system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What do you do when don't understand a philosophical text?

I'm reading a philosophy book that my mother gifted me. I'm very far of being a "Master" un reading, but I have a personal standard; commonly I can understand "hard texts" or at least I know what are talking about; but this new book it's impossible to read for me, I don't know if the book is really hard or I'm dumber that I thouhgt.
gpt
It's probably just hard. Reading philosophy by yourself can be tough since usually at the very least there is a good amount of background that is presumed of the reader. Even people with PhDs in the field, when reading a new text, will read some secondary sources to make orienting yourself to what's going on a bit easier. Don't feel bad that you're having a hard time: it takes a lot of time, practice, and patience to read the stuff. For now though: do some research, read some summaries (there are no spoilers in philosophy), read some background of the book/the philosopher, and read it really, really slowly, while taking notes.