Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Existential ennui]

As the title says, I am still in school but want to learn a bit of philosophy. I am always confused about what is moral and ethical and what not, among many other things. I hope I can get into philosophy get answers for these. What is a good starting point? which books should I read? good youtube channels to start?

[determinatio]

Kid,
Ethics is the study of moral standards. If you carefully keep the distinction between ethics and moral standards, even though the two terms are commonly used interchangeably, you will begin to somewhat reduce your confusion.
All human cultures have different moral standards thus, there is no one single ensemble of moral standards which is the final set, so you need not feel lacking simply because, at this time, you cannot decide on which set of moral standards you shall subscribe to. I believe each person has a natural set of moral standards so to speak built-in to one's personhood so, introspection could be a good bet for you to become clear on what you deem to be right conduct.
determinatio.

[chewybrian]

As the title says, I am still in school but want to learn a bit of philosophy. I am always confused about what is moral and ethical and what not, among many other things. I hope I can get into philosophy get answers for these. What is a good starting point? which books should I read? good youtube channels to start?

Two short, easy to read books I might start with are Plato's Apology, about the death of Socrates, and the Enchiridion, by Epictetus.

On youtube, you could try "Crash Course Philosophy" for a very broad overview of various philosophies, to see what interests you.

When you find something you think you will like, try searching youtube for Greg Sadler. He does excellent and easy to understand videos explaining the basics of many great works and philosophers; I can't recommend him highly enough. Search "Sadler Aristotle", Sadler Kierkegaard", "Sadler existentialism" or whatever you want to check out, and he will probably have a series of videos ready for you. (My personal favorite is the chapter by chapter analysis of the Enchiridion).

My advice would be to get a little taste of as many different views as you can and dig deeper into what rings true for you. For me, it's the stoics and the existentialists, but it might be very different for you. Enjoy.

[MAYA EL]

Although I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me I have to say that no amount of books you read will make you a philosopher .

they will make you smart but smart is not wise

wisdom is knowledge that you can apply to the present in order to manifest the desired outcome in the future
And wisdom simply doesn't come from reading about wise people.

Now I'm not discouraging you from reading by all means read to your heart's desire.

however keep in mind a true philosopher is not recognized in his own time only after he's dead and gone and if no threat to anybody of that time is he been praised for his wisdom and intellect and today's society is no different than it was in the past. You can be a true philosopher and not know how to read or you can read 10000 books it doesn't really matter in the long run only thing that matters is do you have a passion for wisdom and do you have understanding
And if you do then everything else will level out in the end

[Sculptor1]

As the title says, I am still in school but want to learn a bit of philosophy. I am always confused about what is moral and ethical and what not, among many other things. I hope I can get into philosophy get answers for these. What is a good starting point? which books should I read? good youtube channels to start?

A good place to start would be Russell. Whilst his main work Principia Mathematica is dense and hard to follow, he also wrote dozens of more popular books on philosophy and politics, that are easy to read.

****gutenberg org/ebooks/author/355

His works are old enough to be free to read, yet modern enough to be relevant.

***.gutenberg org/files/37090/37090-h/37090-h.htm

[Pantagruel]

A good place to start would be Russell. Whilst his main work Principia Mathematica is dense and hard to follow, he also wrote dozens of more popular books on philosophy and politics, that are easy to read.

For sure. History of Western Philosophy IMO is a must have for anyone's philosophy library.