My Top 10 Philosophy Books

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I've been asked several times to make a top 10 list of philosophy books. It is hard to do that. But I've tried. These are, I think, the 10 best works of philosophy that I've ever read.

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00:00 - Introduction
00:32 - Hegel
02:35 - Wittgenstein & Frege
05:59 - Brilliant
07:11 - Boethius
09:01 - Wright
10:57 - Nietzsche
13:17 - Hume
16:06 - Augustine
17:19 - MacIntyre
19:54 - Aristotle

[_jared]

What are your favorite philosophy books?

[enlightenedanalysis]

Hey Jared. What a great video. I especially like the fact that you included Nietzsche’s "The Gay Science" in your list. I just recently finished that book and you're absolutely correct that it’s a great work. What I admire about Nietzsche’s books is that it often shatters our comfortable and self-assured convictions (which we think are self-evident). And you're correct that his philosophy is actually quite upbeat and positive.

Thank you also for the suggestions you made on Boethius. I intend to read that.

Although I'm not a theist, I deeply admire Kierkegaard who was a devout Christian. I am surprised "Fear and Trembling" or "Either/Or" did not make your list, but that's OK. 😊

By the way, I totally agree with what you said in this video about utilitarianism and kantianism. Personally, I'm not a follower of virtue ethics but I am fascinated by Stoics like Marcus Aurelius and his Meditations (which I love). I'm sure you've covered him as well at some point.

Many thanks again for your passion and work. Keep it going. Cheers.

[taylorbrown]

Hey Jared! This is my favorite video of yours so far. While your commentary on the books was great, the insights about transitioning out of academia that you interweave into the discussion were the most helpful. I am ABD in a humanities PhD program and am looking at transitioning away from academia as I write my dissertation part-time. Hearing your own reflections on grieving the loss of a career in academia, while also integrating your experiences and education into a new path forward is super helpful and encouraging. Keep up the good work and excellent videos!

[PaulLupascu]

I studied Philosophy for my Bachelor's and Master's as well, and the book that got me started was Bertrand's Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. I'm not saying it's one of the 'best philosophy books ever', just saying it's a great way to start.

[paladinsorcerer]

I took intro to philosophy as a humanities elective in undergrad. I really enjoyed the class. Fast foward 20 years, and I'm working in IT, and I have taken a few free online philosophy courses that I really enjoyed. In a way my journey has been the opposite of Jared's journey. I envy Jared being able to study philosophy at a university. Life is short and a person should follow their passions as best they can. For me that means reading a snippet of the Nicomachean Ethics before bed each night. Thanks for sharing your knowledge in a welcoming fashion.

[HuntingCatIsBack]

It's not much as I'm on a fixed income. I, too, lost my job in Healthcare IT some five years ago. Unfortunately it triggered a severe mental health crisis that I'm still recovering from. I'll spare you the details but I bottomed out in hospital, a newly minted widower owning nothing but the gown I was wearing. As a philosophy graduate I greatly appreciate your content
Think of me whilst a try reconcile my Wittgenstein, Chalmers and David Deutsch (my favorite Physicist-Epestimologist) who had a few free moments in 1985 and decided to invent the field of quantum computing. Best wishes and holiday greetings.

[craiggersify]

One of the things that helped me with Hegel most was a book called “Hegelianism: The Path toward Dialectical Humanism” by John Toews, which traces Hegel’s thought first in its own context and then in the context of dialogue with his students.

It somehow was both one of the most lucid renditions of Hegel’s thought in terms of how vital it was in its own time, and one of the best treatments of German intellectual history between Napoleon and 1848 I’ve ever read.

[Summalogicae]

One of the most beautiful things I ever read was Boethius’ Consolation in the Latin. Granted, my Latin was okay and it was tough, but it’s just incredible in the original.

[patb]

I studied history and philosophy and then history. Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals was like dynamite to my very way of thinking. Working through Nietzsche is like iconoclasm to philosophy, from where we have to once again build up an understanding of the world. In a way I think it made me more receptive to my later study in history. I had a similar but different experience with Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations (though I only read about half of it).

There is an essay by Alain Badiou on Nietzsche which perfectly distills this sentiment

[DragonFlame]

I'm taking my first philosophy class this semester, political and social philosophy, and in order to get an A you need to read an extra book from a long list and write a paper on it. Pretty much at random I picked Macintyre's Dependent Rational Animals. I haven't had much of a background in philosophy, just things here and there but I also was very attracted to virtue ethics and found his approach to them in this book appealing. A few days ago I had a conversation with my professor and apparently he had him as a teacher when he was a philosophy student.

[dqan]

Thanks for doing this. Illuminating and inspiring.

[brettcody]

Excellent video! I enjoyed this one more because of your honesty about your journey. Thank you for being vulnerable, my friend.

[jackalthereefer]

Also loved the Philosophical Investigations and Treatise on Human Nature. I studied some narratology in my degree and Bakhtin's work has always stayed with me, particularly The Dialogic Imagination.

[terrancegrant]

Great info, Jared. I always asked my professors what philosophers they enjoyed the most when I was studying philosophy. You should continue on with the phil stuff; maybe some videos based on your dissertation. G.E. Moore (Principia Ethica) and RM Hare (Moral Thinking) was about as close as I got to the analytic philosophy stuff.

[nxsardella]

Great video Jared! As a novice wanting to read more philosophy (I studied linguistics as an undergrad but took a few philosophy classes - on existentialism, modal logic, and philosophy of language - as electives) there are definitely some here I want to check out!

[sylvio]

Great content ! If I may, including shots of actual books you’re discussing would add to the experience. Keep up the great work 👍

[TravisG]

Great list! I was enthralled by the existentialists in the early years of my philosophy undergrad. Albert Camus- The Stranger and Jean Paul Sartre- Nausea are still among my favorites, as is Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell was a great aid during my time as a T.A as well.

[modernoverman]

I recieved my B.S. in Philosophy in 2020, and became very attached to Nietzsche. The Joyous Science is probably the most profound work I've ever read.

[la]

By far my favourite philosophy channel

[tylers]

Thank you for mentioning the analytic influence. As someone interested in the continental side of things I have to say Anti Oedipus by Deleuze and Guattari. Just a groundbreaking work and super interesting. Super polarizing too- some love and and some think the work is the scum of the earth