8 Philosophy Books for Beginners
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- Starting to read Philosophy can be tricky, especially if you don't know where to start. Although there's no right or wrong place to start, here are 8 book recommendations I have for those getting into Philosophy.
1. Five Dialogues, Plato : amzn.to/3kKeqHw
2. Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle : amzn.to/3jlp1s3
3. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius : amzn.to/3WR67Hn
4. Discourse on Method, René Descartes : amzn.to/3Yddfz3
5. Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes : amzn.to/40dhvjG
6. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke : amzn.to/3RfFlr5
7. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume : amzn.to/40dijoN
8. Candide, Voltaire : amzn.to/3XMIlxn
Comment below any books I might've missed!
Timecodes:
0:00 - Getting into Philosophy
0:40 - Why Chronological Order Makes Sense
1:12 - Five Dialogues, Plato
2:50 - Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
4:08 - Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
5:25 - Discourse on Method, René Descartes
6:28 - Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
9:14 - An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke
10:29 - An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, David Hume
12:05 - Candide, Voltaire
13:28 - Further Recommendations
14:14 - Closing
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#philosophy #bookrecommendations #reading - Zábava
I'm a fan of classic literature and read Candide several years ago. I think of it as Voltaire's "angry young man novel". His tutor was devoted to the idea of "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" and Voltaire argued with his tutor constantly about that perspective. Candide is his way of venting against everything he despised about that worldview while simultaneously mocking an elder that he had no respect for. Voltaire was a very intelligent man so he does this in the most philosophical way, but it's still his angry young man novel.
I'll give you my story about Philosophy. I read a bunch of those big individual books, thinking that would help me understand Philosophy. I really didn't get it as much as I should have. Then years later, what I did was read about 10 different Introduction to Philosophy books. That really worked. They explained each author in a different way, I could see the differences between each of the Philosophers and how they fit behind and ahead of the other authors in history.
I don't know if comparing learning Philosophy is like or not like learning Mathematics or Physics. In Mathematics or Physics, they generally don't teach what a Math or Physics person thought about Math or Physics 3,000 years ago and then build on that. I think Philosophy should be taught like Math or Physics is taught, by going over each idea and not from Philosopher to Philosopher.
Stumbled across your channel! I think I'm gonna enjoy it here!
I just started reading Philosophy. I have been thoroughly enjoying Blaise Pascal's Pensées and Plato's dialogues. Nicomachean Ethics is on my list :)
Pensées is one of my favorite books! Hope this video helped!
Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for.
You have a marvelous channel. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! Appreciate the support!
Read all of these during my undergrad, but it was specifically Plato’s Five Dialogues which was my first book ever. Hooked me ever since.
Really love your work
High quality content
You certainly deserve more👌🏼👌🏼
Hope it provides value!
The Consolations of Philosophy is a great introduction
Thank you 🙏
I appreciate your book selections. I would like to add one book. Or, more appropriately, a grouping of six books. Any person who cares to learn about philosophy should first read the Organon of Aristotle. It is absolutely imperative to learn how to use syllogistic logic for understanding philosophy. Some books you’ll read by philosophers will be well written, but with flawed logic. It’s imperative to understand logic first and foremost before beginning in philosophy. This is my humble opinion, thank you for reading.
What is the justification for Philosophy itself ? There is no single right answer where to start, but unless you can justify the time spent reading, thinking, discussing, and writing philosophy, you might be wasting your time -- or, even worse, corrupting your mind and spirit. This line of thinking -- justification in general, and the justification of philosophy in particular, along with the pros and cons of various modes and subjects of education, the values to be achieved in life by engaging in philosophical discussion, and the real possibility that philosophy, or lack thereof, might be a corrupting influence in a people's lives -- especially upon the youth -- are at the heart of the Socratic Dialogues written by Plato. This is especially true of Plato's 'Apology'. Here is recreated the trial of Socrates in which he defends himself against the charges of impiety and of having corrupted the youth through his teaching of philosophy. His defense (or apology) is really a defense (or justification) for philosophy itself. If philosophy has a hero, surely it is Socrates. Moreover, his assertion to the effect that 'an unexamined life is not worth living' is both the unofficial motto and ultimate justification for the whole of philosophy. What better place could one start ? The scene is dramatic, the dialogue easy to follow, the discussion entertaining while being intellectually stimulating. What is the purpose of education? What are the values we should pursue ? What is the Good Life ? Why not begin with the Hero of Philosophy himself defending the practice of philosophy, while on trial for his very life ?
