Anonymous #3 16h

“Not very relevant anymore” is a wild claim considering virtually the entire Western philosophical tradition grows out of Greek philosophy. Locke, Spinoza, Kant, and Nietzsche all inherit, develop, or argue against ideas that originated with the Greeks. Such an anti-intellectual take 😭

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Anonymous #2 16h

Wait wait, I’m not saying they aren’t foundational, it’s just that their conclusions were used to build the basis for modern philosophy, so reading more recent stuff has it the important bits already caked in.

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Anonymous #3 16h

That is incredibly flawed logic. Modern philosophers don’t replace the Greeks, they interpret, criticize, and build on them. You can’t truly understand someone like Nietzsche without first understanding Plato and Socrates, it’s like attempting to do calculus without first learning algebra.

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Anonymous #2 15h

I disagree but we all have our opinions. I guess it depends on the philosophy you’re interested in too. I don’t think you need Socrates to read Hume but maybe you’re interested in how Socrates affected Hume, and then you should read it first.

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Anonymous #3 15h

That’s not what you said at all lol. Sure, you don’t need Socrates to read Hume. But that’s a very different claim from saying the Greeks aren’t relevant or that later philosophy has all the important parts baked in, which is exactly what you said and is objectively wrong.

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Anonymous #3 15h

And even Hume is a poor example. His views on causation, knowledge, and ethics make much more sense when you understand the Greek tradition he’s inheriting and reacting to, particularly Aristotle, who he’s entirely rejecting.

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Anonymous #2 13h

Fair, I don’t like reading things through the lens of the Greeks, but I understand that it’s a good lens to use.

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