Beginner-Friendly Philosophy Books (From Every Era of History)

In addition to supporting my project, you get book reviews, essays, and read-along posts about great works of philosophy.

I've been revising and expanding my list of beginner-friendly philosophy books. Now I have recommendations for historical overviews, ancient Greece, medieval philosophy, modern philosophy, and more.

→ Books

→ Timestamps
00:00 Beginning
01:10 Historical Overviews
05:57 Ancient Greek Philosophy
10:35 Ancient Roman Philosophy
15:38 Eastern Philosophy
18:07 Medieval Philosophy
21:13 Early Modern Philosophy
25:45 Late Modern Philosophy
32:31 20th Century Philosophy

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[_jared]

I spotted some errors late in the editing process that I wanted to clear up here. 



First, Copleston’s volumes are still printed by Continuum. However, I can’t find the books available for purchase anywhere except directly from the publisher, which is odd. I don’t know the exact status of the series at Continuum, but my advice still stands: you can find used copies of Copleston and save some money.



Second, I grouped Boethius into Roman philosophy. This isn’t wrong per se, but then I started Medieval Philosophy with St Augustine. Augustine is older than Boethius by nearly a century. So my groupings here were a tad inconsistent. The lines between Roman philosophy and Medieval philosophy are blurry. Both philosophers were influenced by Neo-Platonism, and I wanted to include a representative Neo-Platonist text in the Roman section. Unfortunately, a beginner-friendly Neo-Platonist text is hard to find, especially non-Christian Neo-Platonism. (Though Boethius is a Christian Neo-Platonist, the text doesn’t feel as religious as Augustine’s writings. Make of that what you will.)



If I see other errors, or others point them out to me, I’ll update this comment.

[chilldragon]

Having spent almost 5 years studying Eastern philosophy both inside and outside of school, I think your recommendations are pretty good. I'll just add that Eastern philosophy is very vast, and is often overlooked because it tends to have a religious flavor to it. Chinese philosophy alone has many branches, but the most popular are Confucianism and Taoism. For Confucianism I would recommend the books: An Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy and The Essential Mengzi by author Bryan W. Van Norden. For Taoism I would recommend the Tao Te Ching by Red Pine and Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings by Brook Ziporyn. Buddhism is extremely diverse, but for Eastern Buddhism (Chinese and Japanese) I would start by reading Emptiness and Omnipresence by Brook Ziporyn and The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. Zen is often seen as Japanese and while Japan popularized Zen it was brought over from China where it is called Chan. I know Buddhism and Taoism are often seen as religions, but they are very philosophical and the word "religion" has a different meaning in Asia. Hope this helps a little!

[pamherman]

I like how you get right to the point with your recommendations.

[NeoCarvak-vest]

Namaste Jared, for Indian philosophy I suggest
1. Introduction to Indian philosophy by Satishchandra Chetterjee and Dhirendranath Datta
2. A critical survey of Indian philosophy by Chandradhar Sharma
3. The Bhagavad Gita
4. The principal Upanishads by S Radhakrishan
5. The Yoga series by Swami Vivekananda
6. The works of Adi Sankaracharya, including Tattvabodha and his commentaries on the Gita, Bramha Sutra and Upanishads.
7. The Dhammapada
8. Dohas of Kabir
9. The idealist way of life/The Hindu view of life by S Radhakrishan
10. Indian philosophy both volumes, S Radhakrishnan
11. Sarva Darsana Sangraha by Madhavacharya
I have specifically chosen books that English readers will find very easy to read, enjoy

[DaleCooper-hcse]

A good abridgement of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is called “How to Flourish, ” which condenses its main arguments down in a way that’s more accessible for beginners. In fact, its translator presents the same excerpts in her own Ancient Philosophy courses.

[samuelcorson]

Your approach to philosophy is approachable. Thank you for your work!

[bobanmarjanovicfpn]

Finally. This video is exactly the reason why I started following your channel.

[undisturbedmind]

Fantastic video. This is the best philosophy book rundown I have seen...thanks for doing it!

[CarolAttrux]

Thank you so much, Jared. This is just what I have been looking for!

[PodvigAmerica]

Brilliant. As an old man, I wish this list would have been available fifty years ago. Thank you. I subscribe to your Substack and pray you will unpack some of your presentation in the future, especially the influence of philosophy on early Christianity.

[omi_omi]

Great video! So helpful to have a compact list like this, also checking out the comments is very helpful to find more specific recommendations. Thank you, Jared!

[thebluesmurfdude]

Nice! Love the long form video! Would love to see a video at some point just briefly explaining the main points of different schools of thought. Also, further down the line, I’d love to see you collab with Useful Charts and make a philosophy chart from beginning to end. That would be a fun series to watch!

[mcouto]

Excellent panorama!!!
Thank you, Jared.

[rajvo]

This channel is such a treasure. Thank you so much!

[quatore-]

Hi Jared, just a quick word of thanks to you. Recently discovered your channel and I'm watching all of your videos. 😊

[sccrespoc]

You do such an incredible work!! Thanks you for sharing. Also thank you to all people sharing more lists in the comments, I may not live long enough to read everything but sure I will try.

[leapmonth]

Keep up the great work Jared. You're a hero! You've got lots of supporters here who look like they might want a lot more of the mentorship and thought leadership you're putting out into the world.

[qendrimsyla]

Great set. Thanks for making it! Maybe one day i'll get some or all done & come back here to review & comment

[CeliaAWhite]

Thank you for another great video. And your substack is worth every penny and more.

[chickenpower]

Great work!! Thanks for the recommendations 🎉🎉🎉