29 Best Books on Philosophy

A thought-provoking exploration of how people really change their minds, and how persuasion is possible.

In Stop Being Reasonable, Eleanor Gordon-Smith weaves a narrative that illustrates the limits of human reason.

A landmark in the history of thought, RenE Descartes’ Meditations helped bring critical thinking and skepticism to the Western world. Modern philosophers are still captivated by Descartes’ radical and controversial departure from his previous beliefs, which has both inspired reverence and provoked anger.

This is one of the most important works written by Nietzsche and represents his attempt to sum up his philosophy. The great nineteenth-century philosopher refines his previously expressed ideal of the superman in this work, a fascinating examination of human values and morality. It takes up and expands on the ideas of his previous work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, but approaches it from a more critical, polemical stance. In nine parts, this book is designed to give listeners a comprehensive idea of Nietzsche’s thought and style.

In Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche attacks past philosophers for their alleged lack of critical sense and their blind acceptance of Christian premises in their consideration of morality. The work moves into the realm “beyond good and evil” in the sense of leaving behind the traditional morality, which Nietzsche subjects to a destructive critique, in favor of what he regards as an affirmative approach that fearlessly confronts the contextual nature of knowledge and the perilous condition of the modern individual.

Of the four “late-period” writings of Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil most closely resembles the aphoristic style of his middle period. In it he exposes the deficiencies of those usually called “philosophers” and identifies the qualities of the “new philosophers”: imagination, self-assertion, danger, originality, and the “creation of values.” Religion and the master and slave moralities feature prominently as Nietzsche re-evaluates deeply-held humanistic beliefs, portraying even domination, appropriation, and injury to the weak as not universally objectionable.

Discover or return to the dystopian series that’s captured the hearts of millions of teen and adult readers! This first in Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent series of books is the novel the inspired the major motion picture starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, and Kate Winslet.

Perfect for fans of the Hunger Games and Maze Runner series, Divergent and its sequels, Insurgent and Allegiant, are the gripping story of a dystopian world transformed by courage, self-sacrifice, and love. Fans of the Divergent movie will find the book packed with just as much emotional depth and exhilarating action as the film, all told in beautiful, rich language.

One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior’s society is divided into five factions–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions.

Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she’s determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.

And don’t miss The Fates Divide, Veronica Roth’s powerful sequel to the bestselling Carve the Mark!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD, MAN BOOKER PRIZE, PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE, AND ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE * AN ALA NOTABLE BOOK

Hailed as “masterly” by The New York Times Book Review, “a brilliantly constructed debut set in the aftermath of catastrophic loss” (2015 Man Booker Prize Judges).

The stunning debut novel from bestselling author Bill Clegg is a magnificently powerful story about a circle of people who find solace in the least likely of places as they cope with a horrific tragedy.

On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is upended when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter’s fiance, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke–her entire family, all gone in a moment. June is the only survivor.

Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.

From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding’s caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke’s mother, the shattered outcast of the town–everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.

Elegant and heartrending, and one of the most accomplished fiction debuts of the year, Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. At its core is a celebration of family–the ones we are born with and the ones we create.

A standalone novel from Stuart Woods, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stone Barrington and Holly Barker series…

Murder is not a spectator sport.

Chuck Chandler has choked on more than one occasion–first as a pro tennis player at Wimbledon, then as a womanizing coach at posh tennis clubs around the country. Now at Key West’s Old Racquet Club, Chuck gets involved with the wrong married woman–the enticing Clare Carras, married to an enigmatic older man–and soon he is in way over his head.

Enter Tommy Sculley, a retired New York homicide detective who has just joined the Key West force, and his young green partner, Daryl Haynes, who turns out to be smarter than he looks. Up to their necks in an investigation of a bizarre apparent homicide, the two detectives barely keep afloat in murky waters. Events take them from the Florida Keys to Los Angeles and back, as a plot emerges that involves not only the dangerous Clare, but a furious West Coast mob boss determined to get back what is his at any cost.

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

From the beloved author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes his most thrilling and magical novel yet–a page-turning mystery and a meditation on the power of human connection.

One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it.

At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by “miracle fever.” Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven.

As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town–and the world–transforms. Only Sully, convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life, digs into the phenomenon, determined to disprove it for his child and his own broken heart.

Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.

The First Phone Call from Heaven is Albom at his best–a virtuosic story of love, history, and belief.

“There are at least two kinds of games,” states James P. Carse as he begins this extraordinary book. “One could be called finite; the other infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.”

Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play. The rules may change, the boundaries may change, even the participants may change–as long as the game is never allowed to come to an end.

What are infinite games? How do they affect the ways we play our finite games? What are we doing when we play–finitely or infinitely? And how can infinite games affect the ways in which we live our lives?

