I'm learning about the history of ideas and the arguments used to defend or challenge them. Reading philosophical texts is the way to do that. Understanding su

I'm learning about the history of ideas and the arguments used to defend or challenge them. Reading philosophical texts is the way to do that. Understanding such a text often is an interactive experience - you formulate your own claims and try to relate then to the argument that the text contains. It's challenging but very satisfying. Nevertheless, it helps to have teachers - joining courses lead by people who learned philosophy in academia is a common way to find them. YMMV, and it depends on what's available to you locally.