Breaking Into Philosophy

“Philosophy is like a locked castle with no doors and windows…”

It’s been said that philosophy is like a locked castle with no doors or windows, yet all the “doing” of philosophy happens inside this castle.

How does one enter this proverbial castle of philosophy? How should one get started? This is the biggest and often most disorienting question for the beginning philosopher.

Different philosophers have taken different approaches to this problem. In most cases, it seems to determine what…