and also requires a clear systematic and hierarchical study.\u00a0We should not be too hasty or just want to keep up with intellectual fashions by uselessly cramming the works of Heidegger, Sartre, Husserl, Foucault, Habermas, and Gadamer into our heads.\u00a0If you start studying philosophy with German authors like Hegel, Heidegger, and Husserl, you will go crazy and never want to pick up a philosophy book a second time.\u00a0We should not start right away with the French authors of the 1968 generation such as Foucault, Derrida, Bourdieu (the most famous French socialist today), Lacan, Barthes, Althusser, L\u00e9vi-Strauss, because they deny, criticized, and destroyed all previous philosophers, especially Derrida, destroying the entire tradition of Western metaphysics.\u00a0But we should not start in chronological order like some textbooks often do because if we do that we are forced to start with the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers and will be bored when we realize that they are not the same philosophers.\u00a0If the professor is someone who studies Greek philosophy, it will be extremely embarrassing to inform students that it is necessary to know Greek to understand Greek, a requirement that is too far-fetched and remote slag under current conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learning philosophy should start from the topics that the student is most interested in, and it is important not to necessarily start with a philosophical work.\u00a0For example, if learners are interested in political and social issues, there is nothing better than reading Marx first, followed by generations of Marx interpreters such as Luk\u00e1cs, Lichtheim, Manheim, Althusser, Adorno, Horkheimer, Habermas, etc., and should not forget to read classic sociologists such as Max Weber, \u00c9mile Durkheim, Vilfredo Pareto.\u00a0Those are the best introductory philosophical works.\u00a0In particular, you should study the book\u00a0\u00a0The Opium of the Intellectuals<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0(\u00a0L’Opium des Intellectuels<\/em>\u00a0), a masterpiece by Raymond Aron, a sociologist and philosopher, before reading Marx or Hegel.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we are interested in psychological, family, and personal issues, there is no better way than reading Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung, Erich Fromm, and Adler (these authors are translated quite well). many into Vietnamese, but should only be used temporarily at first. The main tool for learning philosophy is still a foreign language).\u00a0Although not a professional philosopher, Sigmund Freud still made a profound mark in the history of world thought, especially his concept of the Unconscious.\u00a0Herbert Marcuse, a German philosopher who immigrated to America to teach, wrote a very good work on Freud’s thoughts,\u00a0\u00a0Eros and Civilization,<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0which\u00a0was translated into English by Hoang Thien Nguyen (also known as Nhu Hanh). Vietnam before 1975).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are interested in metaphysical and religious issues, you should not start with Marx, the author of the famous quote “Religion is the opium of the masses” (\u00a0Die Religion ist das Opium des Volkes<\/em>\u00a0). Start with Freud, who thought religion was a childish delusion, a mental illness, but start with Teilhard de Chardin (if you are Catholic), with Paul Tillich (if you are Protestant). and with Nishida Kitar\u014d (if you follow Buddhism).\u00a0Nishida Kitar\u014d (\u897f\u7530 \u5e7e\u591a\u90ce) is Japan’s greatest philosopher who always wrote in dialogue with Western thought based on the experience of Zen Buddhism.\u00a0He was the leader of the famous Kyoto school of philosophy and the author of\u00a0\u00a0The Study of the Good<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0(\u5584\u306e\u7814\u7a76,\u00a0\u00a0Zen no kenky\u016b<\/em>\u00a0).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, to have an overview of Western philosophy, we should start with three people: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.\u00a0Marx is not easy to read, but he deals immediately with specific social issues, and understanding him is like holding half of the Western philosophy in your hands because most of the history of modern German philosophy (from Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, until Habermas) are just attempts to dialogue with Marx, deny him, criticize or expand some of Marx’s basic philosophical concepts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next is Nietzsche.\u00a0This philosopher writes philosophy unlike any other philosopher: there is no lengthy system of analysis, but only short, very strong, very flexible paragraphs, such as “love is a short-lived madness and marriage a long-term folly.\u201d\u00a0One of Neitzsche’s major works translated into Vietnamese by Tran Xuan Kiem, Sprach\u00a0Zarathustra<\/em>\u00a0is a very good introduction to the path of philosophical reflection but it can also be an Antibiotics that is too strong will destroy every “philosophical cell” in your body.\u00a0Nietzsche is famous for the phrase \u201cGod is dead\u201d (Gott ist tot<\/em>).\u00a0We are not sure whether the literal or figurative \u201cGod\u201d is truly dead, but Nietzsche haters can claim \u201cNietzsche is dead\u201d without fear of making a mistake.