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Genres › Philosophy

The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine
23 days •
ⓘ 1794 • A fierce attack on organized religion and corruption in the Christian Church in favor of Deism. Paine's writings sparked fears of revolution and unrest among elites in Britain and the U.S.
All Things Considered
G.K. Chesterton
23 days •
ⓘ 1908 • Essays and musings on wine, fairy tales, and windswept hats from one of England's most celebrated writers.
The Analects
Confucius
12 days •
ⓘ 400 BC • A collection of Confucius' sayings put together by his pupils, making up his philosophy of the pursuit of moral perfection.
Anarchism and Other Essays
Emma Goldman
22 days •
ⓘ 1910 • Influential essays on feminism and sexuality, anarchism and political violence from Russian-American philosopher Emma Goldman.
Anthem
Ayn Rand
8 days •
ⓘ 1938 • A glimpse at a frightening future where individuality is nowhere to be found and all decisions are made by a committee. When our narrator breaks the bounds of society, he is marked for death.
Antic Hay
Aldous Huxley
30 days •
ⓘ 1923 • A humorous "novel of ideas" set in London in the turbulent times after WWI, among the self-absorbed cultural elite.
Apology of Socrates
Plato
4 days •
ⓘ 399 BC • The defense Socrates presented at his trial, standing accused of "corrupting the young" and impiety.
The Art of War
Sun Tzu
5 days •
ⓘ 500 BC • An ancient Chinese military treatise looked upon as a definitive work on strategy and tactics. It has influenced military thinking worldwide.
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche
27 days •
ⓘ 1886 • Nietzsche here challenges notions of Western thought and accepted religious ideas, accusing Christianity of "slave morality" and instead looking for individuals to impose their own will on the world.
Bhagavad Gita
Anonymous
11 days •
ⓘ 400 BC • One of the most well known Hindu texts touching on a wide range of spiritual topics, perhaps most prominently the importance of selflessness.
The Blazing World
Margaret Cavendish
17 days •
ⓘ 1666 • This forerunner of science fiction depicts a young woman's journey into a utopian kingdom, where the stars are strange, reached from the North Pole.
The Book of Tea
Okakura Kakuzo
6 days •
ⓘ 1906 • An essay aimed at explaining the connection between teaism, Taoism, and the aesthetics of Japanese culture to a western audience.
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
152 days •
ⓘ 1880 • Enter the Karamazovs: the buffoon father, fiery Dmitri, intellectual Ivan, angelic Alexei, and sneaking Pavel. This epic tale juggles faith, reason, judgement, and murder.
Candide
Voltaire
16 days •
ⓘ 1759 • In the "best of all possible worlds," young Candide still seems to fall into tragedy after tragedy. In this comical satire, Voltaire mocks religion, governments and runaway optimism.
Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau
4 days •
ⓘ 1849 • Disgusted by the Mexican-American War and slavery, Thoreau urges citizens to right their government's wrongs and be agents of positive change - even if it means breaking unjust laws.
Common Sense
Thomas Paine
10 days •
ⓘ 1776 • Written as the American British colonies wavered over the question of independence, Paine's concise and approachable arguments convinced the colonies to become a country.
The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
5 days •
ⓘ 1848 • "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" argue Marx and Engels in this, their world-shaking political pamphlet advocating for socialism over capitalism.
The Conquest of Bread
Peter Kropotkin
23 days •
ⓘ 1892 • A classic of political anarchist literature, outlining Kropotkin's perceived defects of capitalism.
Critique of Pure Reason
Immanuel Kant
63 days •
ⓘ 1781 • A landmark philosophical work in which Kant examines metaphysics, building on earlier works by Locke, Hume, Leibniz, and Wolff.
Culture and Anarchy
Matthew Arnold
21 days •
ⓘ 1869 • A series of Victorian-era essays examining the nature of culture, the value of classes, and the future of society.
The Death of Ivan Ilych
Leo Tolstoy
7 days •
ⓘ 1886 • A powerful man of the world is suddenly and shockingly confronted with his own mortality in this, arguably one of the finest novellas ever written.
Democracy in America
Alexis de Tocqueville
103 days •
ⓘ 1835 • Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville journeys through a new land, where the experiment of democracy has been put to the test for several centuries: America.
The Dhammapada
Anonymous
6 days •
ⓘ 300 BC • A collection of sayings of the Buddha. One of the best known Buddhist scriptures.
Dialogues
Seneca
74 days •
ⓘ 65 • A collection of Stoic essays, letters, and other writings from statesman and philosopher Seneca the Younger.
Discourse on the Method
Rene Descartes
8 days •
ⓘ 1637 • A philosophical treatise discussing skepticism -- to Descartes, the process of approaching everything with doubt and clear of preconceived notions.
Discourses
Epictetus
41 days •
ⓘ 108 • Lectures from Stoic philosopher Epictetus filled with practical guidance for learning and achieving happiness.
Enchiridion of Epictetus
Arrian
3 days •
ⓘ 125 • A short manual of Stoic ethical advice, mostly derived from the Discourses of Epictetus.
Erewhon
Samuel Butler
36 days •
ⓘ 1872 • A satirical description of the utopian society Erewhon that mirrors 19th century England.
Essays
Ralph Waldo Emerson
25 days •
ⓘ 1841 • A collection of Emerson's essays, including Self-Reliance, Compensation, The Over-Soul, and The Poet.
The Ethics
Benedict de Spinoza
30 days •
ⓘ 1677 • A masterpiece of Enlightenment-era philosophy.
Eureka: A Prose Poem
Edgar Allan Poe
12 days •
ⓘ 1848 • An adaptation of Poe's lecture, describing his conception of the universe and of man's relationship with God. Many ideas presage 20th-century discoveries and theories on the beginnings of the universe.
Fathers and Sons
Ivan Turgenev
24 days •
ⓘ 1862 • The Kirsanov household will soon be turned upside down by the arrival of Bazarov and his bold new ideas.
Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
46 days •
ⓘ 1808 • Both parts of Goethe's famous tragic play, in which a disillusioned scholar makes a deal with a devil.
Fear and Trembling
Sören Kierkegaard
15 days •
ⓘ 1843 • Through the story of Abraham, who willingly attempted to kill his son Issac at God's command, Kierkegaard explores the nature of belief and faith.
The Federalist Papers
Publius
74 days •
ⓘ 1788 • A collection of 85 essays written under the pseudonym Publius by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the new United States Constitution.
Gitanjali
Rabindranath Tagore
7 days •
ⓘ 1910 • A collection of Bengali poems, a "spiritual offering of songs," translated into English by the author. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature in part due to this book.
The Guide for the Perplexed
Maimonides
70 days •
ⓘ 1190 • Jewish scholar Maimonides delves into difficult questions of theology and reality, seeking to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with the Hebrew Bible through rational explanation.
A Hunger Artist
Franz Kafka
2 days •
ⓘ 1922 • A hunger artist - who fasts for the entertainment of others - finds the popularity of his performances is waning. Soon spectators prefer seeing animals in a circus, and his near-death condition goes unnoticed.
The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
28 days •
ⓘ 1418 • A Christian devotional, containing guidance on how to live a spiritual and pious life by seeking humility, obedience, and simplicity of life.
In the Penal Colony
Franz Kafka
5 days •
ⓘ 1919 • A diabolical execution machine is about to be used for the last time in an unnamed penal colony.
The Jefferson Bible
Thomas Jefferson
10 days •
ⓘ 1819 • Also known as The Life and Morals of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jefferson reconstructed the life of Jesus from the Gospels into a single narrative, focusing on his teachings.
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Leo Tolstoy
42 days •
ⓘ 1894 • Deemed so powerful as to be a threat to church and state - and thus banned in Russia - Tolstoy here argues against violence of any sort as a commitment to the teachings of Jesus.
The Life of Jesus
Ernest Renan
27 days •
ⓘ 1863 • Renan's controversial historical account of Jesus.
The Madman
Khalil Gibran
3 days •
ⓘ 1918 • Philosophical poetry and short stories on truth, spirituality, and love by Lebanese author Khalil Gibran
The Man Who Was Thursday
G.K. Chesterton
21 days •
ⓘ 1908 • Anarchist Lucian Gregory brings his new friend Gabriel Syme to his underground anarchist meeting place, only to find Syme is an undercover police officer! But Syme soon uncovers that not all is as it seems.
Man and Superman
George Bernard Shaw
19 days •
ⓘ 1905 • After her father’s death, Ann Whitefield is left in the care of two men: the old Roebuck Ramsden and young political firebrand Jack Tanner.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
William Blake
4 days •
ⓘ 1790 • A collection of poetry satirizing religion, following the author’s descent to hell.
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
19 days •
ⓘ 170 AD • The personal writings and reflections of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, ranging from human rationality to divine providence.
Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka
9 days •
ⓘ 1915 • Gregor wakes one day to find he has transformed into a repulsive insect-like monster. Soon his life begins to fall apart around him.
My Disillusionment in Russia
Emma Goldman
26 days •
ⓘ 1923 • Originally titled "My Two Years in Russia," anarchist political activist Goldman describes the tumultuous time in Russia following the Revolution of 1917. This is a complete version containing both volumes.
Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
6 days •
ⓘ 1836 • Emerson's classic transcendentalist essay, finding that reality and the divine can be understood through nature.
The New Atlantis
Francis Bacon
5 days •
ⓘ 1626 • An incomplete utopian novel portraying the ideal future of human discovery and knowledge.
Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle
29 days •
ⓘ 340 BC • Aristotle investigates how men should live and the nature of happiness, seeking for practical guidance rather than theoretical discussion.
Notes from Underground
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
18 days •
ⓘ 1864 • The rambling memoirs of the isolated, bitter, Underground Man as he discusses philosophy, fantasies, and struggles to interact with others.
On Liberty
John Stuart Mill
14 days •
ⓘ 1859 • Philosopher John Stuart Mill and his wife Harriet Taylor in this essay apply the Utilitarian ethical theory to government, exploring individuality, authority, and freedom of speech.
