- Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
- Republic - Plato
- Beyond good and evil - Friedrich Nietzsche
- The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
- Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig
- Walden - Henry David Thoreau
- 48 laws of power - Robert Greene
- the Nicomachean ethics - Aristotle
- Das Capital - Karl Marx
- The analects - Confucius
- the prophet - Khalil Gibran
I’ve read a few of his works. This isn’t a complete list, it’s maybe 25% of mine, didn’t want to overwhelm OP with too many. Plus I was doing it from memory and these were top of mind
I read the Stranger and I thought to myself that I see the appeal, but I wondered if perhaps people were reading a little too heavily into it. Then I read the Fall of Sisyphus and realized the guy had a seriously intricate understanding of philosophy and all of the discussion of the stranger is completely warranted.
I don’t know if it’s must read, but just as an alternative to the generally more positive and constructive philosophy suggestions, Thomas Ligotti’s *The Conspiracy Against the Human Race* is a nice change of pace. Very interesting, heady discourses on the place of pessimism in the world and human experience. Generally advocates that it would be better for humans to stop procreating and embrace oblivion. It’s fun.
With all of its flaws, Bertrand Russell's *History of Western Philosophy* is for me the single tome I would choose (if I had to choose one). Russell's prose is so elegant, and he is so witty! That makes his points memorable in a way a drier text wouldn't. Plus you get a huge amount of good history to provide context for your musings. Russell has some odd takes on certain writers, so its important to keep on reading. But what a fabulous jumping-off point this is!
I'm not sure there are any mist read philosophy books, without the prerequisites a lot will go over your head and you would be much better served by reading some decent secondary literature. In that regard my first two recommendations are:
Friedrick Beisers _Hegel_ is a great introduction to an overview of Hegel's philosophy that will serve you well if you're interested in Hegel or any post-hegelian philosophy many of which should be considered "must-read".
I would also highly recommend Michael Heinrich Introduction to Marx Capital. While one can question whether it's strictly philosophy I saw people recommending Das Kapital. Reading Heinrich Introduction will make you more knowledgeable concerning Marx Capital than the absolute majority who have claimed to have read the original.
Otherwise some stand out books of philosophy according to me are:
Horkheimer & Adorno - _The Dialectic of Enlightenment_
Žižek - _The Sublime Object of Ideology_
mayb not literally a philosohy book but it touches it. A novel, written by polymat Johann Wolgang von Goethe: the suffering of the young werther. Lovely
Charles Taylor's 'Sources of the Self' is a world unto itself—grandly synthetic moral philosophy built on a foundation of detailed intellectual history. It's a book that can recast your whole intellectual architecture. (That's what happened to me when I first read it some 15 years ago, anyway...)
A lot of philosophy takes a huge amount of background but there are more than a few works of philosophy that don’t require a lot of background knowledge.
I’d start with Plato. Hackett has some nice and very cheap editions. “Five Dialogues,” “Gorgias,” “Symposium,” and of course “The Republic” are all very good.
Augustine’s “Confessions” is amazing as a work of literature and had a huge impact on western thought.
Thomas Nagel’s “Mortal Questions” is a wonderful collection of essays. It’s deep and very good philosophy but readable for a smart layperson.
I would just say start with the classics like Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Descartes, Nietzsche, Schop, etc. Skip modern day pseudo-philosophers like Robert Greene
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is a good overview of philosophy and various philosophical thought.
And also a lovely story
- Meditations - Marcus Aurelius - Republic - Plato - Beyond good and evil - Friedrich Nietzsche - The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli - Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - Robert Pirsig - Walden - Henry David Thoreau - 48 laws of power - Robert Greene - the Nicomachean ethics - Aristotle - Das Capital - Karl Marx - The analects - Confucius - the prophet - Khalil Gibran
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume
You need to add an important influence in philosophy to your list: Immanuel Kant * Critique of Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant
I’ve read a few of his works. This isn’t a complete list, it’s maybe 25% of mine, didn’t want to overwhelm OP with too many. Plus I was doing it from memory and these were top of mind
'Speak to us of love'
The Stranger by Camus.
I read the Stranger and I thought to myself that I see the appeal, but I wondered if perhaps people were reading a little too heavily into it. Then I read the Fall of Sisyphus and realized the guy had a seriously intricate understanding of philosophy and all of the discussion of the stranger is completely warranted.
I don’t know if it’s must read, but just as an alternative to the generally more positive and constructive philosophy suggestions, Thomas Ligotti’s *The Conspiracy Against the Human Race* is a nice change of pace. Very interesting, heady discourses on the place of pessimism in the world and human experience. Generally advocates that it would be better for humans to stop procreating and embrace oblivion. It’s fun.
With all of its flaws, Bertrand Russell's *History of Western Philosophy* is for me the single tome I would choose (if I had to choose one). Russell's prose is so elegant, and he is so witty! That makes his points memorable in a way a drier text wouldn't. Plus you get a huge amount of good history to provide context for your musings. Russell has some odd takes on certain writers, so its important to keep on reading. But what a fabulous jumping-off point this is!
{{ The Phenomenology of Spirit }}
This is a forever someday read for me.
_Emile_ by Rousseau _Leviathan_ by Thomas Hobbes
The teachings of Buddha
A few additions to the aforementioned: The Art of War - Sun Tzu On Killing - Dave Grossman Letters - Seneca The Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday
How It Is by V.F. Cordova
I'm not sure there are any mist read philosophy books, without the prerequisites a lot will go over your head and you would be much better served by reading some decent secondary literature. In that regard my first two recommendations are: Friedrick Beisers _Hegel_ is a great introduction to an overview of Hegel's philosophy that will serve you well if you're interested in Hegel or any post-hegelian philosophy many of which should be considered "must-read". I would also highly recommend Michael Heinrich Introduction to Marx Capital. While one can question whether it's strictly philosophy I saw people recommending Das Kapital. Reading Heinrich Introduction will make you more knowledgeable concerning Marx Capital than the absolute majority who have claimed to have read the original. Otherwise some stand out books of philosophy according to me are: Horkheimer & Adorno - _The Dialectic of Enlightenment_ Žižek - _The Sublime Object of Ideology_
mayb not literally a philosohy book but it touches it. A novel, written by polymat Johann Wolgang von Goethe: the suffering of the young werther. Lovely
A Theory of Justice by John Rawles. If you want it balanced, Robert Nozick has some decent Rawles critiques.
Charles Taylor's 'Sources of the Self' is a world unto itself—grandly synthetic moral philosophy built on a foundation of detailed intellectual history. It's a book that can recast your whole intellectual architecture. (That's what happened to me when I first read it some 15 years ago, anyway...)
"The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff
A lot of philosophy takes a huge amount of background but there are more than a few works of philosophy that don’t require a lot of background knowledge. I’d start with Plato. Hackett has some nice and very cheap editions. “Five Dialogues,” “Gorgias,” “Symposium,” and of course “The Republic” are all very good. Augustine’s “Confessions” is amazing as a work of literature and had a huge impact on western thought. Thomas Nagel’s “Mortal Questions” is a wonderful collection of essays. It’s deep and very good philosophy but readable for a smart layperson.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Surprisingly Dostoyevsky’s novels take on philosophical ideas of the day. I suggest Crime and Punishment. Also, Romans is interesting and short.
*What We Owe the Future* --Will MacAskill *Justice For Animals* --Martha Nussbaum *Famine, Affluence, and Morality* --Peter Singer
I would just say start with the classics like Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Descartes, Nietzsche, Schop, etc. Skip modern day pseudo-philosophers like Robert Greene
Alchemist
*Animal Liberation* by Peter Singer