101 Philosophy Problems

I’ve tried, over several years, to study philosophy in an unstructured way — listening to Stephen West’s excellent podcast Philosophize This!, making intermittent attempts at Bertrand Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy, and picking up various other books that eventually left my eyes heavy and my head spinning. While this has been educational, I wouldn’t necessarily deem it fulfilling.

Recently, while browsing the shelves at Blossoms, I came across 101 Philosophy Problems by Martin Cohen. I felt an urge to learn-by-doing: wrestle with each problem myself and frame my own view first (i.e. be a philosopher, if the shoe fits), then turn to the author’s treatment of the problem, and finally read further as my interest demands. The posts here largely follow this exploratory format.

Hygiene note: The thoughts here will be incomplete, half-baked, and fleetingly held. The aim here is practice and not polished scholarship, in an attempt to be an imperfect practitioner rather than a perpetually earnest student.