I know that’s what I mostly do, though I like to think otherwise. Seriously, I find that the complexity of most philosophy runs so deep that it’s almost impossible to truly understand the train of thought philosophers bring about.
Rather it boils down to simply looking at the implications of the thoughts and trying to understand how that would be possible. Understanding the world-view presented and integrating that into own thought if it seems fruitful.
I’d like to take a further step deeper into philosophy. What do you suggest? Breaking down the philosophy to easily digestable logical statements? Painstakingly going through the text, trying to understand every single bit? Studies in logic?
Right now when I’m reading, I mostly just go through the text, accepting every proposition, letting the philosopher lead me to the end and start asking questions then. It’s extremely interesting and expands my world-view alot. However I find something lacking.
Let me put it this way: I want to go from reading philosophy to philosophising (is that a word?).
I seek out the things that I find the most disagreeable and engage them using every tactic at my disposal to force my ideals. Do it in every part of your life. Don’t be afraid of being argumentative to a fault. Some people are going to hate you no matter how you live. It think it’s alot like what you’re doing with your reading. As I read your post I found it interesting in that I usually accept propositions until the end as well. That’s good to do when you’re reading I think because those people are almost sure to have a point of some sort as they’ve been selected for publication in a highly competitive field. But when dealing with everything else in life do the same thing you do when you read, but jump in everywhere you can and always be making a point of your own. There is too much emphasis on deductive reasoning in western epistemology. If you can become a good system builder you can always defeat skepticism. Have no mercy against that which contradicts you!!