Carse explores these questions with stunning elegance, teasing out of his distinctions a universe of observation and insight, noting where and why and how we play, finitely and infinitely. He surveys our world–from the finite games of the playing field and playing board to the infinite games found in culture and religion–leaving all we think we know illuminated and transformed. Along the way, Carse finds new ways of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a role to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander.

Carse has written a book rich in insight and aphorism. Already an international literary event, Finite and Infinite Games is certain to be argued about and celebrated for years to come. Reading it is the first step in learning to play the infinite game.

Includes exclusive bonus audio of the voice of the Dalai Lama as coauthor Franz Alt asks about his views on President Trump, the rise of nationalism, the refugee crisis, the climate catastrophe, and more.

In this brief, urgent “appeal to the world,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama addresses our time of division, calling on us to draw upon the innate goodness of our shared humanity to overcome the rancor, mistrust, and divisiveness that threaten world peace and sustainability.

“I see with ever greater clarity that our spiritual well-being depends not on religion, but on our innate human nature, our natural affinity for goodness, compassion, and caring for others.”–from An Appeal to the World

Already a major international bestseller, now available in English for the first time: In An Appeal to the World, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet illuminates the way to peace in our time, arguing for a form of universal ethics that goes beyond religion–values we all share as humans that can help us create unity and peace to heal our world.

“All people are united in the pursuit of happiness and the desire to avoid suffering,” His Holiness reminds us. “This is the source of humanity’s greatest achievements.” Our development relies on cooperation, not competition. We need to begin to think and act on “we humans”–we must stop focusing on what divides us and recognize our commonalities. Without secular ethics–what Albert Schweitzer referred to as “reverence for life”–we cannot solve all the problems we face.

Working with trusted collaborator Franz Alt, the Dalai Lama calls on the better angels of our nature to tackle a wide range of contemporary issues, from war, violence, and intolerance to climate change, global hunger, and materialism. Applying the techniques and teachings of Tibetan Buddhism–from listening and contemplation to meditation and nonviolence–His Holiness provides a roadmap forward.

Brief yet profound, An Appeal to the World is an inspiring message of love and optimism that can truly change the world.

The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent series of books reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that captivated millions of readers and film fans in Divergent and Insurgent.

One choice will define you. What if your whole world was a lie? What if a single revelation–like a single choice–changed everything? What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

Told from a riveting dual perspective, this third installment in the series follows Tris and Tobias as they battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature–and their selves–while facing impossible choices of courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

And don’t miss The Fates Divide, Veronica Roth’s powerful sequel to the bestselling Carve the Mark!

After seven hundred years of life, Marguerite Argeneau finally has a career. Well, the start of one, anyway. She’s training to be a private investigator, and her first assignment is to find an immortal’s mother. It seemed simple enough, until Marguerite wakes up one evening to find herself at the wrong end of a sword. Now she realizes she’s in way over her head.

Julius Notte wants to protect Marguerite, and not because someone just tried to take her head off. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s his lifemate and he’s determined to woo her. It’s been over five hundred years since he last courted a woman, but surely the techniques haven’t changed. Now if only he can keep her alive–so to speak–so they can have that happily-ever-after.

A RALLYING CRY FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, BY ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED LEADERS OF OUR TROUBLED TIMES.

This eloquent, impassioned manifesto is possibly the most important message The Dalai Lama can give us about the future of our world. It’s his rallying cry, full of solutions for our chaotic, aggressive, divided times: no less than a call for revolution.

Are we ready to hear it?

Are we ready to act?

The essential guide for ethical decision-making in the 21st century, The Power of Ethics depicts “ethical decision-making not in a nebulous philosophical space, but at the point where the rubber meets the road” (Michael Schur, producer and creator of The Good Place).

It’s not your imagination: we’re living in a time of moral decline. Publicly, we’re bombarded with reports of government leaders acting against the welfare of their constituents; companies prioritizing profits over health, safety, and our best interests; and technology posing risks to society with few or no repercussions for those responsible. Personally, we may be conflicted about how much privacy to afford our children on the internet; how to make informed choices about our purchases and the companies we buy from; or how to handle misconduct we witness at home and at work.

How do we find a way forward? Today’s ethical challenges are increasingly gray, often without a clear right or wrong solution, causing us to teeter on the edge of effective decision-making. With concentrated power structures, rapid advances in technology, and insufficient regulation to protect citizens and consumers, ethics are harder to understand than ever. But in The Power of Ethics, Susan Liautaud shows how ethics can be used to create a sea change of positive decisions that can ripple outward to our families, communities, workplaces, and the wider world–offering unprecedented opportunity for good.

