In the circle the beginning and the end are common.
- Heraclitus
I started a detour into Spinoza after I finished a second translation of the Daodejing, I was supposed to begin a second work of Heraclitus but I think I'll leave that on the shelf for later. Right now my current study plans are to finish Spinoza's Ethics, then peruse a bit of secondary for a reread, then read Kalkavage's the Logic of Desire for a second read of the Phenomenology of Spirit. I finished my list of philosophy primary texts to read so for the rest of the year I'll be slowly chipping away at it between my other studies. For the rest of my life, I plan to reread the Phenomenology of Spirit at least twice a year when time affords me the luxury. I don't quite know when I'll be ready to read the Science of Logic, but before I take on such a demanding task I should go through the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences and study his lectures before I think to study the Logic proper. I think after I finish a second read of the Phenomenology I'll put everything else that I already have on the shelf on another shelf for later, as I intend to undertake a study of the 3 volumes of Marx's Capital before I return to my philosophy studies. Reading the Phenomenology should give me a better intuitive grasp of the movement of Hegelian dialectics and that knowledge should come in handy for all the dialetical twists and turns of Marx's masterpiece.
Another reason I'm focusing some attention to Spinoza in specific is because I haven't read a bunch of secondary on Spinoza nor have I seen really any YouTube videos on him, so I'm currently reading through the Ethics without any prior ideas of what he's all about or any kind of prior interpretation that could possibly lead me astray. This is one of the first times I'm allowing myself to study a philosopher's main work first before getting bogged down in explanations and explications.
Sometimes I feel lost, like I'm doing all of this and I don't even know why or for who.
I don't know when I'll get the chance to upload notes again because if I'm reading primarily from primary sources, I'll more than likely refrain from taking notes until I've finished any particular work of genius more than twice, but hopefully as I grow and develop my notes will become sharper and sharper over time. This update's much smaller because sadly I've been more busy at work and my studies for this half of the month have been more neglected.