I have had on my list to read many of the works of philosophers. I tried it several years ago to go through the Great Books but put it aside as I was not ready for it. I could read the words but I was not so sure why I was reading the words. Nor could I figure out why I should puzzle through the ideas. I wanted to give it a try again this year but knew I was going to need something to help me out. I didn't want to read just because it is on the list of "classics". I wanted to read it to understand better why reading the works of philosophers is important.
This year with the Scholar Mom's we have been reading and discussing Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle together. It has been a fabulous discussion. One of the helps I have been using is Hillsdale College's Online courses. They are definitely helpful to me. I am getting much more out of this then I had hoped.
One further piece of help came in an unexpected way. Starting last April, I have gone through some of the Blackbelt in Freedom (BBF) course by Oliver DeMille and during that course a book that was used helped me learn more about how to better read the works of philosophers. The book was called Great Political Thinkers by Ebenstien & Ebenstein. But it was not the book that changed my thinking, it was the mentoring. I took a break from the course but decided to keep reading the book. The book started to sit on the shelf instead of getting completed. I had just a couple of chapters left but it still sat on the shelf. So I decided to return the the course to see if I could finish up this book and then read a couple of books that I have really been wanting to get to. It was so worth it. In the course are mentor recordings by Oliver DeMille connected with each book and ideas to discuss and think about. In the set of recordings connected to Great Political Thinkers that I was listening to recently he tied together how each of the philosophers influenced the ideas of 'how we should live and how we should govern'. In just one hour my thinking was expanded in a way that I was not able to get on my own. It was amazing!
I was so eager for the next set of recordings to help me better use and understand the purpose of what I was reading. It helped turned my checklist into a learning experience!
This year with the Scholar Mom's we have been reading and discussing Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle together. It has been a fabulous discussion. One of the helps I have been using is Hillsdale College's Online courses. They are definitely helpful to me. I am getting much more out of this then I had hoped.
One further piece of help came in an unexpected way. Starting last April, I have gone through some of the Blackbelt in Freedom (BBF) course by Oliver DeMille and during that course a book that was used helped me learn more about how to better read the works of philosophers. The book was called Great Political Thinkers by Ebenstien & Ebenstein. But it was not the book that changed my thinking, it was the mentoring. I took a break from the course but decided to keep reading the book. The book started to sit on the shelf instead of getting completed. I had just a couple of chapters left but it still sat on the shelf. So I decided to return the the course to see if I could finish up this book and then read a couple of books that I have really been wanting to get to. It was so worth it. In the course are mentor recordings by Oliver DeMille connected with each book and ideas to discuss and think about. In the set of recordings connected to Great Political Thinkers that I was listening to recently he tied together how each of the philosophers influenced the ideas of 'how we should live and how we should govern'. In just one hour my thinking was expanded in a way that I was not able to get on my own. It was amazing!
I was so eager for the next set of recordings to help me better use and understand the purpose of what I was reading. It helped turned my checklist into a learning experience!
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