Thoughts on Philosophy of Reading

Why read? Are there different types of reading? What should I read? Is there any specific advice I should take heed of when it comes to reading?

For those of us for whom reading is a relatively big part of our lives, the above questions will inevitably be crucial. Here I'll lay out some general thoughts on reading.

Why Read?

- It enhances literary skills- both reading and writing.
- It broadens ones perspective and develops ones understanding of issues with a depth that other forms of learning will inevitably fail to achieve.
- It helps develop the ability to disseminate information and process it.
- It is enjoyable.

Are there different types of reading?

- According to the Classic How to Read a Book by Adler and Van Doren, there are three types of reading or purposes for reading: Reading for entertainment, reading for information, and reading for understanding.
- Fiction and Non Fiction.
- Genre: History, science, philosophy, theology, etc etc.
- Format: Books- scholarly books, popular level books, textbooks, website articles, scholarly journal articles, blog entries, magazines, newspapers.

What Should I Read? is a far more complicated and difficult question. Using Adler's 3 categories, generally I personally read for understanding. Many other issues come into play here- this is now an interpretive issue rather than just a basic question like the first two above.

Some random thoughts follow:

- Read old and new books. CS Lewis suggests at least one old work for every 3 contemporary works. We're all a product of our times to one degree or another, regardless of whether we want to be or not. Opening one's mind to the exchanges at the table of ideas from days gone past can serve many purposes: Helps free our thinking and helps us avoid getting stuck in our own cultural vortex thus avoiding chronological snobbery, teaches us that "there's nothing new under the sun", opens our eyes, allows us to consider different frameworks for understanding or new ways of looking at issues that we may not have considered.

Read things at an appropriate level for you. . Fairly self explanatory I would have thought, but failing to take stock of this one could have drastic consequences. What can happen is picking up a book and realising it's just way above your head and then losing interest as a result. As per my list before, writing comes in various formats and at various levels. Also, different writings presuppose different levels of existing understanding within their readers. Always look at things like: How many pages long is the book? How technical is the language? Have I read anything else on the specific topic or issues from this book? Always flick through a book, read the table of contents, and read a few paragraphs here and there. Even the blurb and commendations may help because they may indicate who the book is intended for and at what level it is written.


Tips?

Again, a complicated question.

- Understand what you are reading and read thoroughly and deeply: This is a difficult one for me because I constantly see new books I want to read. But I'm still convinced that the whole enterprise of reading is almost pointless unless one gets a thorough understanding of what one is reading, remembers the main points or arguments that the author has made, considers consequences of their reading and how the ideas presented may be true or false, the assumptions and presuppositions, and how they may relate to, complement or conflict with existing ideas, thoughts and frameworks of understanding.

Use tools to help you read more effectively Underline, highlight key points, make notes, whatever works for you really.

Connect the dots. Keep an eye on th author's Big Picture. Attempt to follow the author's argument- if he is a good author this should be relatively clear. Inevitably, a book will have a central theme. It may be structured in various ways; with standalone chapters, or with chapters that build on each other and thus presuppose a reading of the prior chapters, etc. The argument will usually build as the book continues, though. Always try to understand where your current bit fits into the whole. This will help you make sense of the book's main line of thought and critically consider how ideas are interconnected and how the various arguments depend on each other or are interconnected.

Remember the finiteness of human attempts to reason through problems in any form, even including the literary form- the best form I know of for gaining understanding This may seem a bizarre inclusion but allow me to justify. This is more of an epistemological observation but it relates to reading hence I've included it. (Anyone who reads through more than a couple of my blog entries will observe the importance that generally I place on epistemology; thus there is almost nowhere where epistemological thoughts aren't welcome).

I disagree with the argument of Adler (if I remember correctly- I do not have the book in front of me) to the effect that one is compelled to action- or changing one's beliefs if one cannot pin the author on one of the four possible criticisms Adler offers, ie: The author is not aware of/has not considered other information that could render his thesis less plausible, the author has made an error of logic etc etc. It appears to me that Adler is guilty of an overestimation of the powers of human reason here, an overtly rationalistic approach that is untenable in light of the inability of humans to solve all the necesaary puzzles they wish they could with the powers of their grey matter alone.

I would perhaps agree with Adler but reduce some of the force of his suggestion: I'd suggest that readers are obligated to critically consider what they read, but I wouldn't say that necessarily they owe the author and that it is their duty to change views because they personally cannot, at that point, show exactly why the author is wrong. Note: I'm not advocating irrationalism here, I'm merely attempting to work in an understanding of human finiteness as it relates to reading. One should initially contemplate and take time to work through the author's conclusions, and seek to look at the problem from various angles through different frameworks, and examine the author's assumptions. If, through the cold light of day and after considering the issue carefully one comes to a different conclusion or changes their view to align with the author's that is good and should be welcomed, but one should always take the time to digest what a particular view means and balance the importance of that view or it's strength against opposing views.

If one comes across an unanswerable puzzle, there may in fact be a good answer that one has not yet come across. This is related to the general observation that conflicting ideas do exist and often need to be balanced against each other, and that occasionally one can be justified in believing in the existence of unanswerable paradoxes or simply not committing to any given idea; for example if other conflicting ideas exist and there is evidence in both directions. (Also, as I previously noted, one of the marks of an educated mind is holding different ideas in tension).

Take a speed reading course . I haven't done this but would like to do it one day. All reports suggest it's a worthwhile exercise.

Don't become a dogmatic know-it-all. We must also remember the vast pool of human knowledge that exists. Even the most learned and intelligent members of society know only a miniscule amount of the possible pool of current human knowledge, thus it seems that one should always keep in mind that having too much certainty about one's knowledge or views is often a bad thing. In my own experience, the more I learn the more I realise how much I don't know.

Enjoy and grow without being consumed or isolated Reading is enjoyable, as I already noted. And reading helps one grow one's knowledge, as I already noted. But reading is like many other things: there is something known as "too much of a good thing". Always keep in mind the purposes for which you read nd if you find those purpose unwittingly changing then consider this carefully. For example, you may read to increase your understanding of issues A, B and C, but could there be other purposes slipping in- for example to pridefully prove how much you know to other people? (This was a dot point on a sermon I recently heard at my home church on the Discipline of Study), or to escape from life because life itself isn't really working for you? These are just examples.

Be careful, because the mere mechanics of reading open up the possibility of becoming overly engrossed to an unreasonable point. Reading is an isolated activity; being social creatures, this can mean reading too much can mean we are too isolated.

That's about all I have- this has been unlike most of the posts on this blog thus far in the sense that this is probably more random and less well proof-read. But the purpose of this was to simply jot down my thoughts on reading- and I've accomplished that purpose. I hope these thoughts benefit anyone who might read this.