But back to the discussion on art, or rather, philosophy as art, as this subject was about, one of the first books I read by Nietzsche was Thus Spake Zarathustra, which is a work of art, as its the musing of Nietzsche’s take on the prophet Zoroaster. It isn’t a straight story but, if one reads it as a work of metaphorical fiction, it reads fine.
I mentioned Aristotle and Plato, and I would say that, if anyone wants to get into philosophy - and aside from Descartes, the Greeks have often been cited as a good place to start ( of course, Descartes is alos a great starting point, but that’s another topic) And, related to the discussion of art - the plays on Socrates are really good stories, because they highlight Socrates’s own difficulties as a philosopher, trying to deal with the ignorance and philosophical weakness of his contemporaries, as well as his difference in his most famous Apology. And, his final discussions in the Phaedo was one of my inspirations for the last part of Milk.
Shifting to Aristotle, I kind of see the guy as one of the first scientists, or rather, how we understand science in the modern context. Aristotle wrote one of the first treatise on aesthetics, which is a pretty big deal. I don’t see Aristotle as aperfect - because of course, no person can be perfect, but one can see why Aristotle had a huge influence on later philosophies, even to this day.