On the Art of Reading
Arthur Quiller-Couch
21 days •
ⓘ 1920 • A collection of lectures exploring the best ways to experience literature and build that appreciation in others.
On the Bondage of the Will
Martin Luther
42 days •
ⓘ 1525 • Martin Luther writes about whether human beings are free to choose good or evil in this response to Desiderius Erasmus' attack on Luther's beliefs.
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
58 days •
ⓘ 1859 • A foundation of evolutionary biology. Darwin shows that populations evolve over the course of many generations through natural selection.
Paradise Lost
John Milton
33 days •
ⓘ 1667 • An epic poem winding itself around the Biblical story of Adam, Eve, and Satan in the Garden of Eden in an effort to "justify the ways of God to men."
Persian Letters
Montesquieu
28 days •
ⓘ 1721 • Journey with Persian nobles Usbek and Rica as they travel through France, seek to understand Western culture, and deal with turmoil at home.
Philosophical Dictionary
Voltaire
34 days •
ⓘ 1764 • A collection of alphabetically-organized articles in which Voltaire explores Christianity, God, morality and other subjects.
The Pivot of Civilization
Margaret Sanger
19 days •
ⓘ 1922 • Women's rights activist Margaret Sanger writes in favor of birth control, explaining its benefits for society as a whole. Intertwined is the problematic then fashionable "science" of eugenics and dealing with "defectives."
Poetics
Aristotle
6 days •
ⓘ 335 BC • One of the earliest and most influential works of criticism, Aristotle discusses elements of drama and tragedy. "The plot is the source and the soul of tragedy."
The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
8 days •
ⓘ 1923 • The prophet Al Mustafa discusses life, death, love, and pain before boarding a ship to go home in this collection of poetry fables.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
R.H. Tawney
30 days •
ⓘ 1926 • An investigation into religion's impact on social and economic development since the Middle Ages and whether Christian morality has been made subordinate "to the pursuit of material wealth."
The Republic
Plato
42 days •
ⓘ 380 BC • One of the most influential works of philosophy and political theory, Plato discusses - through a dialogue between Socrates and three interlocutors - the nature of justice and what it means to a community, and to an individual.
Rights of Man
Thomas Paine
36 days •
ⓘ 1791 • Writing in support of the in-progress French Revolution, Paine argues in favor of popular revolution against a government that no longer defends or respects its citizens' natural rights.
Siddhartha
Herman Hesse
16 days •
ⓘ 1922 • In the time of the Gautama Buddha, a young man named Siddhartha abandons his home and possessions to begin a journey of self-discovery.
The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
14 days •
ⓘ 1762 • Rousseau explores the possibility that a "contract" between people be the source of sovereign power, not systems such as monarchies. His ideas would help inspire political revolt through Europe.
The Subjection of Women
John Stuart Mill
16 days •
ⓘ 1869 • Mill argues men and women are equal and deserve equal rights - including the right to vote. Such equality benefits all of society.
Surrealist Manifesto
André Breton
5 days •
ⓘ 1924 • A discussion on defining surrealism and how to apply it to poetry, literature, and everyday life.
Tao Te Ching
Laozi
7 days •
ⓘ 600 BC • A fundamental Chinese text for philosophical and religious Taoism comprised of 81 short poetic sections.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Friedrich Nietzsche
29 days •
ⓘ 1883 • A philosophical novel in which the ancient prophet Zarathustra reveals God is dead, to be succeeded by a human embodiment of divinity: the Superman.
A Treatise of Human Nature
David Hume
72 days •
ⓘ 1738 • A foundational work in philosophy, Hume seeks to introduce a scientific mindset to the study of human psychology.
The Trial
Franz Kafka
36 days •
ⓘ 1925 • Thirty-year-old bank officer Josef K. is suddenly and inexplicably arrested, then forced to stand trial without knowing his crime in his disturbing tale.
Utopia
Thomas More
13 days •
ⓘ 1516 • Journey through an island community where vice and violence are absent, all religions are tolerated, there's full employment and goods are community-owned.
The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James
48 days •
ⓘ 1902 • Investigating private experiences of religion and mysticism to identify commonalities across all traditions.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Mary Wollstonecraft
37 days •
ⓘ 1792 • One of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. Wollstonecraft argues women deserve the same fundamental rights as men, should not be treated as property to be traded in marriage, and should have access to education.
A Voyage to Arcturus
David Lindsay
39 days •
ⓘ 1920 • A fantastical journey exploring philosophy and the nature of good and evil. Maskull sets off on an adventure in a crystal ship towards the planet Tormance.
Walden
Henry David Thoreau
48 days •
ⓘ 1854 • Not just a reference for pithy thinkpieces on smartphones, Thoreau's sojourn by Walden Pond is an early social experiment seeking self-reliance, self-fulfillment, and happiness.
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
116 days •
ⓘ 1776 • A fundamental work in classical economics. Scottish economist Smith, writing at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, describes an open economy able to regulate itself.
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
Henry David Thoreau
38 days •
ⓘ 1849 • Thoreau describes a river trip he took with his brother John.
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