Philosophy Now Forum

Hi

I am starting to think about retirement (I'm nearly 60) and what I will do with the time. I have decided to take my casual interest in philosophy more seriously and start to study.

My areas of interest include: meta physics, conciousness, gender

I have been reading a book called 'The Philosophy Book, which give 1-4 introductions to important philosophers from ancient times to the present day. It will be shallow but it has wet my appetite to read more serious books by and about key philosophers.

I work in what used to be call User Support in a University computer services department. I am interested in: my family, art and photography.

I am looking forward to 'meeting' people on this site.

welcome many amateurs here, some even treat this as their personal photo gallery (ehem *Bil Wiltrack*, *cough* ehem), but some who have read some, and some even who takes the time to read more heavy stuff like modern logic, and then some who reads academic philosophy journals, like myself and an old dude calling himself Prof (short for professor I would reckon). The later dude you'll easily find on the Ethical Theory forum, because he owns about a third (if not more) of the first-page list of threads there.

I read in a newspaper that using your brain a lot is crucial for avoiding Alzheimer (an additional motivation).

I expose myself to a collective stream of consciousness by listening to a quality radio (SWR 2 or Deutschlandfunk) or to books on CDs, either ambitious fiction or lectures on philosophy. I borrow them from the local library.
The voice of the speaker or reader is important.
I tried Dawkins in German and the way Jürgen Pleitgen read him put me off. He sounded obnoxious and polemic. Like a sophist actually.

It is like attending university at home. And you can move your body and your face to concentrate better. Sitting on a chair in a lecture room is not the best position to absorb a lecture, I think.

If you prefer reading, then it´s different, but don´t you get a stiff neck and stiff eyes from reading lots of pages ?

Hello Sidelong, If you retire and find that you have a lot of extra time, you will be unusual among retirees. I retired several years ago, and every other person I know who has retired, all say the same thing, they don't know where they found the time to work. Projects around the house (even though it's a new house Dec. '09), taking care of 2 grandchildren, and it's a struggle to find the time to sit at the piano and practice. I usually read when I go to bed and I read till I can't focus on the page, then I go to sleep. Good Luck.