Drawing on two decades as an ethics advisor guiding corporations and leaders, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and students in her Stanford University ethics courses, Susan Liautaud provides clarity to blurry ethical questions, walking you through a straightforward, four-step process for ethical decision-making you can use every day. Liautaud also explains the six forces driving virtually every ethical choice we face. Exploring some of today’s most challenging ethics dilemmas and showing you how to develop a clear point of view, speak out with authority, make effective decisions, and contribute to a more ethical world for yourself and others, The Power of Ethics is the must-have ethics guide for the 21st century.

As Americans face the ongoing war against terrorists and their state sponsors around the world, Sean Hannity reminds us we must also cope with the continuing scourge of accommodation and cowardice at home. With his trademark blend of passion and hard-hitting commentary, he urges Americans to recognize the dangers of putting our faith in toothless “multilateralism” when the times call for decisive action. He believes that only through strong defense of our freedoms, at home and around the world, can we preserve America’s security and liberty in the dangerous twenty-first century.

“Evil exists,” Hannity believes. “It is real, and it means to harm us.” Tracing a direct line from Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin through Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, he reminds us of the courage and moral clarity of our great leaders. And he reveals how the disgraceful history of appeasement has reached forward from the days of Neville Chamberlain and Jimmy Carter to corrupt the unrepentant leftists of the modern Democratic Party — from Howard Dean and John Kerry to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Hannity’s first blockbuster book, the New York Times bestseller Let Freedom Ring, cemented his place as the freshest and most compelling conservative voice in the country. As host of the phenomenally successful Hannity & Colmes and The Sean Hannity Show, Hannity has won a wildly devoted fan base. Now he brings his plainspoken, take-no-prisoners style to the continuing War on Terror abroad — and liberalism at home — in Deliver Us from Evil.

Old Path White Clouds presents the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha. Drawn directly from twenty-four Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources, and retold by Thich Nhat Hanh in his inimitably beautiful style, this book traces the Buddha’s life slowly and gently over the course of eighty years, partly through the eyes of Svasti, the buffalo boy, and partly through the eyes of the Buddha himself. Old Path White Clouds is destined to become a classic of religious literature.

Think you’ve got it all figured out? Think again.

Neal Boortz has been edifying, infuriating, and entertaining talk radio audiences for more than three decades with his blend of straight talk and twisted humor. In Somebody’s Gotta Say It, Boortz warms up for the coming political season with a preemptive strike in the War on the Individual: “The Democrats’ theme for 2008 will be ‘The Common Good.’ I can’t speak for you, but I am an individual. Government exists to protect my rights, not to order my life. And I damn sure don’t exist to serve government.” He takes on liberal catchphrases like giving back (“Nobody actually earns anything anymore. Why do liberals think this way? Because they find it impossible to acknowledge that people work for money”), our rampant civic idiocy (“We are not a democracy. Never were. Weren’t supposed to be. And we shouldn’t be”), and Big Brother (“We have smoke-free workplaces. We have drug-free school zones. I say let’s start establishing government-free oases, where we can be free to leave our seat belts unbuckled, and peel the labels off anything we choose”). And somehow, along the way, he finds room for pop quizzes and an answer, once and for all, to the eternal question, “Neal, why don’t you run for president?”–in a chapter called “No Way in Hell.”

Full of irresistible wisecracks and irrefutable libertarian wisdom, Somebody’s Gotta Say It is one man’s response to America at a time when the government overreaches, the people underperform–and the truth hurts.

Artha-shastra is about generating food, i.e. wealth, by creating goods and services; Kama-shastra is about indulging our hungers with this food. Dharma-shastra insists we consider the hunger of others, while Moksha-shastra is about outgrowing our hungers, in order to be detached and generous. Together, these four Hindu shastras provide a framework within which human action, its purposes and consequences, can be defined; together, they validate human existence and give it meaning.

In Dharma Artha Kama Moksha, Devdutt Pattanaik uses his unique understanding of mythology to provide an accessible and lucid guide to the Hindu way of thinking, with short essays that are crisp expositions of important concepts.

“A strange, wondrous, challenging, enriching book….Beautiful and powerful…you will not encounter another book like it.”

—National Review online

In Digital Barbarism, bestselling novelist Mark Helprin (Winter’s Tale, A Soldier of the Great War) offers a ringing Jeffersonian defense of private property in the age of digital culture, with its degradation of thought and language and collectivist bias against the rights of individual creators. A timely, cogent, and important attack on the popular Creative Commons movement, Digital Barbarism provides rational, witty, and supremely wise support for the individual voice and its hard-won legal protections.

#1 New York Times Bestseller! In Catastrophe, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann–authors of the megabestsellers Fleeced and Outrage–take a hard look at America in free fall and at how Barack Obama is transforming a vulnerable U.S. into a socialist state. Their seventh consecutive New York Times bestseller, Catastrophe is a call to arms for every American skeptical of Big Business and politics as usual–and a must read for fans of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Bernie Goldberg, and Glenn Beck.