Philosophy study

Most answers here suggest reading some introductions to philosophy. While that’s all fine and dandy, as the question seems to be about the works of great philosophers, i.e. primary works, I thought I would chip in with a fairly substantial list of important works from great philosophers. I order them according to some hazy principle that takes into account how easy they are to read and how they might build upon each other or have important synergy – or something. At the end of the day, it will be just my personal list that happens to make sense for me.

Caveat: I leave out non-Western philosophy because I have little expertise on it, and I lean towards theoretical philosophy (metaphysics, epistemology, etc.) rather than practical (ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics) simply because of my own (lack of) knowledge. Ok, enough hedging, let’s do this!

1. There can be only one first choice: start with Plato. In many ways the father of all Western philosophy, Plato’s thought set the stage for the more than two millennia of philosophy to follow. I recommend:
   

• Republic, an undisputed classic of philosophy and fairly easy to read. Includes the famous cave allegory!
  

• Apology, because it contains such awesome philosophy on what philosophy is – and what it is good for.
  

• Theaetetus, if you are interested in the fundamental epistemological question: What is knowledge?
  

• Phaedo, for Plato’s take on the mind and soul.
  

• Meno, for Plato’s take on virtue and intrinsic ideas.
  

• Parmenides, a bonus book on Plato’s metaphysics. Tougher than others though.
  

1. After Plato, there was Aristotle, and since the two together constitute the pillars of all philosophy, I recommend moving onto him next. Now, the problem is that Aristotle is the polar opposite of Plato: whereas Plato is easy to read but philosophically, perhaps, a bit wishy-washy, Aristotle is almost unparalleled with his philosophical acuity and precision, yet reading him can feel like chewing on a 2000 years old piece of parchment. Except for one work:
   

• Nicomachean Ethics. An immensely influential yet easy to read work on Aristotelian virtue ethics. (We will return to Aristotle later.) If you get pumped up enough, do continue to its sequel Politics.
  

1. The third philosopher you should read is without a doubt René Descartes. There may be two millennia of philosophy between him and the previous dudes, but we must move on, for now, to the next great revolution in philosophy. Three works from Descartes suggest themselves:
   

• Meditations on First Philosophy, one of the true classics of all time, this work takes a sceptical approach to everything that philosophy has hitherto accomplished and sets down the ideal of certain knowledge, and the method to gain it, for which philosophy is known.
  

• Discourse on the Method, while less approachable than Meditations, this work connects Descartes more tightly to the scientific revolution that was taking place in his lifetime.
  

• Passions of the Soul, a bonus book, if Descartes rocks your boat. Discusses, among others, the famous mind–body problem that has captivated and frustrated philosophers ever since.
  

1. Let us now look at the rise of democracy and new social and political philosophy. It is time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for your:
   

• Social Contract. The book that influenced such much of enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the development of republicanism. Begins with the words: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.” Yeah!
  

• Emilé, or On Education. Bonus book for those interested in education and philosophy of pedagogics. The book is famous for making Kant himself forget his daily afternoon walk. (Well, that’s a myth of course, but it says something!)
  

1. Ok, boys and girls, let’s deconstruct philosophy: enter Ludwig Wittgenstein! Now the argument could be made that we should first take on empiricists and rationalists and Kant, but since historical progression of philosophy is not necessarily the best progression, and since Kant especially has a bit of a reputation for being a tough nut to crack, I think this is as good a time as any to see where philosophy ended up after the dust settled on those issues. Since we have the benefit of hindsight, let us use it!
   

• Philosophical Investigations. In a sense this work represents a return to a Socratic ideal of philosophy, common to some other deconstructive works of 19th and 20th century – a string of questions in search of wisdom more than a system of answers.
  

• Tractatus Logico-philosophicus. If Philosophical Investigations is a journey into the philosophical confusion of a mature thinker, Tractatus is the final-sorry-not-final string of answers of young Wittgenstein that eventually threw him into that confusion. It is an impressive work of logical hubris that arose after modern logic was invented, presenting answers to everything – and yet with the very last sentence, destroying it all. Points for irony!
  

1. While Wittgenstein presents the logician’s journey into philosophical deconstruction and modern rootlessness, the quintessential emotional journey is brought to you by Søren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism and a great inspiration of Wittgenstein. Want to be lifted up by the beauty of his prose and hurled into the pits of desperation by the profundity of his analysis of the human condition? Then take a leap of faith with these works:
   

• Fear and Trembling. If any work ever has laid bare the absurdity, beauty, and terror of human existence in its purity, it is this. Kierkegaard deconstructs the story of Abraham and Isaac with amazing acuity, setting ethics and religion, knowledge and faith, on a collision course that makes madness seem like wisdom and wisdom – madness.
  

• Either/Or. Pits aesthetic life against ethical life, desires against duties, and by doing so goes deep indeed into this fundamental conflict within humans.
  

• Concluding Scientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments. Can’t get enough of Kierkegaard? Kierkegaard’s ode to subjectivity – “Subjectivity is Truth” – and one of his more direct engagements with philosophical traditions, especially with Hegelianism and its all-devouring objectivism.
  

1. Now that we have cherry-picked our way through the history of western philosophy, it is time to return to the roots: I summon you again, Aristotle, for we still have much to discuss:
   

• Metaphysics. This, alongside Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, is probably the most momentous work in the history of western philosophy, and as dry as it may appear, it should be read by anyone serious about philosophy, contain as it does the foundations for all the metaphysics that came after.
  

• Organon. A collection of works that laid down the foundations of logic and conceptual analysis – I especially recommend Categories and the Prior and Posterior Analytics.
  

• Poetics. The first work in literary theory ever written and an indispensable work for anyone interested in aesthetics.
  

• Bonus books: Physics and On the Soul. Bonus only because a) Physics is more obsolete in many ways than most important works of philosophy, and b) On the Soul is required reading only for those with particular interest in the topic.
  

1. While Aristotelian philosophy was originally sidelined for almost a millennium, thanks to Arabic philosophers it made a remarkable comeback around the turn of the second millennium AD. Nowhere is the pre-eminent status of Aristotle as clear and nowhere has it been as systematically developed to what many consider its perfect final form than in St. Thomas Aquinas:
   

• Summa theologica. Medieval philosophy has been anything but in vogue for the longest time now, considered boring, arcane, and useless by many – the term scholastic that refers to this period of philosophy is synonymous for dry. Yet it would be folly to ignore the wonderful fireworks of reason that can be found in the pages of Summa theologica.
  

1. Next up, David Hume, the champion of empiricism. He not only wrote beautiful philosophy but also took empiricism to its famous conclusion (?) of scepticism. I recommend above all the following book, or two books if Hume sings to your soul:
   

• A Treatise of Human Nature. This defining work of Hume spells out the scientific method of empiricism, the famous problem of induction, and Hume’s fork: there can be no is from ought.
  

• An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Develops the themes found in the Treatise.
  

1. Where there is empiricism, rationalism is close behind, and so I choose you Benedictus de Spinoza, the awesomest rationalist that has ever blessed us with his presence:
   

• Ethics. This book may be difficult, but it beautifully distils the rationalistic method into its very essence, starting from certain fundamental premises and proceeding like a logical steamroller from one indisputable logical move to another. Did I say indisputable? Oops – that will return to haunt me.
  

• If Spinoza is, at the end, too much to handle at this point, you might consider Leibniz instead, specifically his Monadology if you like to chew your metaphysics in aphoristic little snacks or New Essays if you want the whole nine course meal.
  

1. No list of works of great philosophers could pretend to have the right to exist without Immanuel Kant, and so we finally come to possibly the greatest philosophical work ever written:
   

• Critique of Pure Reason. This massive and profound (and, yeah, sure, difficult) work forever changed the landscape of philosophy, tearing down the battlements of age-old enemies, empiricism and rationalism, realism and idealism, and showing that there can be a peaceful coexistence of them all – if you are willing to pay the price. The First Critique (for there were others) turned the focus of philosophy inward by engaging reason in the quest of self-reflection and self-understanding. This turn can be seen in every single piece of philosophy that came after. It’s cool, is all I’m saying – but it is also tough. But cool.
  

• Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. An easier read and in general a more accessible presentation of Kant’s revolutionary theory of ethics: deontological or duty ethics. Read this, and if you are up for more (and if you are already missing the awesomeness that is the First Critique), also read the Second Critique: Critique of Practical Reason.
  

• Critique of the Power of Judgment. The third and final Critique, this works presents not only Kant’s aesthetic theory but also his views on teleology of nature and the role he assigns to faith and religion.
  

• What is Enlightenment? Proof that Kant can actually write accessible and uplifting prose, this prize-winning essay presented what became the rallying cry of enlightenment: sapere aude! – Dare to know!
  

1. The era of pure Kantian philosophy was short indeed, and a mere 20 years after the publication of the First Critique, when Kant was still clinging onto life, new winds blew German philosophy to a very different direction. Enter the champion of post-Kantian German philosophy, G. W. F. Hegel:
   

• The Phenomenology of Spirit. It is this work that best encapsulates the Hegelian (or Fichtean, see below!) dialectical method of three (published three years after Kant’s death – coincidence? I think not!): thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Follow Hegel on a journey of human reason from the original fact of being through consciousness all the way to absolute knowledge. Sounds good? Just don’t expect an easy read.
  

• Science of Logic. The official sequel to the critically acclaimed Phenomenology, this work follows its de facto protagonist, dialectics, through its exciting life. We meet wacky characters like nothingness and concept – but make no mistake about it, nothing is exactly what it seems! But concept is a bit out of your mind, maybe. (It’s a pun!)
  

1. Not all post-Kantian German philosophy was like Hegel’s, however, and it is here that we come to one of the most thought-provoking philosophers of all time (which is, I guess, a welcome trait in a philosopher), the bad-boy of philosophy and the daydream of teenage emos all across the world: Friedrich Nietzsche. Not Nieztsche, nor Nitzsche, nor Nietshe – N-i-e-t-z-s-c-h-e:
   

• On the Genealogy of Morality. The definitive presentation of Nietzsche’s ethical thinking, it tracks the history and development of the idea of morality, complete with its deconstruction.
  

• Thus Spake Zarathustra. The perennial work of individualism, commonly misunderstood and tragically misused by the fascist Nazi movement (thanks, Nietzsche’s sister!), this work is perhaps at the end of the day a greater feat in literature than in philosophy – but don’t let that hold you back.
  

• Ecce homo. A peculiar work of a peculiar philosopher, Ecce homo presents Nietzsche’s own not-entirely-non-ironic self-assessment as the harbinger of a new philosophy.
  

1. Time to take a break and see what is new on the other side of the English canal. While the developments of philosophy there might have not been as deep, they were markedly more… practical. So let us take a look at great British philosopher John Stuart Mill:
   

• On Liberty. This classic work lays down the foundations of the so-called harm principle, a libertarian concept that grants people freedom to do what they want as long as they don’t harm themselves or others (too much). It also offers a remarkable defence of freedom of speech.
  

• Utilitarianism. Speaking of consequentialist ethics, this work is easily the classic presentation utilitarianism that takes the moral value of an action to consist in the utility it produces for the society. While you are at it, you might also consider Jeremy Bentham’s The Principles of Morals and Legislation, the originator of utilitarianism.
  

1. Ok, done breathing? As I come now to the final must-read great works of the history of philosophy, I present you also with one of the most difficult as well as contested philosophers in this list, Martin Heidegger:
   

• Being and Time. Despite having never finished his two-part book series on, well, being and time, this work stands at the epicentre of 20th century philosophy, rivalled in influence and philosophical prowess only by the works of Wittgenstein. Being and Time is the quintessential work of modern existentialism and phenomenology – though Heidegger of course denied that it was either. It presents an analysis of human existence through its temporality, thrown as we are in the ever elusive now between birth and death. Heidegger weaves masterful philosophy on such central aspects of human existence as care and fear, both arising form our temporal nature, and develops the idea of a hermeneutical circle through which we gain ever deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.
  

• “What Is Called Thinking?”. An lecture often thought as the most representative of his later philosophy, and as far as the title goes, an obvious choice for any fan of philosophy.
  

• “The Question Concerning Technology”. Technology has not stood in the core of philosophy, though maybe it should have. Through an analysis of technology and our relationship to it, Heidegger ultimately finds that technology, like many a thing in Heidegger, is a fundamental expression of truth and its unhiddenness: the way the world unfolds to us through our inquiry. Yep.
  

