Nonfiction
Philosophy for Curious Readers
Big questions, handled by writers who want to be understood.
14 books · ranked
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1
Sophie's World
A teenager receives mysterious lessons that walk through the whole history of Western philosophy; a story and a course in one.
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2
The Republic
Socrates argues with Athenian citizens about the nature of justice, the ideal city-state, the philosopher-king, the allegory of the cave, and the forms. Plato's dialogue is the foundational text of Western political philosophy and one of the most influential works of thought ever written.
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3
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
A prophet descends to teach a new way of valuing life; poetic, provocative and frequently misread.
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4
The Myth of Sisyphus
Why life worth living despite its apparent absurdity; the essay that frames absurdism.
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5
The Second Sex
The foundational analysis of how 'woman' has been defined as other; a cornerstone of feminist thought.
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6
A History of Western Philosophy
Twenty-five centuries of ideas, opinionated and surprisingly entertaining; a famous one-volume tour.
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7
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
The book that gave us the 'paradigm shift'; how science actually changes its mind.
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8
A Modern Utopia
Imagine a life without worries. You live in a perfect environment untouched by pollution. You have a job to do and play an important role in society. The politicians are watching out for your best int
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9
A Room of One's Own
A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on 24 October 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two wom
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10
A Study of History
A masterful attempt to describe a universal history. Staggering depth of scholarship and breath of thought.
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11
A treatise of human nature
The eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher's classic work on human understanding and morals.
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12
Agudeza y arte de ingenio, en que se explican todos los modos y differencias de conceptos, con ejemplares escogidos de t
A collection of maxims on wordly behavior observed by a Jesuit scholar 300 years ago.
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13
An essay on man
"Voltaire called it "the most sublime didactic poem ever written in any language." Rousseau rhapsodized about its intellectual consolations. Kant recited long passages of it from memory during his lec
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14
Anarchism and Other Essays
"Anarchism asserts the possibility of an organization without discipline, fear, or punishment, and without the pressure of poverty: a new social organism which will make an end to the terrible struggl