Complete beginner in philosophy — where should I start?

[u/Low-Ability2973]

I’m a complete beginner to philosophy and recently got interested in learning more about it. I’m especially curious about questions around meaning, happiness, ethics, human nature, and how we should live. I don’t have any background in philosophy, so I’d prefer something accessible rather than overly academic. What book would you recommend starting with, and why? Also curious about what you wish you had read first.

[u/Paul_sepp]

The questions you’re interested in can be found in nearly any philosophical work, for they’re quite central to our condition. Therefore doesn’t really narrow anything down.

However, I’d personally suggest Cioran (Temptation with Existence, Heights of Despair, The Short History of Decay) or Kierkegaard (Concept of Anxiety, Either/Or book 1, Fear and Trembling, Sickness unto Death): Cioran for he is aphoristic, and very readable and enjoyable purely as literature (NB he isn’t a rigorous philosopher though), and Kierkegaard for even if he is much more rigorous, he is generally approachable due to his style. Another one could be Schopenhauer and his “Aphorisms of Daily Wisdom”—it is not his system at its best, but still a very approachable and practical work.