Philosophy books
Philosophy books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Meditations
Marcus AureliusA Roman emperor's private notes on living well: short, plain and the easiest way into Stoicism.
The Republic
PlatoSocrates argues about justice and builds an ideal city; the Cave is here. The book most of Western philosophy answers.
The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand RussellA short, clear tour of what we can know and why it matters; written as an introduction.
The Myth of Sisyphus
Albert CamusIf life has no given meaning, why go on? Camus's answer, in under 200 pages.
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich NietzscheShort, provocative sections attacking the morality and philosophy of his day.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
Subgenres
Schools and movements
- Platonism
- Aristotelianism
- Stoicism
- Epicureanism
- Scholasticism
- Renaissance humanism
- Rationalism
- Empiricism
- German idealism
- Marxism
- Pragmatism
- Phenomenology
- Existentialism
- Analytic philosophy
- Continental philosophy
- Logical positivism
- Structuralism and post-structuralism
- Critical theory and the Frankfurt School
- Postmodernism
- Feminist philosophy
- Confucianism
- Daoist philosophy
- Buddhist philosophy
- Indian philosophy (Vedanta, Nyaya...)
- Islamic philosophy
- Jewish philosophy
- African philosophy
More philosophy books
Show only
- Nicomachean Ethics
Nicomachean EthicsAristotle - Meditations on First Philosophy
Meditations on First PhilosophyRené Descartes - Leviathan
LeviathanThomas Hobbes - Utilitarianism
UtilitarianismJohn Stuart Mill - Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure ReasonImmanuel Kant - The Second Sex
The Second SexSimone de Beauvoir - ... Trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen
... Trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagenViktor Emil Frankl1946 - The Prince
The PrinceNiccolò Machiavelli1515 - Mere Christianity
Mere ChristianityC. S. Lewis1943 - 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You ThinkBrianna Wiest2018 - 12 Rules for Life
12 Rules for LifeJordan B. Peterson2015 - Courage to Be Disliked
Courage to Be DislikedIchirō Kishimi2013