Hi Shinhyung, welcome to the fourm, pleased to meet you. Yes very good play on words, (your avatar), bright spark, (see what I did there). I hope you like it here and I look forward to your posts.
Thanks,
Caroline

Welcome to the Philforum!
You will find many different discussions here, and reading some of them will point you toward further reading, especially in the sections devoted to particular philosophers. Please feel free to post in any forum if you feel comfortable doing so. A good place to ask questions might be the "Phil.101" Forum (see the pinned topic for guidance about the kinds of questions).

I do not know about the availability of English language books where you live, but there are many philosophical texts available on the internet. John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and "Utilitarianism" are classic statements of important philosophical positions, well-written essays, and aimed at an educated reader (instead of other philosophers).
You might also want to try reading Descartes with a view to at least understanding his method, if not some of his conclusions. His Discourse on Method is very approachable.
The Enchiridion by Epictetus will introduce you to Stoicism; it is a brief introductory "manual" for his students, and another philosophical "classic."

Also on-line are very good philosophical dictionaries which may be of help in your reading; the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, although written for more advanced students, is also a good place to find information (preferable to Wikipedia).

Nothing beats reading the philosophers themselves at any level, even if you don't understand some of what you read. I suggest avoiding secondary sources or books "about" philosophy or philosophers; either these are aimed at readers with a strong background in philosophy/ or are extremely simplified discussions aimed at little old ladies who meet once and month to discuss "ideas."
Regards, and again, welcome.
John

Firstly Welcome to the forum, Hope that you have a pleasant stay during your time at the Philosophy forum which I am sure you will. It is a challenging decision on what books to read for someone who is new to the subject. Jgweed made two great suggestions with John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and "Utilitarianism", and would reccomend that you took that suggestion up at some point



Generally I agree with Jgweed's sentiments here, there are some truly awful texts aimed at people who have developed an interest in Philosophy & wish to learn more about the subject. But there are also some gems to be found such Nigel Warburton's Philosophy The Basics (there are other good introductions, but I cant recall off the top of my head) , which is a good introduction to the subject which I have no doubt that you will be able to handle having already read Socrate's Apology. Once you have found what area's of Philosophy interest you most, nothing beats reading the orginal work.

Welcome to the forum! While I can't offer better advice for books might I suggest some life changing literature, 1984 for example, or Oscar Wilde's short stories. From my experience, these only heighten the philosophical interest, not to mention invoke many questions.

But if I may offer, from what Danne has showed me, Bertrand Russel is very explanatory, and this LECTURE I. RECENT CRITICISMS OF "CONSCIOUSNESS" by Bertrand Russell - The Literature Page explains many concepts, and is just an example. All depends on what topics you like. Again, welcome, glad we have yet another interested in philosophy!!

Hey!
I am older than you LOL. Thought i was the youngest one but still i keep my 1st place in stupidity, in this forum!

I love Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It is a great book. Guess you'll like it too.

Hello, I totally agree with you, it's really difficult to find someone to discuss philosophy with. And "Sophies world" is really good, I spend most of my summers in Norway, where Sophie lives.

Welcome to the forum, Shinhyung. You seem like a competent fellow, and you'll fit right in. Also, I'd like to recommend The Symposium by Plato, an ancient book albeit interesting, a fairly easy read in English and in Greek (if you're into that kind of stuff). Anyway, welcome to the forum, and have fun.

Welcome! I'm Korean as well, but I'm about twice your age :Glasses:

At first, I wondered at how available philosophy books were in Korea. Then I saw you named your location in the UK, so I figure you can get pretty much anything recommended here. As far as my own recommendations, I would continue with the Platonic dialogues. The Symposium as suggested above is a good one to go with. The Republic is good too. In it, you'll read Plato's famous cave analogy (do I have that right? Its been a while).

When you've gotten to the point where you feel you've had enough Plato for the time being, you can try Aristotle's Politics or Nicomachean Ethics. Others might tell you otherwise, but I'll suggest to not try to read Plato's Laws (for now at least). I felt that it was a long work with minimal applicability (but that was what I thought way back then so take this advice for what its worth).

In addition to apologizing for not looking at your profile before welcoming you, I wanted to add to your growing list of books that will take a year to read, one other category. If you can find a basic logic textbook (e.g. Copi), or a book about informal fallacies (Fallacy: the Counterfeit of Argument by Fearnside and Holther comes to mind), it would be well worth the time to read, and not just for philosophy. There are many Internet sources for studying this area, as well.
Regards,
John

Re: Hi & I'm delighted to have found this forum!
Try 'Action Philosophers' -eviltwincomix and the soon to be released 'Logicomix'. Bertrand Russell's concise, 'The Problems of Philosophy' can be downloaded for free.
Tweeds

Nice to meet you all, and thank you so much for these thoughtful suggestions! You couldn't imagine how useful they are to me. I'll try to read them all (although I'm not sure how long it may take me :brickwall:). Thank you!

So I'm the youngest now, am I? hehe. No, don't call yourself stupid, you're definitely not, if you are into philosophy! (that's what I think)

I don't come across many (actually any) fellow Koreans who are into philosophy. I speak minimally. Can't type at all (but nice to meet you too!). I can read slowly but only recognize words sporadically. Its been tough to learn, but I fear it may be too late for me. I'm thoroughly impressed with you in that your first language is Korean (right?) and you are able to read philosophy in English. Keep it up. You don't know how much I wish I started when I was your age.