Further Reading

While I should think there is enough of material above for years of philosophy, we have but scratched the surface. So I wanted to present, in a temporal but otherwise in no particular order, works that – while they may not be absolutely essential for understanding philosophy – should be read by those who wish to focus or gain a deeper understanding of certain philosophical traditions.

1. Antiquity
   

• Heracleitus: Fragments. Perhaps no other pre-Socratic philosopher has influenced and impressed philosophers more than the eminent Heracleitus. Only fragments survive, but they are worth reading.
  

• Sextos Empiricus: Outlines of Pyrrhonism. Perhaps the greatest (surviving) work of sceptical philosophy of all time. A must read for those looking for certainty – or the certainty that there is no certainty.
  

• Marcus Aurelius: Meditations. The stoic school was and still is influential in philosophy, but much of the original works of stoics have been lost. Perhaps the best work of stoicism comes, then, from this Roman emperor and stoic of a later period.
  

1. Early Middle Ages
   

• Plotinus: Enneads. The One and true Plotinus, often shunned for his mystical and arcane philosophical system, the Enneads present a fantastic, wild, and rationalistic development of the (Neo-)Platonic ideas. The influence of Plotinus on early Christianity was immense, and some consider Plotinus one of the greatest philosophers of all time – go see what the fuss is about!
  

• St. Augustine of Hippo: Confessions. A beautiful book from a beautiful mind, St. Augustine is perhaps the most approachable and touching of all medieval philosophers. Apart from the life wisdom this work imparts, it also is the actual origin of Descartes’s famous quip: I think, therefore I am.
  

• Boëthius: Consolation of Philosophy. If you ever wonder whether philosophy is making you happy or miserable (probably both), this is the work for you. Written by Boëthius while waiting to die (no kidding), it is a beautiful journey through self-understanding, wisdom, and philosophical topics like metaphysics and ethics.
  

1. Late Middle Ages
   

• Ibn Rushd, a.k.a. Averroës: The Incoherence of Incoherence. A defence of Aristotelianism against what Ibn Rushd considered to be a corruption of Aristotle by Al-Ghazali and Ibn Sina (a.k.a. Avicenna). A hugely influential work in Catholic medieval philosophy and in the re-establishment of Aristotelian philosophy.
  

• William of Ockham: Sum of Logic. Ockham wrote a massive amount of treatises, and it is not easy to find his central philosophical ideas – such as his famous razor. The Sum of Logic, however, at least comes close by containing his influential idea of nominalism. It is also as good a book as any to get to know one of the more impressive feats of medieval philosophers: their developments in logic.
  

• Duns Scotus: Ordinatio of the Oxford Lectures (see the Critical Edition by Peter Simpson). Not the easiest of the medieval philosophers – I like to call him the medieval Kant – this thinker is worth the time of a patient reader. A great synthesiser of positions, he sought a middle ground in the prevailing medieval disputes.
  

1. Renaissance
   

• Francis Bacon: Novum Organum. Bacon’s famous work that presents induction as the titular new instrument for scientific investigation.
  

• Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince. The quintessential work for those craving for power, this work presents what is nowadays known as Machiavellian rules and principles for wannabe-tyrants. Your cup of tea, perhaps?
  

• Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan. As exciting as the name may be, this must be the antithesis of Machiavelli’s The Prince when it comes to excitement of its content. Yes, it’s dry, but it is also one of the more influential political treaties of all time.
  

• Blaise Pascal: Pensées. Pascal’s grand theological work, presenting among others the famous Pascal’s Wager.
  

1. Early Modern
   

• John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. One of the three great empiricists, it is very much this work that originated modern empiricism to begin with. It also presents novel analyses of the human mind and cognitive capacities, propelling it to the status of a classic work in epistemology.
  

• Bishop George Berkeley: Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. The second of the three great empiricists, Berkeley is certainly the most peculiar one and least relatable to contemporary empiricists – with his express idealism and philosophical reliance on God (he’s not called Bishop for nothing). Berkeley is nonetheless an ingenious philosopher, and this book makes that obvious to anyone with half a brain.
  

• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: Monadology and New Essays. I did mention these as alternatives to Spinoza above, but it bears repeating that these works are, indeed, worth reading.
  

• Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. While not well-received by her contemporaries (I wonder why…), this is a true classic of early (18th century) feminism. You know, back in the days when it actually needed arguing that women are not inferior to men by nature. Wollstonecraft’s prose is beautiful, and a must read for everyone.
  

1. 19th Century
   

• Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Foundations of the Science of Knowledge. Oh, Fichte – the true but snubbed hero of German Idealism, the originator of the thesis–antithesis–synthesis scheme, snatched and better marketed by Hegel. Fichte struggled throughout his life to present his idea to overcome Kantian limitations, with several iterations of more or less the same work. Given that he never succeeded in lucidity, I think it is best to just bite the bullet and read this first attempt of his.
  

• Friedrich Schelling: System of Transcendental Philosophy. The only philosopher on this whole list that I personally do not get at all, Schelling may have some more representative works (perhaps Naturphilosophie) but as it is my right as the author of this post to do so, I choose this one that makes most sense to me – bound up as it is with Kant’s philosophy.
  

• Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Representation. Schopie my man, the Original Pessimist voted first in high school for the best philosophy hairdo. (Look it up!) This work, while lacking in that famous pessimism of his, presents his attempt to overcome Kantian limitations (join the club) with an ingenious appeal to to our free will – the only noumenal idea that Kant himself to an extent accepted as a fact, indeed the fact of reason.
  

• Gottlob Frege: Basic Laws of Arithmetic. While Frege may not be the most accessible of philosophers, the father of modern logic certainly deserves a shout-out. For those more interested in his influential and ground breaking works on semantics, his later essays like “Function and Concept” or “Concept and Object” are recommendable.
  

• Edmund Husserl: Logical Investigations. Speaking of fathers, here we have yet another one, of phenomenology this time. If you are interested more in the philosophy of science of this versatile philosopher, I can also recommend his later The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Philosophy.
  

• C. S. Peirce: “The Fixation of Belief”. A pragmatist essay on the methods of replacing doubt with belief, i.e. for gaining and solidifying knowledge. Consider also “How to Make Our Ideas Clear”.
  

• William James: Pragmatism: A New Name for some Old Ways of Thinking. Peirce not enough pragmatism for you? Then consider the go-to book for an overview of pragmatism.
  

1. Contemporary
   

• Alfred J. Ayer: Language, Truth, and Logic. The reason why so many 20th century works in analytic philosophy are a conjunction of three deep-sounding words, this influential book popularised logical positivism in the English speaking world.
  

• Bertrand Russell and Alfred Whitehead: Principia Mathematica. Perhaps the most famous failed book of all time, the Principia is a wild and bold attempt to ground all mathematics on logic. While I would only recommend this to aficionados, it is certainly the great contribution of Russell’s to philosophy, warts and all. If it is too much, after all, then you might want to consider Russell’s considerably more approachable essay “On Denoting”.
  

• Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex. Second only in getting its due, that is. De Beauvoir’s feminist classic might not have started feminism but it became such an influential work that it started a second wave of it.
  

• Emmanuel Levinas: Totality and Infinity. As hard as they come, this work is an ingenious attempt to develop and break free, as it were, from what Levinas calls Heidegger’s totalitarian philosophy. Set in the tradition of transcendental–phenomenological philosophy, this book develops an original ethical theory where ethics is understood through coming face-to-face with the Other. A pro-tip: if you find this work too much, read his early essay “On Escape”, it’s awesome and approachable.
  

• Michel Foucault: The Archaeology of Knowledge. The main methodological work in Foucault’s structuralism. Presents the idea of how subconscious structures of society determine what we consider possible at a given time and age.
  

• W. V. Quine: “Two Dogmas of Empiricism”. Quick and dirty, this little essay packs a bigger punch than most books. Brought down logical empiricism and defined the course of analytic philosophy for decades.
  

• Jean-Paul Sartre: Being and Nothingness. Because nothing beats being like Being and Nothingness! Well, Existentialism is a Humanism just might, so keep that in mind too.
  

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Also, I plan on reading some:

• Foucault
  

• Delause
  

• Sartre