Then, if you want to know what Socrates was really about, in my opinion, you couldn't do better than read Clifford's 'Ethics of Belief' -- which is basically a justification for justified belief and reasoning itself. Then, you might want to read William James' reply to Clifford in James' 'The Will to Believe' -- which is basically a refutation of Clifford's claim that holding beliefs upon faith is immoral and never justified. This debate goes to the heart of philosophy, for whereas philosophy attempts to provide a ground for justifying all true beliefs whatsoever, the possibility that such an attempt is foolhardy -- and perhaps even dangerous to human lives that depend upon taking some things on faith, so as to prevent an inaction that would, in those cases, lead to disaster and death, or worse (read Pascal's 'Wager'). What a fascinating debate ! What are the limits of the rational justification that philosophy ostensibly holds to be so valuable to life -- as in 'an unexamined life is not worth living) ? Here we examine the real value of philosophy itself, and put it on trial !
Speaking for the Prosecution, I give you a most famous, most eloquent, and most persuasive writer and philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau and his 'Discourse on the Arts and Sciences' in which he attacks the morality of, not only the arts and sciences, but philosophy and progress as well ! You think he doesn't have a good case ? No, he certainly has one ! I think he is certainly wrong, of course, for I am myself a life-long student of the art of philosophy, but I have to confess, the man makes one damn good case against philosophy, art, and science. He is followed by another great philosopher (or anti-philosopher and anti-Christ) Nietzsche -- who defends art and affirms life while attacking philosophy and religion viciously ! Last, comes the more quiet, yet more devastating attack on philosophy by the logician Ludwig Wittgenstein -- who makes it appear that all philosophical discussion is simply NON-SENSE !
Who speaks to defend philosophy other than Socrates and Clifford ? Well, almost every other philosopher in one way or another -- although each conceives philosophy in his own way, and defends one part of it, while rejecting another (see Hume's defense of empirical, psychological, and mathematical reasoning and his rejection of Metaphysics for example.)
But if philosophy is on trial, where is the judge and jury ? LOOK IN THE MIRROR !
Meditations is REALLY good. I've recommended this one many times over the last few months or so. Modern Library has the best version in my opinion.
Ryan Holiday's Daily Stoic new leather-bound version is VERY nice.
@@ryantully5118 and also very expensive haha but I'll likely get it one day. I was just at his bookstore about 3 weeks ago.
There are many free versions for the Kindle. Those will do just fine. 😊
Marcus Aurelius or Descartes?
Dude you have all the best books I want
Can't go wrong with the Greeks. This is very true. It is a complicated question, and most primary texts will proceed in specifics dealing in an explicate domain. One may not get along with Nicomachean Ethics, but will with Physics and Metaphysics. I completely agree, a book like Candid would really be a great place to start. In fact, a lot of fiction, Goethe, Kafka ect. would be best before jumping into the concepts that influenced these works of fiction. All of these are great mentions,....except Hobbes. Haha 😅 I kid, I just vehemently disagree with so much he put forward, but he is, of course, important nonetheless.
Haha very fair! I've seen Goethe and Kafka recommended or mentioned often so I need to dig into them both real soon. Appreciate the comment and you sharing your thoughts!
not a bad list. i would add a couple of items to the list: Epictetus would be a great addition with Marcus Aurelius and stoicism; And, I believe that one of the best books for anyone beginning their studies in Philosophy is Bertrand Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy." In fact, i would recommend that book as the first book to read. one of my undergraduate degrees is in philosophy. And, while there were many books along the path, Russell's book was, and is, a standout.
Great video.
I was searching for a guide like this, And this was really the transition I was searching for.
After reading these books, Which 5-10
Books that would enter the intermediate phase would you personally recommend?
From there I would suggest expanding into wherever your heart desires. Could be further into the political philosophy with Aristotle's Politics or Locke's Second Treatise of Govt. Or explore existentialism with Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Camus. Hope that helps!
@@TheActiveMind1
Thanks :)
Thanks for the list! I recently read a book titled "Meandering Sobriety." This is a great book with a collection of 40 stories concerning the philosophy of life and work, a bit humorous and still thought-provoking. Maybe you like it
I’ll have to check it out!
For me, everything comes from Bertrand Russell's various introductions to philosophy. You start there, you can get a good overview.
Have you read Frederick Copleston’s pretty famous 11 volume History of Philosophy? It’s supposed to be a more substantial history of philosophy than what you usually find with histories of philosophy. By more substantial I mean that in histories of philosophy you don’t really get a meaty treatment of “Grasping the philosophical concepts”, but as the name implies, just a more general historical rundown of philosophy. Well supposedly Copleston’s massive 11 volume history is supposed to give you the best of both worlds…an understanding of the history of philosophy, AND an understanding of the philosophical concepts as well.
I haven't read that but that can certainly be a helpful resource as well
Hey active mind, wondering if you can make a video on how to read philosophy books/ what to do when you don’t understand them really ? Because even though some of these might be introductory texts I still sometimes feel like I am not really getting what the author is trying to say. Any tips on that would be greatly appreciated
Hey, thanks for the comment! I’m happy to hear you’re making the effort to work through the texts instead of giving up. I made a video earlier on my channel called “How To Read Philosophy Books” that offers a few great tips for grasping more of what you’re reading. Hope that helps!
@@TheActiveMind1 first thank you so much for the prompt reply. Didn’t think it would be this fast haha. Secondly thank you for the words of encouragement I highly appreciate. With that being said I will make sure to give your video a listen and will do my best at applying these tips. Again thank you for taking the time to write back.
Great video for someone who wants to start reading philosophy, there are very few videos in youtube for that topic and i think you address that better. Also congrats for the very good channel and its high quality content you provide.
I have never read a philosophy book, but a few months ago I watched a lecture on philosophy and fell in love with David Hume, it seemed to me that he has extremely interesting ideas and I love epistemology as a philosophical field. I bought an enquiry concerning human understanding 2 months ago and would like your view in this: Although you said at the beginning that there is no right book to start with, do you think I should start with Hume or with Plato and ancient Greeks and then with chronological order, similar to your suggestion? Do you think one could understand Hume without any prior knowledge of philosophy?
Hume is a fine place to start, especially if that’s what’s sparked your interest most. After him, I would refer to Locke & Berkeley as they connect with his discussions on epistemology. You’d also want to read Descartes and even Spinoza to see where the Rationalists are coming from
@@TheActiveMind1 Ok, thanks a lot!
I did two years of philosophy at university about sixty years ago. The book that stays in my mind is A J Ayer’s Language Truth and Logic.
Unless you have a good education in the humanities or social sciences, I recommend reading some introductory works to the history of philosophy, or history of ideas in general, before diving into the actual philosophy. This way, you'll get a map of the general terrain and you'll be able to understand the texts you read in a broader ideational context. It will also be easier to navigate the field and find your area of interest. I can assure you, works in logic and existentialism, for example, are very very different to read.
I would agree. The only caveat I’d add is that requiring too much introductory reading material may deter people from attempting to study philosophy. Ideally they can get a taste for the real deal and then refer back to those additional resources for context and a more comprehensive understanding. In short, I prefer setting the barrier of entry lower
Great vid but totally take issue with the Kant jibe (said in jest, of course). I think the Groundwork is an accessible short text for a beginner. Appreciate that as a Kantian I am biased.
