Philosophy Books
Do you often find yourself 'spacing out' and pondering the meaning of existence? If so, you're not alone and you can indulge those thoughts with a little
philosophy. The goal of philosophy is to understand knowledge, existence, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is focused on using only reasoned arguments and does not base its reasoning on mythology. Philosophy comes from the Greek meaning "love of wisdom" and that's exactly what floats our philosophical boat! There are a vast amount of theories and subjects within philosophy so it's almost impossible to list them all. Check out the
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy to learn more about specific topics and thinkers.
Beginner's Guide
Maybe you're not ready to dive into the existential deep end just yet. Or you're not sure which area of philosophy to explore so here are some great
beginner's philosophy books:
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Philosophy for Beginners by Richard Osborne
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Philosophy for Dummies by Thomas Morris
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Philosophy Made Simple by Richard Popkin
Greek
It all began with the Greeks. Well the Greeks may not have been the first people to question life but they were one of the first to write down their thoughts. Begin with some classic
Greek books to understand the influence it had on philosophers over the centuries.
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Five Dialogues by Plato
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Republic by Plato
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Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Existentialism
Existentialism focuses on the meaning behind our existence. Ultimately, we create our own meaning in life through our consciousness. The meaning of life is what we make of it and therefore, life is considered absurd because life itself has no meaning. Confused? Then read some of these
books on existentialism and possibly become more confused or enlightened:
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Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard
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The Portable Nietzsche by Friedrich Nietzsche
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The Myth of Sisyphus: And Other Essays by Albert Camus
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I and Thou by Martin Buber
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Eastern philosophy has taken off in the Western World. However, many Westerners lump all the Asian countries and their differing belief systems into a very broad category. Buddha wasn't the only smart thinker.
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Buddhism
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Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen
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Hinduism
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The Bhagavad Gita
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Jainism
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An Introduction to Jainism by Bharat Shah
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Taoism
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Confucianism
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The Analects of Confucius by Confucius
Other Branches
Some other interesting branches of philosophy include:
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Hume)
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God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
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Modern: The philosophy of the 1900s to the present
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Language: The study of the origins, nature, and use of language
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Political: The study of government, law, and justice and how it affects citizens
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Ethics: Moral philosophy; how people should act and the differences in morals between cultures
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Epistemology: Deals with the nature of knowledge and if it is possible to actually acquire knowledge
Pop Culture and Philosophy
There are two excellent series called
Popular Culture and Philosophy Series which discuss the philosophy behind popular TV shows, movies, comics, musicians, and more. The books are a wonderful read and you'll find philosophical thoughts where you least expect them.
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House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies
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Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery
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The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy
Quick Picks
Related Guides
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Classic Authors
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Classic Literature
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Spiritual and Religious Books
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Educational Films
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Documentary Films