\u00a0Reading Nietzsche is, therefore, an enjoyable but possibly final experience for philosophy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freud was a medical doctor.\u00a0His name is closely associated with the theory of\u00a0psychoanalysis<\/em>.\u00a0He presented the problem clearly and simply like a scientist with a gift for writing.\u00a0Just by reading and re-reading Freud’s works, especially\u00a0 Civilization\u00a0and\u00a0Its Discontents<\/em>,\u00a0we can also gain profound knowledge about humans and the relationship between people and people. , social relations, history of civilization.\u00a0Freud’s ideas can help people purify many of the illusions that abound in everyday life by allowing readers to reflect and think about themselves, an exciting process that Confucianism calls “reforming and renewing oneself” (correcting mistakes and renewing oneself).\u00a0However, believing that psychoanalysis is a science that leads you to eternal truths in the human soul is a big mistake.\u00a0The rejection of religion in Freud’s concept is an example.\u00a0It was Jung and Otto Frank, as well as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, and Sullivan who later strongly pointed out many shortcomings in Freud’s theory.\u00a0But Freud should be seen as a philosopher rather than a scientist.\u00a0Scientists need to be precise in every specific detail.\u00a0Philosophers provide great insights, a powerful light to illuminate human life in its totality.\u00a0He is not responsible for finding specific solutions to specific problems, so there is no need to be too precise in the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding reading these three leading philosophers, it is better to read in English rather than read Vietnamese translations.\u00a0Of course, all three are written in German, but finding the original German works of the above authors is not easy in the current book market unless the learner “explores” to order directly from Germany with an unimaginably expensive price.\u00a0For example, a typical pocket-sized philosophy book (300 pages thick) from Suhrkamp Publishing House costs at least thirty marks (equivalent to 30 US dollars).\u00a0The entire trilogy of Nietzsche’s works (about 7 books) is republished every year for 500 marks, which only experts who study Nietzsche are willing to pay to buy.\u00a0Meanwhile, books translated into English or French are plentiful at cheap prices (I mean used books) and are relatively easy to find in Saigon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another subfield of philosophy has recently attracted a lot of attention and is closely associated with the name of philosopher and Harvard University professor Michael Sandel: public\u00a0philosophy<\/em>.\u00a0This subject has the advantage of not being abstract at all but focusing on specific social issues.\u00a0Community philosophy can help raise awareness about practical issues taking place in the community (local or global) and help us apply the philosophical knowledge we have learned to analyze and evaluate. , and handle practical social problems (minor abortion, sex among students, public transportation disorders, corruption, prostitution, organ trading, surrogacy… v\u2026v\u2026).\u00a0The goal of this subject is to demonstrate that philosophy is not limited to abstract issues such as metaphysics or ontology but can be highly applicable.\u00a0Community philosophy is very practical in the sense that it helps us dig deep into the foundations of issues that at first glance are very ordinary but important in everyday life such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why do we have to pay taxes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 What is love? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 What is sex?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why is it necessary to improve communication skills?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 What is money?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 What is happiness? Is it true that \u201clife is suffering?\u201d Is heaven real or not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why is there a government?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 What is freedom? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why can’t prostitution be legalized?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Is marriage necessary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Is religion a source of social violence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Which is better, capitalism or socialism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Is it necessary to abolish the death penalty? Why is the death penalty necessary? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Should surrogacy be allowed? Based on what philosophical basis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Why is cloning<\/em>\u00a0prohibited?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 How should the case of \u201cvegetative state\u201d be handled?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Is there any way to reduce or end the current traffic chaos? What is the cause? <\/p>\n\n\n\n We would like to recommend the following list of documents for learners to refer to if they want to delve deeper into community philosophy and in the spirit of “community”, we should form a group of “comrades” to analyze and discuss together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1-\u201cWhat is the Public Philosophy?\u201d\u00a0by James W. Caeser (in the book\u00a0\u00a0Public Philosophy and Political Science<\/em> edited by E. Robert Statham, 2002, Lexington Books).