Haha I can understand that! Kant is surely a pivotal read at some point as his influence is immense
Really good and helpful
Glad it helped!
Good list. It wouldn’t be my list in every case but not because your choices are wrong, just a different point of view.
Great list. I would maybe just add Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morality" I think that and the Platonic dialogues are some of the most important philosophical works
I agree! Both are very important - these were just some easier introductory works to get into reading philosophy. Nietzsche can be quite tricky for a beginner
@TheActiveMind1 my first introduction to philosophy was a lecture on "On the Genealogy of Morality" and it blew my mind lol. I'm checking out your Nietzsche November stuff right now. Keep up the good work 👍
If you’re going to talk about philosophy, please don’t misuse the phrase “begs the question.”
i know the pedantic among us are losing that battle but in a philosophical context, it really grates.
Book-wise, i would recommend these more modern books: Twilight of the Idols by Nietzsche, Reasons and Persons by Parfit, and Philosophical Investigations by wittgenstein. not necessarily easy books but pretty accesible, in that they’re well-written and entertaining and don’t really require an enormous background of information. they basically stand on their own
Thank you! I was mentally editing my comment when I saw yours. Begs the question is a tough concept for some people to grasp.
It's a good Political Philosophy list. Personally, I liked Aristotle a lot. Liked video.
I love this book
Words for Our Time: The Spiritual Words of Matthew the Poor
It’s all part of the plan
This is a good list indeed; yet it can be more for learning less of the philosophy of the world but more of a curriculum to learn about modern western liberal civilization.
Ps: I hope you read plato , the republic, that is a great book, lol.
I learned about Dostoevsky first which hooked me
I am extremely skeptical of the claim that an Essay Concerning Human Understanding is a good book for beginners. Locke is notoriously difficult to read. And still, why read Locke at all? He’s easily overshadowed in British Empiricism by both Berkeley and Hume, especially in cogency, but also in coherence. I’d replace this with Kant’s Prolegomena and read it after the Enquiry.
Your list could make sense for someone who will spend years becoming a philosophy professor, but not for anyone else. I wouldn't wish those books on anyone else! What a waste of time! For one thing philosophers like Wittgenstein never read that list.
If you are going to read one or two books, I recommend:
Thinking Straight by Antony Flew
Thinking with Concepts by John Wilson
where can i see your tattoos?
My instagram might be the best place @brockcovington
I read your channel's name as "The ACID Mind".
"Beg the question".....didn't you use that in a non-philosophical way?
No Medieval Philosophers?
I haven't delved into Medieval philosophy yet so I'd be speaking out of turn. That collection of works is certainly worth reading and many are on my reading list 👍🏼
@Mike Fuller I guess I hadn't seen the video all the way through when I wrote it.
The Tyranny of Words (1938) by Stuart Chase
Thank you so much!
So far, I took the old german way, which says "read Plato and Kant and you achieve 90% that matters".
As a medical doctor (psychiatry) I actually started with german existentialism (spelling in english?!), V. Frankl and Karl Jaspers, NOT M. Heidegger, aiming for (at? to?) a deeper, philosophical approach to my patients struggles...
Nevertheless, I don't like Candide, it is an arrogant and cynical provocation and very overrated.
All the best from Leipzig, Germany!
Very neat! I've read Frankl's Mans Search For Meaning but I need to get into Jaspers at some point
@@TheActiveMind1 Thank you so much for this quick and nice answer. To be honest, I don't enjoy Frankl's books very much, but the thing is that he is very easy to understand for me. I just excluded Heidegger because he is much more difficult to understand, even as a german I had to learn hundreds of philosophical terms that he invented. Furthermore, in Germany we also still have this feeling of guilt and shame praising Heidegger, because he not only was a 'Mitläufer', tolerating the Nazi regime, but he was a fanatic member of the NSDAP and built his career on connections to the Nazi 'elite'... Thus Jaspers, being married to a jewish woman and as a lifelong friend of Hannah Arendt, quit his friendship with Heidegger.
