There are several effective ways to build a strong mindset, but none are as reflective & effective as reading some philosophy books. Through these books, some of the greatest minds in the world ask deeper questions & attempt to find a meaningful answers.
The may not always be a clear & distinctive answer to the many questions raised by philosophers, but the whole field is an entrance to a higher sense of self, life & world. It compels you to think & questions things you haven’t even considered before picking up the book.
Books That Will Make You Think
1. Letters From a Stoic by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Just like Marcus Aurelius, Seneca was another influential man in ancient Rome. He was a brilliant writer at that time & was a famous advisor to his friends. Luckily, most of his advice was written in letters, & you can find a collection of those letters in this book.
Those letters themselves offered advice & guidance on managing grief, wealth, poverty, success, and failure. In short, every aspect of life.
Seneca was stoic; he had a more realistic approach & was inspired by other schools of thought while giving advice. In one of his letters, he once wrote, “I don’t care about the author if the line is good.” Just like Meditations, numerous brilliant lines & guidance still apply to this modern world.
2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
This one of the top Philosophy Books narrates holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl’s terrible experiences in Nazi concentration camps and his psychological application of logotherapy, which also helped him to survive & it tells how you can – & should – find some meaning in your life.
There are attractions & wonders in this book that can’t let you put it down before you finish it. Apart from inspiring you to rethink the meaning of life & find it no matter what. It will also inspire tremendous respect in you for our forefathers. This book is remarkable in both a personal & historical aspect that makes it a ‘must-read’ for everyone.
3. Beyond Good & Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche is a pioneer in the philosophical world. He was known to be one of the foremost philosophers of the existential movement, & it all came through this book of him. Certainly, he had a brilliant mind. However, the main problem with most of the works is they are written in German.
Luckily, this book is one of the few more available since it’s translated into many languages. In this book, he explains the paradoxes of conservative understandings of morality. By doing that, he planted the seed of the 20th-century thought process that came later.
4. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
This book is a year-long collection of short, daily meditations from primordial Stoic philosophers, like Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius & more, teaching you composure, flexibility, & resolve through the three Stoic disciplines of insight, action, & will.
If you don’t like reading Philosophy Books, thinking they are all boring & discussing abstract ideas you need help understanding, try this book. As a straightforward narrative, you don’t need to be bored to death with hard-to-swallow concepts & principles.
This book argues that stoic philosophy is simple, but humans are not. We often need clarification on things. That may be why we find it so hard to execute.
5. Ethics by Benedict de Spinoza
One of the Best Books on Philosophy by Benedict de Spinoza came during the Age of Enlightenment. Enlightenment was the movement that inspired the world of ideas in Europe in the 17th & 18th centuries & with that, many schools of thought came out & preached their philosophy.
Out of the several notable philosophy books published then, this book dominated that period as it argued the foundation of rationalism. Although we’ve gone beyond that, Ethics has introduced new ways of thinking from this specific school of thought.
6. Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant is one of the leading philosophers who united two of history’s major contrasting schools of thought into this book. Those schools are coherent thought & pragmatic experiential knowledge—knowledge achieved by continuous experience.
In this book, the author explores the world of human reason & then attempts to establish its delusions & descend to center components. In general, you can learn more about human nature, thought processes & so on. It will open your mind more to processing everything around you.
7. On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
Another work from Friedrich Nietzsche that is available to us, thanks to translators, is this book. According to the author, the purpose of this book is to draw attention to his earlier works. Though, as everything has been summarized here, you don’t need to worry about reading his earlier works.
In this book, he explains the enigmatic aphorisms that he explained in Beyond Good & Evil. He also offers a debate on morality in this book that is more available than in many of his earlier works.
8. Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit
One of the most demanding philosophy books on this list, this book will blow your mind. Through many conscientious logic, Derek Parfit presents us some exclusive perceptions on self-interest, individuality, & about our good or bad actions.
Considered by many to be a vital psychological transcript of the 20th century, the opinions made about those subjects will open your mind to a brand new horizon of thinking.
Why You Should Read Philosophical Books
There are thousands of Philosophy Books available by famous authors. It is impossible to read them all in a single lifetime. Still, by reading some such books, we can be benefitted in the following ways:
- It enhances our capability of rational & deeper thinking.
- It offers us new insights & perspectives.
- It increases our ability of critical thinking.
- It makes us more sensible & sensitive.
- It sharpens our eyes & mind.
- It increases our logical thinking ability.
- It offers us a deeper understanding.
- It helps us to recognize reality.
FAQs
Q: Are all philosophical books hard to understand?
A: Some of them can be hard to understand, but there are many books where authors narrate & present their opinion easily.
Q: Can Mein Kampf be considered a philosophy book?
A: There is some philosophy in that book, but most are directed to support Hitler’s heinous crimes.
Q: Name some famous philosophers whose books are worth reading.
A: There are many. Aristotle, Plato, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant & Friedrich Nietzsche are just a few names.