\u00a0Topic: determining the connotation of the meaning of “public philosophy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2-\u201cMoney can’t buy anything? ( What money can’t buy<\/em> ) by Michael Sandel (Vietnamese translation available). Topic: Money, happiness, and social justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3-\u00a0Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?\u00a0<\/em>by M. Sandel (with Vietnamese translation).\u00a0Topic: What is social justice?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4-\u00a0Freakeconomics<\/em>\u00a0(Vietnamese translation:\u00a0Funny Economics<\/em>) by Stephen Levitt.\u00a0Topic: the role of economics in decoding human behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5-\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Third Wave\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0Power\u00a0Shift\u00a0by\u00a0Alvin<\/em>\u00a0Toffler.\u00a0Topic: the relationship between knowledge, technology, and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6-\u00a0Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics<\/em>\u00a0by M. Sandel.\u00a0Topic: relationship between ethics and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7-\u00a0Public Philosophy in a New Key<\/em>\u00a0by James Tully (book 1, Cambridge University Press, 2008).\u00a0Topic: democracy and civil liberties.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8-\u00a0Democracy and Education<\/em>\u00a0by John Dewey (translated by Pham Anh Tuan. Tri Thuc Publishing House, 2008).\u00a0Topic: the relationship between democracy and educational reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After reading the above authors (Freud, Marx, Nietzsche, Sandel), at least the main works, if students feel interested in philosophy, they can continue to study this subject at a higher level. deeper and deeper.\u00a0Of course, studying philosophy requires a lot of perseverance and patience.\u00a0At first, it’s best to go slowly and have someone to study with you.\u00a0We should never have the attitude of considering philosophy as an ornament for ourselves.\u00a0Many people who study philosophy view philosophy as a type of knowledge like scientific knowledge that can be shown off or performed.\u00a0That was a big mistake.\u00a0Philosophy is not knowledge.\u00a0It is a means to help us question life, and reset all problems from the foundation, not accepting ready-made opinions, judgments, and “canned” truths.\u00a0Philosophy helps us become clearer and more alert in perception but does not provide knowledge like other sciences.\u00a0Why is that?\u00a0Since the 18th century, modern knowledge has begun a process of specialization, and until the end of the 20th century, no scientist could know how many areas of expertise there were, let alone master them. Master all of those specialized fields.\u00a0That’s why philosophy no longer plays the role of “supreme boss” in the intellectual field like in the past.\u00a0Western philosophers now focus all their analytical abilities on criticizing currently accepted truths, not to destroy the beliefs of others, but to build a provincial perspective. Be wiser, don’t be fooled by legendary manufacturing experts.\u00a0A philosopher is not and does not want to be identified with an expert, although outside of his philosophical function he can still be an expert in a certain field.\u00a0When he started philosophy, he no longer spoke as an expert who limited himself to a narrow area of \u200b\u200bexpertise, but as someone who questioned the foundations of life, the foundations of society. , of love, of art and brings a new perception, a way of looking at things in a transformative perspective.\u00a0The case of Wittgenstein, an Austrian philosopher, is a typical example: he was trained as an aeronautical engineer and had a strong passion for mathematics.\u00a0While studying the foundations of mathematics with Bertrand Russell, an English philosopher, Wittgenstein gradually turned to philosophy and became one of the world’s greatest philosophers in the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is here that I want to return to my main argument: studying philosophy is not necessary (or even advisable) to start with specialized philosophy books.\u00a0In my experience, students should start with books on the natural sciences (I recommend biology, physics, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence), social sciences (social studies, psychology, politics, international relations, law), and even history (classic authors Will Durant, Arnold Toynbee, Niall Ferguson, in my opinion are the best and most complete) and Gradually moving on to philosophers who were originally scientists (I chose Edmund Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Raymond Aron, Henri Bergson, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Nick Bostrom), while names like Kant, Hegel, Plato I suggest reading last, before you go to the afterlife.\u00a0But if you want to act like “I understand philosophy” before the age of 30, feel free: at least there are translations by Bui Van Nam Son (translating Kant and Hegel) and Do Khanh Hoan (translating Plato) will help you do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Strange](\"https:\/\/i.ex-cdn.com\/phatgiao.org.vn\/files\/news\/2018\/12\/10\/nhung-diem-giong-nhau-ky-la-giua-duc-phat-va-chua-gie-su-101811.jpg\")
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