Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Most of the "eye-opening or incredibly interesting" philosophical material that I've read has been in individual articles rather than books. That said, here are a few favourites from various areas. It's a bit heavily weighted towards recent material; Kant and Plato ought to be on there, but I can't stand Kant as a writer, even if his ideas are profound, and Plato's style has always irritated me for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. I could probably keep tying titles all day, so I'll stop with those that first popped into my head.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

David Chalmers, The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory

Gottlob Frege, Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding

J.S. Mill, On Liberty

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice

Stewart Shapiro, Philosophy of Mathematics: Structure and Ontology



Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: