How to Read Difficult Philosophy Books
I was reading (or at least trying to read) Ethics by Baruch Spinoza, but I couldn’t understand a single page of it. Here is a part of the page to help you visualize my frustration:
“PROPOSITIONS.
PROP. I. Substance is by nature prior to its modifications.
Proof. — This is clear from Deff. iii. and v.
PROP. II. Two substances, whose attributes are different, have nothing in common.
Proof. — Also evident from Def. iii. For each must exist in itself, and be conceived through itself; in other words, the conception of one does not imply the conception of the other.
PROP. III. Things which have nothing in common cannot be one the cause of the other.
Proof. — If they have nothing in common, it follows that one cannot be apprehended by means of the other (Ax. v.), and, therefore, one cannot be the cause of the other (Ax. iv.). Q.E.D.
PROP. IV. Two or more distinct things are distinguished one from the other, either by the difference of the attributes of the substances, or by the difference of their modifications.”
I was so confused that I decided to ask for some tips on reading such difficult philosophical texts when I had my next meeting with my Latin/Philosophy teacher. I also later went to my English teacher for some advice too. They both responded with the exact same tip:
Try to first research the main ideas of the philosophers before reading the actual book.
Even knowing the broad concepts that the book covers provides a lot of aid. For instance, if you want to read An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, understand that he wants to talk about the concept of “cause and effect” before reading the first page.
Another tip that I learned from some of my toils was that
Sometimes, it’s better to not read the text too literally.
In the beginning, I was trying to understand every single word in each sentence. Of course, this method is good for critically reading a text. However, for insanely difficult philosophical books that you want to understand easily, try to assume what the philosopher is trying to say by matching each sentence in the book with the broad idea that you previously researched. When using this method, you’ll often find yourself comprehending the sentence itself better.
Combining the two methods above allows me to enjoy philosophical texts without hurting my brain too much :)