Nevertheless, Heidegger is the most important german existentialist, highly praised in Japan and France, although the French Existentialism is very different and much more famous than the german e..
Finally, you don't have to read Jaspers... He is not amoungst the world's most important philosophers. He is MY cup of tea because he started as a psychiatrist and turned more and more towards philosophy during his long life. The difficulty understanding him might be right in btw. Frankl and Heidegger.
My favourite book of Jaspers is his 'Introduction to Philosophy', a gem that I read over and over again.
The 'key to all three' (F., J. and H.) is Søren Kierkegaard. But again, his works are a hard reading for me.
All the best for you, Philipp Tiepolt from Leipzig, Germany
Bad list IMHO as a former philosopher.
Aristotle’s ethics is too difficult for a beginner. You will put new students to sleep.
In my intro classes to encourage good writing and a common vocabulary, I started out with old AJ Ayer’s * Language, Truth and Logic*. I’m not a LP. He is pre-HPS. But engaged students. We begin with logic. It was a scientific reasoning course mainly.
Can i recommend.you grestest philosophical book which is not the word of human but a being which created humans so the book is (quran)
One question, though -- where are the women philosophers? Ayn Rand doesn't count. If philosophy is important, why aren't women interested? I've seen tons of female artists and scientists, some of the best. Where are the women?
Who cares?
I Kant stand it.
Nope. This is not for beginner.
Which one isn't for a beginner
IT DOES NOT BEG THE QUESTION!! TAKE A COURSE IN LOGIC!!!
Funny how modern society always encourages us to just skip religion and God
Don't skip the force (god) but the religion! God is unknown, omnipotent, omnipresent worship him any way he will listen to your prayers. Religion is what makes us highly discriminated against each other and divide us. What's a human if he isn't supposed to think and follow a particular book. I don't see animals having religions.
@anon9146 you say animals don't have a religion like they live in harmony
@@topintro9986 mate we had more wars than the animals💀 that too life extincting one's
So what are you trying to prove here?
@@anon9146repent and believe in the gospel
Most of these philosophers he mentions talk about God and argue for God’s existence. If you had read these books, you’d know that.
the advance of natural science has enormously reduced the field where philosophy is still relevant and meaningful.
I'd strongly disagree. You're referring primarily to the metaphysical branch of philosophy (and even there, philosophy can offer value). Philosophy offers immense practical use for understanding ethics, exploring meaning, political theory, psychology, rational thinking, personal identity, and other fields of discovery that aren't so concrete or solvable through the natural sciences
@@TheActiveMind1 agree with everything you said. Maybe i have overstated my view. But still dont think its essentially incompatible with your comment.
@@Joao-id4dn All good, I understand where you're coming from
Thought provoking comment, but I would say that, and as a working natural scientist, natural science tells us little about the fundamental nature of reality, consciousness and being.
Talks too fast.
Tattoos detract from the presentation. Serious people don’t have huge obvious tattoos.
What a low IQ take
essential, of the utmost importance .
To read: The Republic by Plato, The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, The Abolition of Man by C S Lewis, the first volume of F Coplestons History of Philosophy, and The Bhagavad Gita. And Nidcodean Ethics by Aristotle. To definitely avoid: texts by racist, sexist nutter Nietzsche.
what do you think of epicurus?
Haven’t read him but I read excerpts that Seneca referenced in Letters From a Stoic and enjoyed his words. A great thinker to look into!
Forget loser Hobbes in favour of Kant. But I agree with you on Locke. Marx and Engels are important in their critiques of sordid Capitalism, but their remedies are appalling!
hobbes is a far more accessible writer. kant’s prose is appalling. i would advise people to get a book about him and read that instead
@@xaque9732 I agree that tge language of German thinkers can be verbose and barely intelligible, Hegel a case in point! I was, however, referring to content, and it that Kant easily trumps the likes of Hobbes and Hume. My library has histories of ideas as diverse as Bertrand Russell and Copleston's 15 volume series. Cheers!