Humanity has been thinking since the day it existed. As he thinks, the inquisitive person asks questions, and thus philosophy emerges. Even though philosophy is considered a separate discipline today, it is actually the beginning of everything you can think of, from science to art. Therefore, if we actually want to understand something about life, we should read philosophy books and philosophy novels.
Of course, if you go and buy bags of philosophy books and philosophy novels and read them quickly, you will not wake up as Plato tomorrow. But you realize that every line you read, even if it is a fictional or theoretical text, actually shows you the direction of a light you have never seen before. Let’s take a closer look at some of the philosophy books and philosophy novels that will make you look at life differently.
Must-read philosophy books and philosophy novels:
- Philosophy books:
- Introduction to Philosophy – Nigel Warburton
- A Brief History of Philosophy – Nigel Warburton
- Great Philosophers – Stephen Law
- History of Philosophy: Ancient Greece – Umberto Eco & Riccardo Fedriga
- Problems in Philosophy – Bertrand Russell
- Philosophy as an Exact Science – Edmund Husserl
- Thinking Through Philosophy – Chris Horner & Emrys Westacott
- State – Plato
- An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding – David Hume
- The Ignorant Philosopher – Voltaire
- A Discourse on Voluntary Servitude – Etienne De La Boetie
- On Freedom of Thought and Discussion – John Stuart Mill
- Achieving Happiness – Farabi
- Philosophical Conversations – Denis Diderot
- Philosophical novels:
- Blindness – Jose Saramago
- Franz Kafka – Transformation
- When Nietzsche Wept – Irvin D. Yalom
- The Stranger – Albert Camus
- Nausea – Jean Paul Sartre
Introduction to Philosophy – Nigel Warburton
If you are wondering what philosophy is, the first book you should read is Introduction to Philosophy. You will encounter many different questions throughout the book, and you will understand how important it is not the answers to these questions, but the question itself.
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A Brief History of Philosophy – Nigel Warburton
Even if the name A Brief History of Philosophy scares you all, don’t worry, author Nigel Warburton introduces the history of philosophy, which has a history of thousands of years, and its reflections, especially in the western world, to the reader in its simplest form. Thanks to its chronological order, you will witness how the world of philosophy developed.
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Great Philosophers – Stephen Law
The secret to understanding what philosophy is actually lies in understanding the philosophers who created it. Because these people tried to open the doors of a new world by asking truly unique questions of their time. Here we meet the 50 most famous of these names in the book Great Philosophers.
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History of Philosophy: Ancient Greece – Umberto Eco & Riccardo Fedriga
History of Philosophy is actually an extremely successful series written by Umberto Eco and Riccardo Fedriga. The series starts from the philosophy of the Ancient Greek period and aims to shed light on today’s world by progressing step by step.
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Problems in Philosophy – Bertrand Russell
The book Problems of Philosophy asks a question that seems easy to answer, but is actually impossible to answer, and searches for the answer; Is there really a definitive truth that everyone can accept? Here, in the pages flowing like waves over this single question, you see the obstacles that make the answer to the question impossible.
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Philosophy as an Exact Science – Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl, in his book Philosophy as an Exact Science, makes a harsh introduction to concepts such as naturalism, historicism, positivism and skepticism. What he really focuses on is the fact that the research impulse comes from a philosophy or from things?
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Thinking Through Philosophy – Chris Horner & Emrys Westacott
In their work titled Thinking Through Philosophy, Chris Horner and Emrys Westacott break a generally accepted taboo and argue that philosophical thinking can be achieved by everyone. You will find yourself thinking deeply after reading this book, which has a very simple language.
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State – Plato
The work called The Republic, written by Plato thousands of years ago, forms the basis of philosophy books. Even though what is described here may seem like a state structure, it is actually like a dictionary in which the basic foundations of all concepts related to our lives are defined.
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An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding – David Hume
David Hume, a philosopher with his own unique thoughts, aims to make a sharp explanation of these well-known thoughts in his book An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding. This book is also considered his masterwork.
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The Ignorant Philosopher – Voltaire
French writer Voltaire, who left unforgettable traces in world history, wrote the book The Ignorant Philosopher at the age of 72. Throughout the book, the author discusses his entire life and creates a discussion on what he is sure of and what he doubts. The journey of the book interestingly asks ‘Who am I?’ It starts with the question:
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A Discourse on Voluntary Servitude – Etienne De La Boetie
In his work titled A Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, Etienne De La Boetie conveys his thoughts on the field of politics, a point of philosophy that we do not often think about. These thoughts, which start from the concept of power, cover a wide concept map that extends to ideological bases and hegemony.
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On Freedom of Thought and Discussion – John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill, who is considered to be one of the most important philosophers who lived in the 19th century, expresses his thoughts on whether it is necessary for us to express our thoughts freely in society, even if they are wrong, as the name suggests, in his work On Freedom of Thought and Discussion.
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Achieving Happiness – Farabi
Farabi, who is considered one of the most important philosophers of the Islamic Golden Age, enlightened the Middle Ages in the western world with his thoughts inspired by the ancient Greek philosophers. His work, titled The Achievement of Happiness, focuses on the question of how one can be happy in both worlds.
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Philosophical Conversations – Denis Diderot
Philosophical Conversations by Denis Diderot, one of the most important philosophers of the 18th century enlightenment period, is actually his own; It consists of multiple texts containing his thoughts on many different subjects such as evolution, universe, death, life, god and soul.
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Blindness – Jose Saramago
A man suddenly goes blind and finds himself in the middle of a white void. In fact, this is an epidemic and everyone has gone blind. The whole country surrenders to chaos. Seven people, including a child, set out to survive somehow and are guided by a woman, the only person with eyes.
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Franz Kafka – Transformation
‘When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a giant insect.’ Transformation, which begins with perhaps the world’s most famous novel sentence, is one of those books that you will lose a lot if you don’t read.
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When Nietzsche Wept – Irvin D. Yalom
Some of the characters in the novel When Nietzsche Cried, written by Irvin D. Yalom, are names such as Sigmund Freud, Josef Breuner and Lou Andreas. These names and Nietzsche create astonishing dialogues throughout the novel, involving events that are partly fictional and partly real.
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The Stranger – Albert Camus
Albert Camus’s 1942 novel The Stranger was the voice of youth for a while. The endless search for meaning, detachment from the outside world, and the feeling of alienation described in the novel actually represent a reflection of the truest emotions we all experience even today, even though many years have passed.
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Nausea – Jean Paul Sartre
Nausea, Jean Paul Sartre’s first book, is a work written in diary form. Throughout the book, as we read about the disgust felt by Roquentin, our main character in the story, towards the world, we see that the target of this disgust has nothing to do with the outside world.
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We have listed some of the philosophy books and philosophy novels that must be read by those who want to understand life, the world and themselves. Of course, there could be many more different books on this list. You can share the books you want to have on our list in the comments.
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